MULTIPLE USAGE OF THE CD PLUS UNIX SYSTEM - PERFORMANCE IN PRACTICE/

In August 1994, the CD PLUS/Ovid literature retrieval system based on UNIX was activated for the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences of Erasmus University in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. There were up to 1,2 00 potential users. Tests were carried out to determine the extent to which searching for literature was affected by other end users of the system. In the tests, search times and download times were measured in relation to a varying number of continuously active workstations. Res ults indicated a linear relationship between search times and the numb er of active workstations. In the ''worst case'' situation with sixtee n active workstations, the time required for record retrieval increase d by a factor of sixteen and downloading time by a factor of sixteen o ver the ''best case'' of no other active stations. However, because th e worst case seldom, if ever, happens in real life, these results are considered acceptable.