The last three decades have shown a marked development in new technologies for storing and retrieving information: microform in the 1960s; online database in the 1970s, and CD-ROM in the 1980s. While microform lacks volatility and multiple access points, preservation programs find it to be ideal storage media: it has a longer life expectancy than the other media; its use life is less limited; and it has a lower maintenance cost. Library operations have been significantly impacted by the large storage capacities and volatility of online databases and CD-ROMs. A few commercial publications provide information on additional physical forms in which a work is available, e.g., "Law Books and Serials in Print: A Multimedia Sourcebook" (Bowker, 1985) lists, in addition to books, audiocassettes, videocassettes, computer software, online databases, and microform. However, the shortage of bibliographical control of multisources, lack of data structure standardization, and the diversity of software programs often frustrate the user's information retrieval methods. Two charts compare and contrast the operation diversities of the BRS, Dialog, and ORBIT systems. Some of these diversities have been minimized through the emergence of gateway and the more sophisticated front end software, although a completely standardized interface which enables the users to access multiple systems has yet to be developed. (24 references) (MAB)