Date: Tuesday, 05-Nov-96 00:07:58 GMT Server: NCSA/1.3 MIME-version: 1.0 Content-type: text/html Last-modified: Friday, 03-May-96 16:30:26 GMT Content-length: 33469 Image Libraries and Software

Image Libraries and Software


Image Database Articles

Date: Mon, 8 Aug 1994 13:58:14 +0100
From: Oliver Obst 
Subject: Article in Database on Images

I want to draw your attention to the following article in the august volume
of DATABASE:

  J.Cox; M.Taleb: "Images on the Internet: Enhanced User Access" p.18-26
From: Howard Besser 514939-7000 or 510642-2231 
Subject: Re: request for recent article cites

Here's a list of my imaging-related articles (at least those of
a serious nature).  This includes an article on moving images as
well.  The Encyclopedia of LIS article is really just a version
of the STUDIES IN MULTIMEDIA chapter.  The rest are fairly unique.

-Howard Besser
-----------------------------
     Fast Forward: The Future of Moving Image Collections, in  Gary Handman
          (ed.),  Video Collection Management and Development: A Multi-type
          Library Perspective, Westport, CT: Greenwood, (in press)
     Image Databases, Encyclopedia  of  Library  and  Information  Sciences
          53:16, New York: Marcel Dekker, 1994, pages 1-15
     Adding  an  Image  Database  to  an  Existing  Library  and   Computer
          Environment: Design and Technical Considerations,  in Susan Stone
          and Michael Buckland (eds.),  Studies in Multimedia  (Proceedings
          of  the  1991  Mid-Year  Meeting  of  the  American  Society  for
          Information Science),  Medford,  NJ:  Learned  Information,  Inc,
          1992, pages 31-45
     Advanced Applications of Imaging: Fine Arts, Journal of  the  American
          Society of Information Science, September 1991, pages 589-596
     User Interfaces for Museums, Visual Resources 7, 1991, pages 293-309

     Access to Diverse Collections in  University  Settings:  The  Berkeley
          Dilemma, in Toni Petersen and Pat Moholt (eds.), Beyond the Book:
          Extending MARC for Subject Access,  Boston:  G.  K.  Hall,  1990,
          pages 203-224   (with  Maryly Snow)
     Visual Access  to  Visual  Images:  The  UC  Berkeley  Image  Database
          Project, Library Trends 38 (4), Spring, 1990, pages 787-798
     Adding Analysis Tools to Image  Databases:  Facilitating  Research  in
          Geography  &  Art  History,   Proceedings of RIAO 88, March 1988,
          volume 2, pages 972-990
     Digital  Images  for  Museums,   Museum   Studies   Journal   3   (1),
          Fall/Winter, 1987, pages 74-81
     The  Changing  Museum,  in  Ching-chih  Chen  (ed),  Information:  The
          Transformation of Society (Proceedings of the 50th Annual Meeting
          of the American Society for Information  Science),  Medford,  NJ:
          Learned Information, Inc, 1987, pages 14-19
     Computers for Art Analysis, in R. A. Braden, et al.  (ed),  Visible  &
          Viable:  The  Role  of  Images  in  Instruction  &  Communication
          (Readings from the 18th Annual Conference  of  the  International
          Visual Literacy Association), Blacksburg, VA: IVLA, 1987
Date: Mon, 18 Jul 1994 14:00:55 -0700
From: Stuart Glogoff 

Stone, Gerald. "ArchiVISTA: New technology for an old problem,"
in Studies in multimedia. Proceedings of the 1991 Mid-year
meeting of the American Society for Information Science (Medford,
N.J.: Learned Information, 1992):153-159.

Stone, Gerald and Philip Sylvain.  "ArchiVISTA: A new horizon in
providing access to visual records of the National Archives of
Canada," in Archivaria, no. 33 (winter 1991/92):253-266.
Reprinted from Library trends, v. 38, no. 4 (spring
1990):737-750.

IMAGELIB Listserv

Date: Fri, 19 Aug 1994 14:37:20 -0700
From: Stuart Glogoff 
Sender: IMAGELIB 
Subject: About IMAGELIB

IMAGELIB is an unmoderated bulletin board for the discussion of image
databases in libraries.  Its purpose is to raise questions, solicit input,
and share ideas.  It is not intended to duplicate other lists nor
to engage in technical discussions, such as World Wide Web server
development and administration.

    For this listserv, topics for discussions range from:

1.  Accessing, retrieving, and displaying images from the Internet:
preferences for particular interfaces, organizing directories on local
servers, and preferences for particular clients.

2.  Creating local image databases: scanning photographic and slide
collections of scholarly value or regional significance; full-text.

3. Exploring issues such as copyright, permissions, and fair use.

4. Working with users to incorporate image databases in
their courses and research.  Sharing success stories and asking
for advice.

    Another function of IMAGELIB is to serve as a clearinghouse to
announce image databases.  Information is entered in the Clearinghouse
directory on the UA Library's Gopher server--telnet to
dizzy.library.arizona.edu and login as gopher.

    In addition to existing image databases, we would like to
receive information on projects that are in-development.  This will be
useful because many projects take months or years to complete.  Knowing
who is doing what could save others a great deal of time and promote
sharing new ideas.

    To Subscribe to IMAGELIB, send the following message to
listserv@arizvm1.ccit.arizona.edu  (that's a ONE at the end of arizvm,
not an L)

   SUB imagelib Your Full Name

   example: sub imagelib Mary Johnson

    To signoff, send email to listserv@arizvm1.ccit.arizona.edu
with the message:

   SIGNOFF imagelib

IMAGELIB is also available as a Usenet Newsgroup.  Subscribe to
bit.listserv.imagelib as you normally would for other newsgroups.
Date: Tue, 5 Jul 1994 08:14:06 -0500
From: (Byron Glick) 
Subject: New Listserv on Image databases...

The University of Arizona Library and the UA's computing center are
hosting a listserv called IMAGELIB.  IMAGELIB is an unmoderated bulletin
board for the discussion of image databases in libraries.  Its purpose
is to raise questions, solicit input, and share ideas.  It is not
intended to duplicate other lists nor to engage in technical
discussions, such as World Wide Web server development and
administration.

For this listserv, topics for discussions range from:

1.  Accessing, retrieving, and displaying images from the Internet:
preferences for particular interfaces, organizing directories on local
servers, and preferences for particular clients.

2.  Creating local image databases: scanning photographic and slide
collections of scholarly value or regional significance; full-text.

3. Exploring issues such as copyright, permissions, and fair use.

4. Working with users to incorporate image databases in their courses
and research.  Sharing success stories and asking for advice.

Another function of the list is to serve as a clearinghouse to announce
image databases.  Information will be entered on a special directory on
the UA Library's Gopher server.  We will post messages to IMAGELIB in
the coming weeks inviting submissions.  At this time, we are identifying
categories so each entry will be as clear and useful to others as
possible.

In addition to existing image databases, we would like to receive
information for the clearinghouse on projects that are in-development.
This will be useful because many projects take months or years to
complete.  Knowing who is doing what could save others a great deal of
time and promote sharing new ideas.

To Subscribe to IMAGELIB, send the following message to
listserv@arizvm1.ccit.arizona.edu

    SUB imagelib Your Full Name

    example: sub imagelib Mary Johnson

To signoff send email to listserv@arizvm1.ccit.arizona.edu with the
message:

    SIGNOFF imagelib

Here's some more good news:  IMAGELIB is also available as a Usenet
Newsgroup.  Subscribe to bit.listserv.imagelib as you normally would for
other newsgroups.
Date: Tue, 25 Oct 1994 09:04:45 -0400
From: Pamela Mason 
Subject: Invitation to Evaluate Image Database

The following letter was mailed to potential evaluators from the land
grant and cooperative extension service community. In an effort to reach
others who might find the content of the database of interest, I am
posting this invitation to the two lists.  Apologies to those who
subscribe to both and will receive two invitations.
Cheers, Pamela
*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*
|  Pamela Mason, Project Manager      |  National Agricultural Library  |
|  pmason@nalusda.gov                 |  Information Systems Division   |
|  Phone: (301) 504-6813              |  10301 Baltimore Blvd.          |
|  Phone: (301) 504-7473              |  Beltsville, MD 20705-2351      |
*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*
The National Agricultural Library (NAL), in cooperation with the
University of Pittsburgh School of Library and Information Sciences and
Michigan State University Cooperative Extension Service, has produced a
horticultural database of nearly 2000 full-color images and their
descriptions.

Two different collections are represented: the first 26 volumes
of Curtis' Botanical Magazine (1787-1813) and a slide collection
of common landscaping plant pests and diseases from MSU.  The
Curtis collection includes not only the hand-colored botanical
prints, but images of the text descriptions for each plant, plus
the corrected index to the volumes.  The plant pests and diseases
collection includes the most commonly-seen problems as well as
selected images of beneficial insects to enable their
identification. We invite you to participate in the evaluation of
these two collections in both the online and CD-ROM versions
during the 6-month period from November, 1994 through April,1995.

The image database will reside on a World Wide Web server at the
University of Pittsburgh that will be accessed through a MOSAIC
client residing on the participants'computers (which can be PCs,
Macintoshes, X-terminals or workstations).  MOSAIC clients are
available for all these platforms.  The image files are being
stored in TIFF (Tagged Image File Format), but can be requested
in GIF (8-bit color) as well as JPEG (24-bit color).  Indeed,  evaluating
what color levels are preferred is one of the objectives.  A NAL-produced
CD-ROM with TIFF-only images, running under Windows 3.1 will also be
 part of the evaluation.

Beyond agreeing to respond to the evaluation questionnaire,
participants should have the following at a minimum (Note: users
with PCs need only have the one platform to evaluate both the
online and the CD-ROM version; users with Macintoshes or X-
terminals or workstations would also need to have a PC to
evaluate the CD-ROM version):

1)  A connection to the Internet (via server or modem)

2)  386-level PC (or higher) with VGA or Super VGA color
monitor (preferably Super VGA with 512K Video RAM; 640 x 480
pixels resolution, 256 colors). (For both the online version plus
the CD-ROM version evaluation.)
     or
Macintosh with 8 bit color monitor (for online version only)
     or
X-terminal device or workstation, with color monitor capable
of 640 x 480 pixels resolution, 256 colors (for online version
only)

3)  MOSAIC client appropriate to the platform (PC, Macintosh, X)

4)  Microsoft Windows 3.1 (for CD-ROM version evaluation)

5)  CD-ROM drive (for CD-ROM version evaluation)

6)  Imaging software (at a minimum, JPEG View (MOSAIC viewer) or
Windows Paintbrush, which is supplied as part of Windows 3.1, but
preferably other imaging software capable of handling other image
formats)

We would especially like to invite the participation of
organizations which have computer support for 24-bit color or
"true color", which requires 1 MB Video RAM and separate video
card.  This level of quality is important to our evaluation of
the uses made of the images by endusers requiring very high
resolution and color quality.

Users who may find these two collections of interest range from
art, horticultural and botanical libraries to homeowners,
teachers, master gardeners, horticultural specialists, and
Cooperative Extension Service agents.   We are especially
interested in having the materials evaluated by a wide variety of
participants who may wish to incorporate the images into their
work, to reproduce them for other purposes, or simply use the
images and the accompanying descriptions as teaching tools or for
pest identification.  Our intent is to evaluate the image
resolutions and color levels which are satisfactory for each
purpose.  In addition, we wish receive feedback on the indexing
of images using text descriptors, e.g., were the terms relevant
to the various user communities, and if not, what could be done to
improve access?

Please respond by October 31, 1994 to this invitation so we may
include you or your organization among the evaluators of this
exciting digital library.  The form which follows should be used
for the response.  Please return it as electronic mail.

Electronic Photo and other Short Courses

Date: Tue, 29 Nov 1994 10:41:26 -0500
From: "andrew davidhazy @ RIT" 
Subject: Electronic Photo and other Short Courses
To: Multiple recipients of list NPPA-L 

If you are interested in seminars and workshops on subjects such as Digital
Imaging Principles, Photoshop, Quark XPress and Photostyler Workshops,
Electronic Photography, Printing for Non Printers and related topics you can
obtain a complete file of upcoming dates and costs of such seminars offered
by the Technical and Education Center of the Graphic Arts at the Rochester
Institute of Technology.

To receive this file by automatic reply send e-mail with   SEMINARS$txt   in
the SUBJECT: line of a message addressed to:  RITPHOTO@rit.edu

You can also obtain loads of data on undergrad and grad photography programs, a
database of schools that offer photo instruction worldwide, FAQ photo files and
an e-mail address and phonebook for RIT photo faculty by saying INFO$txt in the
Subject: line instead of  seminars$txt.

U Liverpool Image Database Project

Date: Mon, 18 Jul 1994 15:15:50 GMT
From: "J.W. White" 
Sender: IMAGELIB 
Subject: Image Database project

_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/
_/%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%                                    _/
_/%     \%% \%%%% \%%     \%%%     \%% UNIVERSITY OF LIVERPOOL            _/
_/%\\ \\\%%   %   \%% \\\\ \%% \\\\ \% Department of Computer Science     _/
_/%%% \%%%% \\ \\ \%% \%%% \%% \%%% \% ================================== _/
_/%%% \%%%% \%\\% \%% \%%% \%%     \\%       IMAGE DATABASE PROJECT       _/
_/%%% \%%%% \%%%% \%% \%%% \%% \\\\ \% ================================== _/
_/%%% \%%%% \%%%% \%% \%%% \%% \%%% \% TEAM: Dr Bernard Diaz (Director)   _/
_/%     \%% \%%%% \%%     \\%%     \\%       John Killoran                _/
_/%\\\\\\%%\\%%%%\\%%\\\\\\%%%\\\\\\%%       Jeremy White                 _/
_/%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%                                    _/
_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/

The Liverpool University Image Database Group is constructing a
report (which will be available as a Gopher resouce) titled:

       "Image Database Systems for Unix Environments".

Although primarily interested in hardware and software (we hope to
cover both working and research systems), we wish to contact potential
and current users to enhance our understanding of the image database
requirement.  Although our brief is to cover the Unix environment - we
hope to look at anything that might be out there.

Our aim is to generate a "wish list" which might serve as a pointer for
research, as well as a "which guide" to what is currently available.
Consequently, we are not too concerned about what might be an "image
database" - we are interested in what the community thinks is one and
the facilities it does or should provide.

Given these aims; we seek users, developers of databases, and systems and
research people who are prepared to share with us their expertise. In
return we will ensure they get an early copy of the report.  If you can
help us, please respond to these questions.

1. do you wish to be registered to receive a copy of the report; if yes
  please provide your full Name and Postal Address.

2. how do you define an image database ?  Do you consider yourself an
  image database end-user or potential end-user, a database developer,
  or an image database systems person ?

3. what is your experience of image databases ? are you a regular user ?
  how would you rate your a) practical knowledge, b) knowledge of
  theoretical issues ?

4. what image database systems do you know of ? what hard/software
  requirements do they have ?  What are your opinions of them ?

5. who do you reckon are the experts in the field of Image Database ?

6. assuming no constraints - what would your ideal system provide by way
  of facilities ?  How would you expect to use it ?

7. what features would you expect to see in a minimal image database
  system ?

If you merely "reply" to this posting it should get to us.  If you can
include details of the newsgroup on which you found the posting we would
consider that a bonus. Alternatively, if you email us (imdb@csc.liv.ac.uk)
please include the word "posting" in the subject field of the header.

In anticipation - Many thanks for your help.

=========================================================================

If absolutely pressed OUR definition of "image database" would include:

       image, digital photograph, and picture archives, video clip databases,
       cad/cae/cal databases, fine art image libraries, art photographs,
       medical image libraries including thermal imaging pix etc,
       geographical information systems (gis) in their  widest sense -
       including remote sensor imagery, visualisation databases, digital
       imagery of manuscripts, animation libraries, etc.

Graphics File Formats

Date: Tue, 20 Sep 1994 09:41:00 -0500
From: Kurt Foss 
Subject: FYI/Graphics File Formats book

68.09 O'Reilly Graphics File Formats book
From: sara@ora.com (Sara Winge)

We have just published this guide to nearly 100 graphics file formats: from
major, standardized formats, like GIF, TIFF, TGA, and BMP to newer or
specialized formats, like SGI YAODL, Rayshade, and Facesaver. If you are a
graphics programmer who needs to know the details of a format (whether it's
big- or little-endian, how many colors can be stored, and precisely what
data appears in each bit or pixel) or anyone else who needs to deal with
the low-level technical details of graphics files, this book is for you. It
is for programmers on any platform-- MS-DOS, Windows, OS/2, UNIX, the
Macintosh, and others.

(90 lines)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Encyclopedia of Graphics File Formats
By James D. Murray and William vanRyper
928 pages, ISBN: 1-56592-058-9, $59.95 (US)


In addition to describing the details of the file formats, the Encyclopedia
of Graphics File Formats contains a detailed discussion of graphics
concepts and programming, covering such topics as types of graphics data
(vector, bitmap, metafile, scene description, animation, multimedia),
truecolor, palettes, and color--its perception, conversion, and
quantization. It describes in detail different methods of compressing
graphics data (e.g., run-length encoding, LZW, CCITT, JPEG) and ways of
converting from one type of file format to another. It also includes
information on new graphics initiatives, including JPEG (an emerging image
data compression standard of particular interest in multimedia technology)
and MPEG (a set of digital and audio compression standards for sound and
motion picture data).

The book comes with a CD-ROM on which we've included a collection of
resources that are hard for individuals to find (in many cases, they have
never before been available outside the organizations that developed them).
We've assembled original file format specification documents from such
vendors as Adobe, Aldus, Apple, IBM, Microsoft, and Silicon Graphics, along
with test images and code examples for many of the formats. Also on the
CD-ROM is a set of publicly available software--for MS-DOS, Windows, OS/2,
UNIX, and Macintosh platforms--that will let you convert, view, and
manipulate graphics files and images.

---------------------------------------------------------------
This and other O'Reilly products are available in the Americas and Japan
through bookstores, or directly from the publisher (credit card orders
800-889-8969; email order@ora.com).

For information: telephone 707-829-0515 (800-998-9938 in US & Canada); FAX
707-829-0104; email nuts@ora.com; or write O'Reilly & Associates, 103A
Morris St., Sebastopol, CA, 95472, USA. GSA # GS-02F-6095A. Access our
online gopher catalog via "telnet gopher.ora.com" (log in as "gopher" -- no
password needed).

Our international distributors:
* EUROPE (except German-speaking countries), MIDDLE EAST, AFRICA
International Thomson Publishing, Berkshire House, 168-173 High Holborn,
London WC1V 7AA, UK. Telephone 44-71-497-1422; FAX 44-71-497-1426
* GERMAN-SPEAKING COUNTRIES. International Thomson Publishing,
Konigswinterer Strasse 418, 53227 Bonn, Germany. Telephone 49-228-445171;
FAX 49-228-441342; or email 100272.2422@compuserve.com * ASIA.
International Thomson Publishing, 221 Henderson Rd., #05-10 Henderson
Building, Singapore 0315. Telephone 65-272-6496; FAX 65-272-6498
* AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND. WoodsLane, Unit 8, 101 Darley Street, Mona
Vale, NSW 2103, Australia. Telephone 61-2-979-5944; FAX 61-2-997-3348; or
email woods@tmx.mhs.oz.au

--
Sara Winge email: sara@ora.com
O'Reilly & Associates
103A Morris St.
Sebastopol, CA 95472
707/829-0515 Fax 707/829-0104

Clip Art

Date: Tue, 6 Sep 94 14:37:32 -0600
From: "Richard R. Lane" 
Subject: clipart sources

Thanks to all who responded to my message seeking sources of clipart.
A number of you asked that I share what I learned.  Here it is....

From: btrue@facstaff.wisc.edu (Betsy True)

We have a few rats & mice, and some base art of 
nurses/technicians that could be modified by us to be lab 
personnell.  We can draw equipment here for you, also, if you 
need something specific.
If you're interested, give us a call at 263-6028.

From: "Edward Smith" 

Try the UW-Stevens Point Gopher.
     
     Path:   The Internet and Points Beyond/
             Internet Gold-Mines/
                Images
     
There is a very large collection at Florida State, 
somewhere in those directories.

From: (Jeff Finlay) 

The Texas A&M Cooperative Extension Service has a clipart 
collection on gopher. To access it, point your Gopher client to: 
leviathan.tamu.edu On the resulting menu, select "Clip Art 
Collection." From there, you can search by keyword. It's a 
fairly good collection, maybe a third of it is of commercial 
quality by today's standards.

From: KOCHHAR@neurophys.wisc.edu

You might try anonymous ftp to gatekeeper.dec.com  At one 
time they had a large collection of clipart, though I don't 
remember what subdirectory, or even whether they still do.

From: Ramakrishna Desiraju 

One good source for clipart in general is provided on
PowerPoint for Macintosh.  If you need some help locating
this, please email me.

Another good source of clipart is IBM's storyboard and
Microsoft's Toolbook, but my knowledge of these two
is probably antiquated.

I remember seeing some pictures of animals in the database.

Graphics File Formats

Date: Tue, 20 Sep 1994 09:41:00 -0500
From: sara@ora.com (Sara Winge)
Subject: FYI/Graphics File Formats book

We have just published this guide to nearly 100 graphics file formats: from
major, standardized formats, like GIF, TIFF, TGA, and BMP to newer or
specialized formats, like SGI YAODL, Rayshade, and Facesaver. If you are a
graphics programmer who needs to know the details of a format (whether it's
big- or little-endian, how many colors can be stored, and precisely what
data appears in each bit or pixel) or anyone else who needs to deal with
the low-level technical details of graphics files, this book is for you. It
is for programmers on any platform-- MS-DOS, Windows, OS/2, UNIX, the
Macintosh, and others.

Encyclopedia of Graphics File Formats
By James D. Murray and William vanRyper
928 pages, ISBN: 1-56592-058-9, $59.95 (US)

In addition to describing the details of the file formats, the Encyclopedia
of Graphics File Formats contains a detailed discussion of graphics
concepts and programming, covering such topics as types of graphics data
(vector, bitmap, metafile, scene description, animation, multimedia),
truecolor, palettes, and color--its perception, conversion, and
quantization. It describes in detail different methods of compressing
graphics data (e.g., run-length encoding, LZW, CCITT, JPEG) and ways of
converting from one type of file format to another. It also includes
information on new graphics initiatives, including JPEG (an emerging image
data compression standard of particular interest in multimedia technology)
and MPEG (a set of digital and audio compression standards for sound and
motion picture data).

The book comes with a CD-ROM on which we've included a collection of
resources that are hard for individuals to find (in many cases, they have
never before been available outside the organizations that developed them).
We've assembled original file format specification documents from such
vendors as Adobe, Aldus, Apple, IBM, Microsoft, and Silicon Graphics, along
with test images and code examples for many of the formats. Also on the
CD-ROM is a set of publicly available software--for MS-DOS, Windows, OS/2,
UNIX, and Macintosh platforms--that will let you convert, view, and
manipulate graphics files and images.

Knowledge Builder (image mgmt software)

Date: Fri, 7 Oct 1994 13:15:21 -0500
From: Kurt Foss 
Subject: FWD: All-In-One Document Image Mgt

Mindworks' All-In-One Document Image Mgt System
 
 SUNNYVALE, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A. 1994 OCT 6 (NB) -- Document
 image management specialist, MindWorks Corp., has introduced
 The Knowledge Builder, which the company says is a "complete
 document image storage and retrieval system."
 
 According to the company, the system allows users to manage
 critical information by scanning documents at high speed and
 storing them on disk.
 
 Mindworks President, El-Shimi, told Newsbytes that, unlike other
 such products available, The Knowledge Builder offers a "total
 software and hardware system" for the desktop by including
 Recollect Software, a full text retrieval software package with
 Fuzzy Search, a desktop scanner, and MindBank 270, which
 operates like a hard disk drive with unlimited capacity.
 
 "Many offices can benefit from a document imaging solution but
 find most systems to be too complicated for their needs. The
 Knowledge Builder was designed with the desktop user in mind,
 said El Shimi, adding that document imaging is considerably
 faster and takes up a lot less space.
 
 The bundled Recollect's OCR (optical character recognition)
 software automatically identifies all the "meaningful" words,
 and uses them to create a separate index for each document.
 
 To retrieve documents, the user types the word and every
 document with that word appears on screen with a "bulls-eye"
 on the pages where those words surface.
 
 "Most importantly," adds El Shimi, "you don't have to keep a look
 out for OCR mistakes on low-quality documents or mis-spellings
 because of Recollect's Fuzzy Search." For instance, if the system
 recognizes a word such as medical to be modical, you can still
 add modical and retrieve the document."
 
 The MindBank 270 allows each removable 270 megabyte (MB)
 magnetic cartridge to handle up to 4,500 pages. The first cartridge
 is included with the mechanism, as well as all the interface
 hardware and driver software needed. The MindWorks Scanner,
 which is built by Ricoh, is a high-quality grayscale flat-bed with
 a 30 page automatic document feeder.
 
 The Knowledge Builder Includes: the Recollect document image
 management software; a Ricoh grayscale desktop scanner with an
 automatic document feeder; the MindBank 270 removable magnetic
 cartridge storage device with one 270MB cartridge; and a SCSI
 (small computer system interface) interface kit. It carries a
 manufacturer's suggested list price of $2,995.
 
 MindWorks claims that all equipment has been optimized for
 compatibility and, therefore, no additional drivers or cables are
 needed for simple plug-and-play. The company directly handles
 technical support and sales. The software is available separately
 for users that already have a scanner and storage device.
 
 (Nick Anis/19941006/Press Contact: Erica Swerdlow, EBS Public
 Relations Inc., 708-520-3300, Adel El-Shimi, MindWorks,
 tel 800-396-MIND, fax 408-730-2143)

U WI Statistics Home Page

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