Destined for the dustbin? CD-ROM at 25

CD-ROM technology, a pivotal milestone in the development of computer-based information products and services in all types of information agencies, has allowed the advent of information agencies. CD-ROMs forced libraries to look seriously at information literacy, technological literacy, and end-user computing and helped make personal computers essential equipment In libraries and the workplace. They also represented the first safe, portable, reliable mass storage for large data sets and files and marked the beginnings of true convergence. The CD has been replaced by DVDs and Blu-ray for video content, while few libraries have yet come to terms with a future of web access for media and the implications of this for their collections. Future optical storage is expected to include 3D holographic systems with data written and read by a new laser technology.