June 6, 1997
Contact:
Guy Lamolinara, Library of Congress (202) 707-9217
Heidi Belden, Office of Sen. Pete Domenici (202) 224-7098
Deborah Deal, First Market Group for LizardTech (407) 788-7070
Media Advisory Update: Materials to be available on-line on June 9, rather than June 28, as previously announced.
Sen. Pete Domenici and the Librarian of Congress Announce New Library of Congress Map Collection on the Internet
For First Time, Detailed Maps to Be Available
Using New File-Compression Technology
James H. Billington, the Librarian of Congress and Sen.
Pete Domenici (R-N.M.) will announce a significant gift to
the Library of Congress that will enable the public to
access some of the Library's incomparable map collections on
the Internet.
WHO: James H. Billington, Librarian of Congress;
Sen. Pete Domenici; Ralph Ehrenberg, Chief,
Geography and Map Division; John R. Grizz Deal,
President of LizardTech.
WHEN: Monday, June 9, 10:30 a.m.
WHERE: Digital Library Visitors' Center, first floor,
Madison Building, 101 Independence Ave. S.E.
WHAT: For the first time, maps from the collections of
the Library of Congress will be available on-line
and offer greater detail than can be seen with the
naked eye. This new collection from the Library's
site on the World Wide Web is made possible through
the donation of a file-compression technology
developed by LizardTech Inc. of Santa Fe, N.M., and
Seattle. The presentation of detailed maps
on-line, once highly impractical due to the very
large size of their digital files, is now possible
with the technology that reduces the size of
massive map files by more than 20 times. Users
can access these maps on the World Wide Web to view
the entire image or zoom in for greater detail. No
special software is necessary to view these maps.
They will be accessible to the public for the first
time at http://www.loc.gov/.
The donation of the file-compression technology is the
latest gift received by the Geography and Map Division
through its Center for Geographic Information, an alliance
with private sector industries that are working to develop a
vast array of new geographic technologies. The large-format,
flatbed scanner that is used to digitize the maps, for
example, was donated by Tangent Color Systems; Hewlett
Packard gave the computer equipment that is used to process
the map images so that they can be displayed.
"The Library and the nation benefit from this gift in a
very significant way," said Dr. Billington in announcing the
gift. "It reduces the cost of digital storage of the maps
that the division plans to scan as part of the National
Digital Library Program, and it allows the general public to
have unprecedented access to the Library's unparalleled map
collections over the Internet."
The compression of these very large files is made
possible by the use of Multiresolution Seamless Image
Database (MrSID) software, which was invented at Los Alamos
National Laboratory. Sen. Domenici sponsored federal
technology transfer legislation in 1989 that enabled
partnerships between national laboratories and U.S.
industry. LizardTech has used this and other legislation to
develop private sector commercial uses for this technology.
"The Library of Congress's use of the LizardTech
software is another successful example of technology
transfer from our national laboratories. These transfers
enable the public and private partnerships that provide
additional returns to the nation," Sen. Domenici said.
"This collection of maps will greatly enhance the offerings
from the National Digital Library Program, which is bringing
the riches of the Library to all Americans."
The Library's Geography and Map Division comprises a
collection of 4.5 million maps and 60,000 atlases, making it
the largest in the world. The division is scanning maps
from its core collections to make them available from the
Library's National Digital Library Program. The first
virtual cartographic collection, "Panoramic Maps of the
United States," will be available on the World Wide Web
today as a component of "American Memory"
(http://www.loc.gov/), which is bringing the most
significant of the Library's American historical collections
to a wider audience through the Internet.
The National Digital Library Program aims to make
available via the Internet millions of important materials
from America's past contained in the incomparable
collections of the Library of Congress. Already accessible
are Mathew Brady's Civil War photographs; documents relating
to slavery, the civil rights movement and women's suffrage;
and early films and sound recordings. The Library's
services on the World Wide Web currently process more than
42 million transactions per month.
LizardTech, formed in 1992, is a private company
focused on publishing innovative software that allows users
of all levels easy access to digital images and multimedia
content. LizardTech is a spinoff of Los Alamos National
Laboratory; it is based in Santa Fe and Seattle.
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PR 97-100
6/9/97
ISSN 0731-3527