Optical disc storage: another can of worms?

The University Grants Committee and the Computer Board have funded 139 projects in Bntish Umversities as part of their Computers in Teaching Initiative. Two projects have been accepted m archaeology, a joint Southampton/York project on simulating an excavation and an mvestigation at Leicester into the use of interactive videodiscs for teaching archaeology to undergraduates. This paper introduces the work which has just started at Leicester University, in the wider context of the potential application of optical storage devices in archaeology. The paper is also an mvitation to submit databases of visual material, on any archaeological subject, for possible mclusion on the videodisc which is being produced as part of the project.