ZOETROPE Project

ZOETROPE - Zope Online Enquiry Tracking Retrieval and Ordering of Photographs Electronically

Synopsis

ZOETROPE [1] is a project arising from the needs of AV Media Services. The detailed specification of the project would be drawn up in consultation with the users of the system. Potential users include: External Affairs & Development, International Office, Residence and Catering, School & Colleges Liaison Service, R & C Services, and Archives. A brief synopsis of the requirements as provided by AVMS is given below.

For approximately the past 4 years AV Media Services have provided a digital reference library of photographic images for use by University staff. This currently exists in Extensis software on an Apple Mac computer within the Photography section (stand alone). A usage fee per image is charged; the income from which allows for the expansion of the facility.

In order to make this service more widely available and to streamline the handling of images it would make sense to provide an online imagebase which could be accessed by those departments mainly involved with the marketing of the University. It may be that the facility is later offered on a wider basis as in the case of the Imagebase [2] at Glasgow University.

This would allow the agreed users to browse, search and possibly add to the imagebase. An electronic form would be provided to record requests and low, medium and high resolution images could be downloaded for use. Guidelines would be provided to guide users in appropriate resolutions for specific purposes. All ordering and invoicing would be handled electronically to reduce administration time. It would also be valuable to track the use of images from the imagebase and provide this information to users.

Zope [3] would seem to be a good candidate for the implementation for this project. It allows for rapid development so that user feedback may be gathered through the use of prototypes.

ZOETROPE Project

Synopsis

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