Dr. Abraham: Optimedia was started in 1992 by myself, Jeff Abraham and Giora Kaplan to create electronic archives on CD-ROM. The company is based in Tel Aviv, Israel, employs forty full-time staff and currently has a division in Oxford, U.K. Our U.S. office is currently being opened in New York.

OC-J: How did Optimedia get started?

Dr. Abraham: The first title was the CD-ROM of American Journal of Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics currently available for the years 1980-1997. I submitted a wish list to Jeff and Giora for the user interface design that would satisfy my requirements as a teaching and clinical orthodontist, be simple to use and be invaluable to graduate students, authors and clinicians alike. We were fortunate to enlist the invaluable support of Dr Tom Graber who realized that this would be a boon to the Orthodontic profession.

OC-J: What titles has Optimedia published?

Dr. Abraham: We are proud of the fact that AJO-DO was the first CD-ROM in Dentistry. Since then Optimedia has expanded its services in the Science, Technology and Medicine areas. All titles are available for both Mac and PC as separate CD-ROMs or Hybrids. Other dental-journal titles on CD-ROM are:

• Journal of Clinical Orthodontics, JCO (1967-1997)
• The Angle Orthodontist (1987-1997)
• Journal of the American Dental Association, JADA (1990-1997)
• Journal of Periodontology, JOP (1985-1997)
• The International Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Implants, JOMI (1986-1997)
• Journal of Prosthetic Dentistry, JPD (1993-1997)( to be released May1998)
• Oral Surgery, Oral Medicine, Oral Pathology, Oral Radiology and Endodontics, OOOOE (1993-1997) (to be released May 1998)

Medical Journals - 8 journals of the AMA:

• Archives of Dermatology
• Archives of General Psychiatry
• Archives of Neurology
• Archives of Ophthalmology
• Archives of Otolaryngology
• Archives of Surgery
• Archives of Internal Medicine
• Journal of American Medical Association, JAMA

Encyclopedias:

• Birds of the Western Palearic
• Seismic Exploration

Reference Titles:

• Dead Sea Scrolls
• Technical Analysis of Stocks & Commodities
• Collected Public Papers of Margaret Thatcher

Medical Textbooks:

• Oxford Textbook of Oncology (Oxford Univ. Press)
• Rheumatology (Mosby-Wolfe) Oxford
• Textbook of Clinical Nephrology (Oxford Univ. Press)
• Practical Approach Series (Oxford Univ. Press)
• OncoMedia Vol. 1: Medical Oncology (Elsevier Science)

Conference Proceedings:

• A number of conference proceedings have been published in conjunction with Elsevier Science for delivery to participants at the actual conference or shortly thereafter.

OC-J: How are the titles distributed?

Dr. Abraham: The three orthodontic titles are distributed by 3M UNITEK. Most other titles are sold by the publishing houses or Professional Associations and arrangements are soon to be put in place for distributing the JPD and OOOOE.

OC-J: What has been the professional reception of the CD-ROM journal archives?

Dr. Abraham: Each professional group has it's own requirements. The orthodontic journals have been particularly successful in that orthodontic research or review of literature is archive dependant. The CD-ROMs are particularly appreciated by schools and graduate students. I personally also find them invaluable in the private clinic. I have my CD-ROMs open all the time so that I can : · browse articles in spare moments · refresh my techniques · show patients bookmarked before-and-after figures of similar cases. I was told of one instance of an orthodontist who was confronted with a patient suffering from Chromium-Nickel hypersensitivity. Handy access to an Orthodontic CD-ROM and search of this topic was able to reassure everybody

OC-J: How will the large volume DVD (6-8 gigabytes) affect electronic publishing?

Dr. Abraham: It can only be beneficial. Massive multi-journal libraries, 3-D imaging, high quality radiographs, full video sequencing and sound will all be commonplace data bases at fingertip control by the user. The DVD/ CD-ROM format will remain in ascendancy for graphic data management until the speed of the internet is dramatically improved.

Dr. Abraham: The electronic format in one form or another is here to stay. The most promising development will be CD-ROMs containing archived journals that will interact with internet-based current issues.

The Orthodontic CYBERjournal will develop into a Community (a new internet catch-phrase) where open discussion and immediate interchange of information will become standard.

The Orthodontic school at Tel Aviv University is developing a website where the Case-of-the-Month will be featured. In future, this can be done in conjunction with sites such as the CYBERjournal and differential diagnoses, treatment plans and dynamic discussion can develop.

OC-J: What electronic improvements can be made for the orthodontic community in the immediate future?

Dr. Abraham: The Proceedings on CD-ROM of large conferences such as the AAO would be a welcome addition to the participants of such conferences. I have often been frustrated by the simultaneous multiple lecture format of these conferences. It would be very useful to have the text of the unattended key lectures available on CD-ROM or the Internet together with all the slides reproduced in electronic format. Incidentally, I am a strong advocate of electronic slides instead of transparencies in all lectures and presentations. The electronic slide quality is approximating that of transparencies and video, sound and graphic art should be standard fare in slide presentations.

OC-J: What changes do you see to the Orthodontic profession as a result of products like yours?

Dr. Abraham: Optimedia is simply catering to the growing demand for valuble electronic information on the part of the modern professional. In my opinion, the control of massive amounts of data and easy access to the latest and best of ideas, has put the fun back into reading. This must result in a more erudite professional with deeper insight to the complexities of orthodontic problems .The final beneficiaries to this information explosion will be the orthodontic patient.

OC-J: Thank you for agreeing to an interview with us. We have reviewed some of your CD-ROMS in past issues and have found them to be invaluable. We look forward to the evolution of electronic publications.

Dr. Abraham: Thank you.

zeevab@post.tau.ac.il