CD-ROM books. Computer artwork depicting data storage as CD-ROM books. CD-ROM (Compact Disc Read-Only Memory) may be used to store audio, visual and/or text information. Here, the power of CD-ROM to store large quantities of book text is illustrated. The disc is made of plastic, pressed with a series of fine depressions representing digitised signals of coded text capable of being read by laser. The encoded text layer is coated with a film of metal to reflect the laser light. Apart from having a large storage capacity, CD-ROM enables text to be accessed randomly from any part of the disc. Multimedia text may be combined with audio and visual information.