West Begins Replicating CD-ROM Libraries in Eagan

March 31, 1995 -- West Publishing, one of the nation's oldest and most
respected providers of legal information in both print and electronic
formats, has begun replicating the optical discs for its CD-ROM libraries
at West's headquarters facility in Eagan, Minnesota.

West published its first CD-ROM library in 1988, and today offers nearly
150 different titles on CD-ROM, which stands for Compact Disc-Read Only
Memory. Information on West CD-ROM Libraries can be searched
electronically using West's PREMISE Research Software. Each disc, roughly
4 3/4 inches in diameter, can store in excess of 250,000 pages of
searchable text.

Until recently, the discs carrying West's name and exclusive editorial
enhancements were replicated at a 3M Company plant in Menomonie,
Wisconsin. Late last year, West purchased the equipment needed to
replicate CD-ROMs and trained a group of its own employees to use this
sophisticated machinery.

"West has always been at the leading edge of technology, both in the
delivery and production of our products," said Craig Jilk, vice president
of Production. In 1994, for example, West became the first publisher in
North America to begin using a direct computer-to-plate system in its
prepress operation. This environmentally friendly piece of equipment,
called the Krause LaserStar, utilizes laser technology to eliminate the
use of film and photo-processing chemicals in the plate-making process.

Pieces of plastic become vast libraries of information in less than six
seconds! How is it done? The process of replicating CD- ROMs is highly
mechanized. A series of robotic arms are programmed to move the discs
through the various stages of production within West's CD-ROM production
lab. The first stage involves injection molding. Molten plastic is
injected into a circular mold containing a stamper disc, which is produced
from the master disc of a particular CD-ROM library. When compressed by
more than 60 tons of pressure, the stamper leaves sub-micron impressions
in the newly molded disc. Those tiny impressions, called "pits," are what
the laser inside a CD-ROM drive reads to display text on a computer
screen.-more-After it has been molded and quickly cooled, the disc is
moved by robotic arm to a metalization chamber, where a thin film of
aluminum is applied. The aluminum film gives the disc the reflective
qualities needed for a laser to properly read the disc. From there, a
protective coating of lacquer is applied and cured, and finally, the
machine inspects the quality of each disc and discards any that do not
meet the highest standards.

The entire process just described takes only about 5 1/2 seconds per disc,
from start to finish. The final step involves printing the logo, title and
contents information on a single side of the disc using a dry, offset
press.

The CD-ROM replication equipment is located inside a "clean room" within
West's 1.2 million square foot Eagan production facility. After an
extensive training and testing period, West will soon begin producing
customer copies of its CD-ROM libraries using the new equipment. It is
estimated that as many as 3 million discs will be replicated at West
annually.

West is the only publisher to provide legal researchers with a complete
CD-ROM library. West CD-ROM Libraries includes case law for all 50 states,
the District of Columbia, and the federal courts; statute libraries for
more than 30 states as well as the United States Code Annotated; and an
increasing number of topical libraries. PREMISE Research Software is
available for Windows, DOS and Apple Macintosh environments. PREMISE
combines the familiarity of book research with the efficiency of computer-
assisted research. PREMISE offers users a complete graphical user
interface, several interactive capabilities and a seamless online link to
WESTLAW, West's computer-assisted legal research service.

For more information on CD-ROM replication at West Publishing, call Ruth
Stanoch at 800/778-8090, ext. 77808.

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