----------------------------Original message---------------------------- 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 [log in to unmask] [log in to unmask]