New software programs offer accessibility, speed and a wealth of data.

• Author: Wasserman, William E.

With the crunch of April 15 filings letting up (until next year), now is the time to review a few products designed to make the work a lot easier.

CD-ROM research libraries

One notable development is the proliferation of CD-ROM (Compact Disc Read Only Memory) as a tax library and research tool. This technology is now being used by a number of tax publishers, including West Publishing Company, Matthew Bender, Commerce Clearing House and Research Institute of America (RIA).

RIA's service is particularly impressive and attractively priced. For an amount equal to the cost of their printed tax service, RIA sells a single compact disc that includes the Internal Revenue Code and regulations together with their Tax Coordinator Service, Federal Tax Manual and Weekly Alert. By the end of the year, RIA expects to have both the official IRS publications and current revenue rulings on disc and anticipates adding the cumulative bulletins and tax cases by early next year. Private letter rulings, technical advice memoranda and general counsel memoranda should follow, as well. Since RIA is affiliated with Maxwell Macmillan (Prentice-Hall (P-H)) Information Services and Warren, Gorham & Lamont, it is only a matter of time before it will include P-H Federal and State Tax Services and selected treatises, too. This should revolutionize tax research.

Many experienced tax practitioners already use key-word search techniques in their research through electronic on-line services such as Lexis or WestLaw, but the cost of these services and the unpredictability of billings has limited their appeal. Now, the practitioner can employ key-word search techniques, heretofore available only on the more expensive services, through CD-ROM. By simply typing in key-word combinations (such as "reasonable compensation"), the computer will allow the practitioner to browse through every segment of the service where those words are used in combination or proximity. The CD-ROM products also allow quick access from a cited authority to the relevant explanation.

RIA's search software (Folio PreVIEWS) operates very rapidly and is becoming the de facto standard in tax and accounting libraries (it has already been adopted by the AICPA and FASB). The ability to search through private letter rulings and other administrative documents will open up a whole new world of research since these materials are most difficult to access as printed records. Thus, the practitioner can browse through an...