WHIMS User's Manual

Product Type: USGS Series

Year: 2004

Author(s): Osborn, R.G

Pages: 29

Suggested Citation: Osborn, R.G. 2004. WHIMS User's Manual: U.S. Geological Survey, Fort Collins Science Center Web Report. 29 p.

Abstract

WHIMS is a Microsoft Access 2000 application consisting of an application database, a wild horse identification database, and a collection of digital photographs. WHIMS was originally intended to be used with a collection of 35mm slides that were scanned to create Kodak PhotoCDs by a third party. The current WHIMS is enhanced to support a digital image collection acquired from digital cameras or scanned with a film scanner and recorded to CD or DVD. WHIMS can be integrated into the user’s established digital image workflow providing that 1) original digital images are archived on uniquely labeled optical media in photoCD, TIF, or JPG format, 2) the collection of derived wild horse images are stored on the user’s hard drive relative to the wild horse identification database, and 3) the subdirectories to the WHIMS wild horse identification database reflect the optical media’s volume labels and directory structure. Whether the collection originates from digital camera, film scanners, or legacy PhotoCD technology, special software is typically bundled with hardware to download, rename, and edit images. More advanced digital darkroom techniques require the power of special image editing software, e.g., Photoshop or PaintShop Pro. In addition, software and hardware is needed to produce CD or DVD archives of photographs from digital cameras or scanned film. The user is expected to already have some familiarity with these tools, which WHIMS does not replicate. Instead, WHIMS integrates with a wide range of software and workflows to facilitate the organization, access, attribution and display of the digital images. For the uninitiated, some examples are provided of how to develop a workflow that integrates WHIMS with a generic editor, e.g., PaintShop Pro. The WHIMS application database (WHIMS2k.mdb) contains standard forms, queries, and Visual Basic for Applications program code. A spate wild horse identification database (e.g., HORSESDEMO.mdb) contains the data tables, which the application database connects to when it is first opened. In this way, a single application database may work with several wild horse databases, and each wild horse database may represent a separate herd management area. WHIMS has been used to develop wild horse databases for the Pryor Mountain, WY and the Bookcliffs, CO horse management areas. Other wild horse databases are being developed for McCullough Peak, WY and Cape Lookout, NC wild horses. An empty template wild horse database, HorsesDBTemplate.mdb, may be used as is, or copied and renamed in a separate directory to reflect the herd management area it represents. This initial horse database may be further customized to include on colors and feature descriptions related to your heard management area. The exact structure of a wild horse identification database is outlined below.