Videotex applications in the technical information service

The Technical Information Service of the Technical Research Centre of Finland has studied a number of videotex systems operated in several countries. The main emphasis has been on the content of the technical information. The Technical Information Service has also introduced its own data base into a Finnish videotex system, Telset. On the basis of this experience the usefulness of videotex for technical information services is evaluated. Videotex has some advantageous features compared with many other information media: the information can be updated and disseminated rapidly, and the system can reach a relatively large number of users who are able to consult the databases and move from information retrieval to transactional services. The main potential of videotex, in the technical as well as in other fields, is in providing current, compact and factual information. Small-scale news services, encyclopedias, directories and compact techno-economic information are suitable for videotext This kind of information, however, fulfils only a small part of the information demand in technical information services.