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Hello,
  A few weeks ago a query was made to this list, concerning the
U.S.G.S. Digital Raster Graphics CD-ROMs and how much luck
people were having in using them.  Other than a comment about
using 32-bit systems,    nothing was said on-line in response.
Perhaps most institutions either have not ordered the DRGs, or
haven't yet tried to look at them, but I suspect someone out
there has been working with them and I would still like to hear
about their experiences.... particularly under Windows.
  One aspect of this that concerns me is that we may be adding
another barrier between the data and the "average" user.  While it
is true that the paper topographical maps take some familiarization
before they can be readily comprehended, that is still the case
with the DRGs.  Now, however, we have the added problem of electronic
access, with the need for adequate hardware, software and training
to even SEE the topos in the first place.  High-tech research libraries
running UNIX boxes and Sun workstations, whose users routinely get
digital data sets for ArcInfo or AutoCAD, may wonder what the fuss is
about, no doubt.  But a survey I did last year indicated that many
map libraries were still well below that level of sophistication and
often discovered that installing products like ArcView were too
difficult to use and had little demand from patrons.  Therefore I feel
comfortable with the assumption that most map libraries are NOT sitting
there happily surfing  through their DRG data and whipping out great
end products for satisfied patrons.  Rather, I suspect that stacks of
DRGs are joining the piles of DLG, DOQ, and TIGER CD-ROMS in filing
cabinets, awaiting the day when the whole process seems less-
intimidating enough to be worth tackling.
  We've all said and heard that the digital revolution was going to
bring both wonderful new means of access and troubling new problems to
solve.  Well, how are we going to solve the issue of acquiring the
technical expertise to access and use the digital products coming out?
Attend a two-hour workshop once a year at an ALA or SLA meeting in
Hawaii?  Read the sparce documentation? Or go back and get another
masters degree, in geography or computer science?
  So, if anyone's had luck in getting the DRGs (or other such series)
to open up and print out, then share how you did it!  Did you do it on
a 486 or Pentium? How much RAM? Windows 3.1, 3.11, 95 or NT? Did you
fiddle around with your screen resolutions? What sort of outputs have
you managed? I'll even be happy with "Well, Bill, I just followed the
directions, stuck the CD-ROM in my 386 machine with 4 MB of RAM running
Windows 3.1 and promptly got a nice display of the data which I printed
out at 150 dpi.  The ArcView 1.0 viewer was a breeze." (ha!)
  I really love the Internet and WWW, and the whole notion of electronic
access, but it has thrown us all a bit of a curve.... a learning curve...
and maybe we should be taking about it more.  Anyone out there want to
take a stab at explaining how to open and use a DRG on a Wintel system?
I, for one, would be an eager reader, and I can think of several others
who probably would be, too.
 
 
Bill Barrow
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