• Facilities and Infrastructure Management - Gardens are More Than Just Plants
• New York Botanical Garden to Test Visitors QUICKFinder! in Pilot Project
• Glicksman Teaches Course in Use of Computers in Horticulture
• Robotic Total Stations - For Accurate One-Person Mapping
• Use of Garden Notepad Placed on Hold, Pending Testing by BG-BASE
• Hewlett Packard Discontinues the HP200 lx Palmtop Computer
• BG-Map Highlighted Feature - Plant Images
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Facilities and Infrastructure Management - Gardens are More
Than Just Plants

In eight years of developing and supporting BG-Map, it has 
become apparent that the needs of gardens for computerized 
mapping extend far beyond simply keeping track of plants. 
Gardens also have a pressing need to track and manage their 
infrastructure, including utilities and buildings, as well as 
other non-plant objects such as artwork, signage, and 
memorials.

These needs will soon be addressed by a new BG-Map module, 
which will provide an extensive set of facilities management 
tools, integrated with the existing plant mapping and 
management tools. The Facilities Management Module is being 
developed collaboratively with Mount Cuba Center for the Study 
of Piedmont Flora in Greenville, Delaware, USA.

Using the Facilities Management Module, it will be possible to 
quickly find objects on the map, query the database to find 
specific categories of objects (those needing painting or 
maintenance, for example), and attach images to objects (such 
as floor plans, photographs, or sketches). Clicking an object 
on the map will allow the display of pertinent data and 
images. Following are some of the items that will be tracked 
by the database and tied to the map: Artwork, Buried 
Utilities, Memorials, Signage, Site Electrical, Site 
Hardscape, Site Water, Structures, Vendors, Donors, 
Maintenance Tasks, and Materials.

The Facilities Management Module will be installed at Mount 
Cuba Center in the first half of 2000. Following testing, it 
will become available to other BG-Map users as an optional 
module.

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New York Botanical Garden to Test Visitors QUICKFinder!
in Pilot Project

The New York Botanical Garden will soon conduct the first 
public trial of Visitors QUICKFinder! (VQF), a component of 
BG-Map designed to allow garden visitors to find plants, learn 
about plants, and print their own tour maps.
The pilot project will begin around mid-October. VQF will be 
installed on a touch-screen in the Visitor's Plaza Information 
Kiosk.

In this trial, NYBG will use a questionnaire to seek visitor 
response. The goal is to determine the potential audience for 
VQF and how that audience may best be served. Ultimately, 
this could lead to "fine tuning" VQF to make it more 
responsive to user needs.

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Glicksman Teaches Course in Use of Computers in Horticulture

BG-Map creator, Mark Glicksman is teaching a course this fall 
in "Use of Computers in Horticulture" at the Ambler, 
Pennsylvania campus of Temple University. The course covers 
the basics of standard computer software applications useful 
in the fields of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture - 
Microsoft Word and Excel and AutoCAD. It offers a 
"horticultural slant" through assignments that focus on the 
use of these programs in garden design.

The course may be expanded in the future to cover botanical 
record keeping and mapping. For details, visit the course 
homepage at: www.bg-map.com/lahort

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Robotic Total Stations - For Accurate One-Person Mapping

For fast and accurate surveying of plant locations, nothing 
beats a total station. This electronic instrument measures 
the distance and angle to a plant or other object from a known 
point, thus determining it's position, usually to within a few 
centimeters. The data collected by a total station can be 
automatically inputted into BG-Map using the Total Station 
Interface software module.

But, total stations have a major disadvantage - they require a 
two-person team for efficient surveying. One person must 
operate the total station while the other carries a pole with 
a reflector target from plant to plant, reading accession 
numbers and communicating with the total station operator. 
Global Positioning Systems (GPS) eliminate the need for two 
persons, but are often hampered by a lack of accuracy and 
speed and by interference from tree canopies and other 
objects. Robotic total stations offer a new solution that 
combines the speed and accuracy of total stations with the 
one-person operation of a GPS.

How Robotic Total Stations Work:

A robotic total station is just like a standard total station 
with the addition of servo motors and logic circuitry that 
allow it to automatically track the target. It is set up at a 
known point just like a conventional total station. All the 
controls and the data collector are located in the pole that 
holds the target. Once the robotic total station is set up, 
the operator leaves it in place and moves from plant to plant 
with the target/data collector. The total station tracks the 
operator's movements, and automatically focuses and locks onto 
the target.

Robotic total stations are currently available from the major 
surveying equipment manufacturers, such as Geodimeter, Leica, 
and Topcon. Although they are significantly more expensive 
than conventional units, the extra cost may be more than 
offset by savings in manpower.

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Use of Garden Notepad Placed on Hold, Pending Testing by BG-BASE

Garden Notepad was developed at the request of and with the 
support of The New York Botanical Garden. It allows you to 
use the same palmtop computer as is used with the Total 
Station Interface to record field checks on plants, including 
size and condition, which are then written directly into BG-
BASE without further data entry. As far as we can determine, 
this software will not adversely affect the data integrity of 
BG-BASE.

At this time, however, the developers of BG-BASE have not 
fully tested this portion of the system. Given that this 
process is modifying data in BG-BASE, we strongly advise that 
users defer from using Garden Notepad until such tests have 
been completed. You will be notified when this testing is 
complete so that you may take full advantage of this most 
useful tool.

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Hewlett Packard Discontinues the HP200 lx Palmtop Computer

Hewlett Packard has announced that it will be discontinuing 
production of the HP 200lx palmtop computer, effective 
November 1, 1999. This move had been anticipated as Hewlett 
Packard moves away from DOS-base palmtops, like the 200lx, to 
the newer Windows-CE platform for portable computers.

The 200lx is currently the platform of choice for running the 
BG-Map Total Station Interface for automated surveying. How 
will HP's announcement affect BG-Map users? At least for the 
next 3 years, the effect will be negligible. HP has 
committed to supporting the 200lx until November 2002. In 
addition, vendors such as Thaddeus Computing 
(www.PalmtopPaper.com) and Your One-Stop Palmtop Shop 
(www.mrpalmtop.com) will continue offering new and used 
200lx's plus maintenance and support for some time to come.

Ultimately, the Total Station Interface itself will be 
rewritten for the Windows CE platform. Until then, the HP 
200lx will continue to be a reliable and functional tool for 
automated surveying in BG-Map.

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BG-Map Highlighted Feature - Plant Images

This feature allows you to view one or more images 
(photographs or drawings) when you look up or list 
information about a plant in BG-Map. For example, if you 
click on a plant currently displayed on the map using "List 
Plant", you can display images of that plant.
Creating and Saving Images:

A variety of tools can be used to create a library of images 
for your collection. For example, you can use a conventional 
camera and a scanner to scan your prints, drawings, or 
slides. Or, you could use a digital camera. Software such 
as PhotoShop, or the shareware program, Lview, can be used to 
retouch and enhance your images. They can be saved in any 
one of a variety of formats, such as .BMP .DIB, .GIF, .JPG, 
.PCX, .RLE, .TIF, or .TGA. The "JPEG" image format (.JPG) is 
particularly efficient because it uses compression to 
minimize the disk space needed to store each image. But, 
JPEG is a "lossy" compression technique, meaning that each 
time you edit and resave an image in JPEG format, it looses a 
bit of quality. So, use JPEG only to save the final edited 
version of each image.

Give some consideration to image size (resolution), i.e. 
number of pixels. Larger sized images provide more detail but 
occupy more disk space. The maximum image size that 
BG-Map can display without clipping is limited by your 
system's desktop size (See Windows Control Panel - Display). 
For example, if your desktop size is set for 1024 x 768, your 
images should not exceed about 1020 x 650. For 800 x 600 
desktops and for Visitors QUICKFinder!, the image size should 
not exceed about 798 x 508.

If your system is networked, store the images in designated 
folders (directories) on your server so that all workstations 
can access them. You can arrange the folders to incorporate 
a series of subfolders arranged by genus or family or some 
other logical sequence. If you have a large number of 
images, consider storing them on CD-ROM's and using a multi-
CD playback unit to access them.

Assigning Images for Use in BG-Map:

In BG-Map, images are assigned on a per-name basis. That is, 
any single plant name can have one or more images assigned to 
it. When you look up information for a plant, all of the 
images assigned to its name are listed for selection. You 
assign images to plant names by choosing "Plant Images" in 
the "Setup" menu of the BG-Map Window. Follow the 
instructions in the Users Manual and the help screens. For 
each image, you can store a source (source of the image) and 
a description. If you are storing images for individual 
plants in your collection, include the accession number with 
qualifier in the image description so that you can determine 
which image belongs to which plant. You may wish to store
more than one type of image - for example, individual
close-ups of foliage, flowers, fruit, and bark, or perhaps a 
botanical illustration.

Using the BG-BASE Images Module:

If you are using the BG-BASE Images Module, any images 
assigned to plant names in BG-BASE will be displayed by BG-
Map as well.

Images for Visitors QUICKFinder!:

Only one image per plant name can be assigned for use with 
Visitors QUICKFinder! This is the image that the visitor 
will see. To designate this image, check the box labeled 
"Use This Image for Visitors QUICKFinder!".
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Visit the BG-Map USERS SUPPORT AREA at 
www.bg-map.com/userdata
BG-Map Botanical Garden Mapping System
E-mail: glicks@bg-map.com
Tel: 1.215.887.1100	Fax: 
1.215.887.1470