The DRGs are of limited use to most of the GIS and many of the specialized
users of this Map Collection, but they will be used.  One of the Geography
Profs here has a very elaborate lab exercise that requires the students to use
a large number of topo maps.  He is very interested in placing in a textbook
a CD-ROM of DRGs.  The exercises he uses requires  a wide enought range of
maps that he feels that many schools that would use the textbook would not
have access to all the maps.
    The University of Georgia is part of a state-wide system.  The system is
spending $10 million this year to construct a system-wide online library.
This will mean the the Map Collection will be under considerable pressure
to provide service and maps to 30 or 40 libraries, most of which have little
or no map holdings.  I would like to be able to send those libraries a CD
rather than my one copy of a quad in Texas, for example.  This way I would
circulate the CDs for those quads that I did not have duplicate, circulating
copies.  900 CDs take up a lot less room than 50,000 paper topos.  The Map
Collection will have to have all the 55,000 paper topos but I see the time
when I will need duplicate copies of the CD-ROMs for circulation purposes.
If someone needed the paper they would have to come to the Map Room or
accept photocopies.  The GIS users should be able to download what they need
either from the Map Collections Server/Home Page or from the federal agencies'
computer.
 
     Ther will be other uses we do not yest see.  Now if USGS would only do
their historic file this way.  That also has real uses.
 
Johnnie Sutherland
University of Georgia