Title: | The Digital way of working |
Moderator: | QUARK::LIONEL ON |
Created: | Fri Feb 14 1986 |
Last Modified: | Fri Jun 06 1997 |
Last Successful Update: | Fri Jun 06 1997 |
Number of topics: | 5321 |
Total number of notes: | 139771 |
From: NAME: GOETZE <GOETZE@CALDEC@MRGATE@WROMTS@WRO> Date: 17-Dec-1992 Posted-date: 22-Dec-1992 Precedence: 1 Subject: Help save the digital ArtLibrary To: LEE ROTH@CSO, MARTY SCHMIDT@BXC, STUART SCHMIDT@OTO Help save the digital ArtLibrary As you may know, I've been creating, oerganizing, and distributing clip-art to all of Digital for the last few years in my spare time, aka the digital Art Library. The group I work for (Northern California Administration) is being disbanded. NCA provided services to other Digital groups here in Palo Alto, many of which are going away (like WSL & Tri/ADD). Digital has decided that there is no longer a need for a central services organization here in Palo Alto, and Mountain View. Last week nine people out of our group received the package; the remainder will stay on to perform consolidation work until next March, at which point we will receive the package. Presumably the CALDEC cluster will be torn down and put on DIAL. Yet there will still be a need for the clip-art effort to continue. The basic need for us to be able to communicate better by using quality graphics in our work has not gone away. Many groups have made plans based on my continuing to provide this service. Amidst all these changes, there is an opportunity to have a greater effect. With full funding/time effort, Digital organizations would benefit more consistently from quality graphics, better delivery of graphics, and the range and selection of graphics would grow substantially. There are still many groups & people not aware of the library, which with more time or corporate support, could benefit. I have quite a few ideas/goals for the next six months to a year of ArtLibrary effort, including but not limited to: * work on clip-art CD-ROMs for VMS, Ultrix, & DOS; * adding thousands of new items from other groups, * scan and put online corporate photo library pictures * updating the clip-art catalog to show all new items; * populating a clip-art database which is needed for... * providing query tools to allow for easy retrieval of art; * adding support for more PC graphics formats like WMF or CGM; * extensive clip-art of all new Alpha AXP products; * creating a subset produict clip-art set for customer use * work with graphics user groups to set standards for art tools * help users to most effectively use the graphics we have * maintaining the AXP Identity Guide on the network Some of these projects are funded, but only for 10-20% of my time. So the strategy to keep the ArtLibrary effort going will be three-pronged: o Get many different groups who use the library to fund small % each plus one group which can accept a no-cost headcount. o Make a proposal at a high level to get "corporate funding" o Find group needing a graphics person and that can sponser the library This is where you can help. Can your group spend a little to keep this clip-art going? Even if your group cannot provide any funding, perhaps you know of a group/contact who would be interested. Let others in your organization know that the ArtLibrary could die off unless everyone helps out a little. Secondly, my high level proposal will need to have supporting data/letters from people who have used it to save Digital money, make Digital sell more, or be more productive. Thirdly, some people have started submitting ideas regarding saving/funding the ArtLibrary to Delta. The Delta program may be able to introduce the ArtLibrary on agendas where I wouldn't. Delta accepts ideas via phone (dtn 223-IDEA) or mail to SONATA::IDEASCENTRAL (for VAXmail), [email protected] (for Ultrix mail). The form they provide to submit ideas on is available from CALDEC::ART$ROOT:[DOC]DELTA-FORM.TXT. Lastly the current status and ideas are being posted in the Notesfile at CALDEC::DIGITAL_ARTLIBRARY. Thank you for your support over the years! erik "No artist is ahead of him time. He is his time. It is just that the others are behind the time." --Martha Graham dtn 543-1311 or (415) 688-1311 AppleLink: GOETZE VAXmail: CALDEC::GOETZE VMSMKT::GOETZE ALL-IN-1: ERIK GOETZE @UCP Internet: goetze @decwrl.dec.com ps- a summary of the digital ArtLibrary, as it stands today: The digital ArtLibrary, consisting of 13000+ unique illustrations, is an invaluable and unique company resource. Files are maintained for four platforms (VMS/ULTRIX, DOS/Windows, and Macintosh), and are available over many popular network protocols, from multiple points in the network. The clip-art graphics are constantly monitored for quality, and organized for convenient access by subject. The library include not only representations of products, but also graphics which are critical to Digital's identity such as the digital and AXP logos, and a variety of diagrams and other business related subjects. An online catalog of available clip-art helps users to locate graphics and the filename/path to use. The purpose of the ArtLibrary is to be an free point of exchange for re-usable graphics in the company. When an employee needs an online picture or illustration of something, they can go to one place to find it, or find a pointer to where it lives. They can also use the ArtLibrary help resources for assistance on using the electronic graphics. The digital ArtLibrary is used as a key graphics ingredient to Digital proposals, presentations, advertisements, literature, newsletters, and documentation. All of the above Digital communications benefit from a consistency of appearance by using the ArtLibrary. The ArtLibrary files can be used to enhance company communications from a wide variety of popular and commonly used software, including DECwrite, DECpresent, RAGS, DECpage, Scribe, VAX DOCUMENT, Word for Windows, PowerPoint, PageMaker, FrameMaker, Quark Xpress, Ventura Publisher, Adobe PhotoShop, Adobe Dimensions, Adobe Illustrator, Aldus Freehand, Deneba Canvas, Microsoft Publisher, MacDraw Pro, and many others. The ArtLibrary helps producers of graphics because it off loads the work of providing many and varied public access to art. Many artists/illustrators at Digital are hard pressed for time and don't as a rule make their project's art available company wide, and in all file formats. Another way that it helps graphics producers is by providing re-use of existing graphics, so the graphic artist can be enhancing an illustration to their purpose rather than starting from scratch. Since many of the library files are generated with Adobe Illustrator, it is easier to deal with commercial print bureaus and other graphics businesses which are used to dealing with Adobe PostScript. Furthermore since Illustrator is a widely available and highly regarded illustration tool, and the Illustrator file format is understood by popular drawing programs like CorelDRAW, Aldus Freehand, and many graphics conversion utilities, modifications to any of the Illustrator-based files can be readily performed by PC, Mac, Ultrix, and soon VMS users. There are an estimated 9000 users of the ArtLibrary in Digital. File breakdown: I've drawn over a thousand illustrations of our products, in my spare time at home. They range from super-detailed color art to simple symbolic renderings. They all work with PC, Mac, and VMS|Ultrix applications. The rest of the library comes from many different groups within Digital. 13000 VMS & Ultrix files 3000 Macintosh files 3000 PC files ----- 19000 files total
T.R | Title | User | Personal Name | Date | Lines |
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2295.1 | Looking for data... | 10478::GOETZE | The greatest masterpiece in literature is only a dictionary out of order.--Jean Cocteau | Thu Dec 31 1992 18:29 | 19 |
Hello ArtLibrary user, I'm gathering data for the current proposal to fund the ArtLibrary. I'm hoping to come up with a report summarizing specific usage. For instance, when I roll it all up, my summary might read "1000 employees use clip-art from the library on average three times per day, and employ ten different items during each use. Known total usage is at least 30,000 clip-art references per day." So if you could provide any data on how much you use the library (both from a times per day perspective, and a quantity of different items used value), I'd greatly appreciate it. It will help the proposal to have this data. best regards & happy new year, erik | |||||
2295.2 | Did the library get used in a recent VP DVN? | TLE::AMARTIN | Alan H. Martin | Thu Dec 31 1992 21:44 | 7 |
Hey Erik, do you suppose your clip-art library was used to help prepare Dennis Roberson's slides for his recent DVN? If you haven't seen them, check out CLT::SDT$PUBLIC:DEC16_DVN_SLIDES.PS. (It's really big, the slides aren't in order (or oriented in portrait mode), and takes forever to print because it has a lot of pixels "on", so use a previewer if you can). Hope this helps, /AHM | |||||
2295.3 | UTROP1::SIMPSON_D | another year, another dollar | Mon Jan 04 1993 05:44 | 4 | |
I don't think 'use per day' is meaningful. I use the clip art when I create presentations. I don't create presentations every day. When I do I can spend many hours at a time, but averaging them out like that really doesn't say much. | |||||
2295.4 | ARTLIB::GOETZE | machine-heads always smell of hot steel, burning oil, and fuel | Tue Jan 05 1993 16:50 | 33 | |
re .2 I examined the clip-art there and it is not from the ArtLibrary. Some of it appears to have been created by CorelDRAW, and some from QuickPIC. All the same items used there are more-or-less available from the ArtLibrary. re .3 Perhaps not. I'm responding to a request for usage data. While uses per day may not tell the whole story, it does allow for some understanding of how often the ArtLibrary gets used. For instance, the survey data I've gotten back so far (after 1.5 days) shows that every day 1002 items of ArtLibrary clip-art are employed by 468 users. Since there are an estimated 9,000 users of the ArtLibrary, a simple extrapolation results in 19,000 uses per day. That's a lot of use, especially when you think that people are not using art in even daily amounts but typically in big clumps. But I'm no statistician, so I'll leave the interpretation to others. From the flip side of the coin, there is no way at present to easily track how many people copy the files to their system, and beyond that, how many people use the clip-art on the system it was copied to. I know all about fal logging; that's only one part. The reason for this is that the files are widely available on many systems, over many different network protocols. Just tracking the copies would require a massive amount of effort across all those systems. And that 1000 user cluster, access by the sysadmin registers as only one file copy operation. So I decided to try polling the users. erik | |||||
2295.5 | 10478::GOETZE | bungle in the electronic jungle | Thu Jan 07 1993 11:48 | 8 | |
There should be an announcement on the subject of the ArtLibrary soon (within a few days). Please hold off further "save the ArtLibrary efforts" until that time. Thanks for your support, erik | |||||
2295.6 | 10244::GOETZE | Have no fear of perfection--you'll never reach it. --Salvador Dali | Thu Mar 25 1993 15:24 | 5 | |
Well the ArtLibrary has been saved...there will be article soon on the subject. Thanks to everyone who helped by sending mail, ideas, or suggestions. It was worth it. erik | |||||
2295.7 | But has Erik Goetze been saved? | CSOADM::ROTH | ELVIS:: is alive... and reachable!! | Thu Mar 25 1993 15:49 | 0 |
2295.8 | Please, no religious discussions :-\ | FUNYET::ANDERSON | Cut spending first | Thu Mar 25 1993 16:01 | 0 |
2295.9 | An important question in either sense | CSOADM::ROTH | ELVIS:: is alive... and reachable!! | Fri Mar 26 1993 17:01 | 7 |
re: .8 My reference was to Erik's employment at Digital... I thought I had read somewhere some speculation that if the ArtLibrary was scrapped then Erik would be out of a job. Lee | |||||
2295.10 | NEWPRT::NEWELL_JO | Jodi Newell - Irvine CA | Fri Mar 26 1993 18:52 | 16 | |
RE: .9 No Digital ArtLibrary = No Erik I think this assumption is correct. Erik's group in Palo Alto, Ca. took a big TFSO hit in November/December '92. Erik managed to survive but felt it essential to find a new position. His first and preferred position was to be the official (and recognized) manager of the ArtLibrary. He worked very hard on the ArtLibrary for many years and it would have been a tremendous loss to Digital to lose both. Alot of Erik's supporters (and there are many) rallied around the company and Erik was soon offered a position with Corporate Communications. Erik can follow up with his comments, as I know he reads this conference regularly. Jodi-(Erik's #1 fan :^) | |||||
2295.11 | recent history | 10591::GOETZE | Form is not the goal but the result of our work | Wed May 26 1993 18:55 | 8 |
Well I thought this note was static...I see it wasn't. My former group took a second, almost total TFSO hit in March. But this was known in December and prompted the effort to save the ArtLibrary. Yes, I'm working on the ArtLibrary and some other related projects. Again, thanks for helping -- you made a difference. erik | |||||
2295.12 | The Digital ArtLibrary--latest info | CALDEC::GOETZE | These are the pros & cons of hitch hiking | Mon Mar 07 1994 16:14 | 105 |
The Digital ArtLibrary The Digital ArtLibrary is a huge on-line store-house of clip-art and desktop publishing resources for Digital employees to use in their communications, including newsletters, quotes, proposals, documentation, advertising, software, or literature. Digital products are shown in various drawing styles, each suited for a different form of communication with customers. ArtLibrary users enjoy a high degree of consistency because customers see the same Digital visual style from multiple channels. The ArtLibrary features over 15,000 unique graphics files, depicting all of our current mainline products, most prior products, some popular third-party products, and some generic clip-art. The official Digital logo is available from the library. In addition, photographs and the beginnings of an on-line form of the Corporate Photo Library are available from the same areas as the Digital ArtLibrary. Every popular type of desktop computer can use the ArtLibrary and get WYSIWYG graphics. The Digital ArtLibrary is available in several popular graphics file formats including computer graphics metafiles (CGM), Windows Metafile Format (WMF), and Encapsulated PostScript (EPS). Every popular application can use the ArtLibrary graphics. This includes applications such as WordPerfect, Microsoft PowerPoint, Microsoft Word, DECwrite, Aldus PageMaker, Quark Xpress, WPS-PLUS, Aldus Persuasion, VAX DOCUMENT, Interleaf, FrameMaker, Ventura Publisher, Microsoft Publish, CorelDRAW!, Adobe Illustrator, Aldus Freehand, and many more. If something in the library doesn't look like exactly what you want, then you can change it. Every item in the library is completely revisable. The ArtLibrary has become much easier to access, thanks to several recent developments. You can search for and obtain clip-art via VTX, the World Wide Web, or mail. The graphics files (electronic clip-art) are available via CD-ROM, or over the network via a variety of popular network protocols such as DECnet, NFS, Pathworks, or the World-Wide Web. The OPAL CD-ROM has much of the ArtLibrary in CGM and WMF format, and the Q3 release is almost out. How to order the Q3 and future releases of the OPAL/CLIPART CD-ROM: Subscribe through Readers Choice. Type VTX PROFILE at your system prompt and follow the on-screen instructions. (Within VTX PROFILE, look under "Newsletters,Publications/Tools"->"Worldwide-Hardcopy" "OPAL CD-ROM"). Network access: For specifics on how to access the on-line library, start with notes 35 through 38 in the Digital_ArtLibrary Notesfile (whose location is TRINTY::DIGITAL_ARTLIBRARY). For those used to network addresses, you can find all the clip-art files under NACIMT::AZ:[DEC...] for DEC O/S users; NACIMT::AZ:[PC...] for PC users; AZ:[MAC...] for Macs. VTX access: To obtain clip-art through the Sales & Marketing Integrated Repository VTX infobase, type VTX IR. WWW: The ArtLibrary World-Wide Web front end has an address (URL) of http://art.pa.dec.com/html/visual-libraries.html. The library's graphics are created by many artists and illustrators around the corporation, as well as the ArtLibrary maintainer, Erik Goetze. Thanks go to the many hard-working employees who rarely get credit for their artwork in the final product. Sign up for updates which inform you of new clip-art, new capabilities, and other graphics news by selecting "ArtLibrary Updates" within Reader's Choice. Why Targeted Graphics Everyone has a need to communicate at one time or another. We often have to convey specific messages about Digital's products over the din of multiple media channels and polished, focused messages by our competitors. Successful communication with the customer depends on factors like the customer's predispositions, message fidelity, skill of the messenger, and using techniques appropriate to the form of the message. We may not be able to present wondrous multimedia events for every customer visit, but our messages can sell more effectively when visual elements are used selectively. For most people, forms of communications that use visual elements are more effective. The picture worth a thousand words cliche has much truth to it. We see evidence of this every day, from the presentation which begins with a cartoon, to groups that use TopMapping to understand business processes, to the uniquitous GUI interface on PCs and workstations. Why? Visual information is processed quickly and efficiently--it's more integrated--a photo often appeals to the viewer's emotions, and it's more universal--pictures cut across cultures, boundaries. Make your communications more effective by employing clip-art of our products, and subject-specific art, which looks like it was designed for the job at hand. Become familiar with what generic clip-art is bundled with your presentation, word processing, or layout application. Classes, books, and videos are available to help become more skilled at using graphics. Lastly look around; there are thousands of employees productively using the ArtLibrary all over Digital who could help you get started. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Erik Goetze How to contact: electronic mail address: CALDEC::GOETZE alternate e-mail address: NACIMT::GOETZE Internet style e-mail: [email protected] internal phone number: dtn 543-2132 external phone number: (415) 853-2132 Internal office address: UCT-2 The Digital ArtLibrary is supported by Sales & Marketing IM&T. If you find it useful, consider feeding back this info to me or my manager Greg Thorne. |