The SLICE OF LIFE VII videodisc contains tens-of-thousands of images. How do you find images which you want to use in lectures, presentations, lab sessions, or tutorials and question banks? About the only way to sift and sort through the many subject areas and types of images is to use a database that indexes all the frames and provides thorough descriptions of each.

The Slice of Life producers provide such an index in two forms on a cross-platform CD-ROM:

1. FileMaker Pro, and
2. ASCII data ready to import into another database

Sorry, we cannot provide a hard copy of the image descriptions; the document would be very thick and waste many trees.

We can also provide a cross-platform CD-ROM Index for the previous edition, Slice of Life VI.

 HOW TO ORDER THE SOL VII INDEX on CD-ROM

 CROSS-PLATFORM CD-ROM: info
 AUTOMATIC SITE LICENSING

 THE FILEMAKER PRO VERSION OF THE INDEX: info
 THE ASCII DATA VERSION OF THE INDEX: info

 CONTENT SAMPLERS FOR SOL VII

CROSS-PLATFORM CD-ROM: info

The index to the SLICE OF LIFE VII videodisc is distributed on a single CD-ROM. You will receive both the FileMaker Pro and the ASCII versions of the indexes for the Macintosh and Windows computer platforms. Complete installation and user manuals are included in Adobe PDF electronic form, in addition to videodisc barcode fonts and videodisc drivers. The FileMaker Pro version of the index can be run directly from the CD-ROM without copying it to a computer's hard drive.

AUTOMATIC SITE LICENSING:

When you purchase a copy of the CD-ROM index, you are automatically licensed to make as many copies of the index and its descriptions for as many computers as you require within your department, division, lab or library. Do not distribute the index outside of the purchasing institution.

THE FILEMAKER PRO VERSION OF THE INDEX: info

This database (31MB) is a complete index to the images on both sides of the SLICE OF LIFE VII videodisc. It is designed using the cross-platform FileMaker Pro database software from FileMaker, Inc. (formerly Claris Corporation)(www.filemaker.com).

Simple to run
The graphical design includes dozens of "buttons" that have built-in search, sort and printing functions. No working knowledge of the FileMaker Pro software is required.

Thorough descriptions
Over twelve fields are used to describe each image from the disc, including: videodisc frame number, barcode, image title, comments, organ/region, image type, X-ray type, MRI type, radiology contrast, stain, magnification, orientation/plane, and original image contributor.

Browse and search options
There are a variety of screen layouts, showing complete or condensed information depending on your task. These three layouts are known as FULL RECORD (one image description per page), QUICK LIST (half a dozen image descriptions per page, and the most condensed and compact layout for fastest browsing, the ONE LINER.

Controls videodisc playback
For both Macintosh and Windows computers, our index allows users to run videodisc players directly from the database (for Mac OS Systems prior to OS 9 and for Windows Systems prior to Windows 2000...the drivers do not work on contemporary operating systems, unfortunately). When a record is "browsed," the program automatically displays the accompanying videodisc image. Videodisc drivers for Pioneer, Panasonic and Sony videodisc players are included for both Macintosh computers (OS 8 or earlier) and Windows operating systems (Windows 98 or earlier).

Customize or secure
With the appropriate password (supplied upon purchase), FileMaker Pro allows you to customize the index to suit any local needs. Without password entry, the index can be searched and printed, but cannot be changed; its descriptions and structures remain safely intact.

Videodisc barcodes
The index also includes videodisc barcodes and an appropriate barcode font for Macintosh or Windows computers for printing or copy-and-pasting into other text or word processing documents.

Complete installation and user manuals
Well written and thorough manuals distributed in the Adobe Acrobat PDF file format instruct you in every aspect of installing and using the FileMaker Pro index. Complete, illustrated, step-by-step instructions are included for videodisc driver and barcode font installations for Windows and Macintosh operating systems.

12-inch laser videodisc
Do not confuse the SLICE OF LIFE VII laser videodisc with CD-ROM or DVD-Video and DVD-ROM technologies. SOL VII is a traditional 12-inch videodisc whose images can be seen by connecting the output of the laserdisc player to a television monitor. It offers instant random access to any of its 54,000 frames. These frames are not stored as individual picture files with file names as you would find with a CD-ROM or DVD-ROM. The advantages of the laserdisc medium are its stability, quality, fast image retrieval, and density of information on a single disc. In 1986 when this project began, CD-ROMs were yet to be invented. Today, it would require about 8 CD-ROMs to hold all 44,000 laserdisc images in a compressed JPEG file format. Refer to the SLICE OF LIFE Digital Project for further discussions about CD-ROM or DVD versions of the Slice of Life VII.

You need to buy the Filemaker Pro software
If you are going to use our FileMaker Pro version of the videodisc index, then you must own a copy of the FileMaker Pro database software from FileMaker Inc. (formerly Claris)(www.filemaker.com). Our index is supplied in version 2.1 of FileMaker Pro, so no user is forced to upgrade older database software. Owners of FileMaker 3.0, 4.0, 5.0, 6.0 or greater can seamlessly convert the older 2.1 version of the index. Sorry, we are not a licensed reseller for FileMaker Pro.

You need to own a Slice of Life VII videodisc
You should have a Slice of Life VII videodisc (NTSC video format only). See our SALES & ORDERING section.

Equipment requirements
In addition to your computer, you should have a television monitor and an industrial grade videodisc player with a serial control port. A serial control cable is required only if you want your computer to control the playback of the laserdisc as you browse the index. This serial cable controls the playback of the videodisc player; it does not carry any video or audio signals. The output of the videodisc player is fed by a video cable and audio cable to a regular television set or monitor. This is how most people see and hear what is on the videodisc. The images will not appear on your computer screen unless you have purchased and installed a special video capture or playback card.

Because serial control of videodisc players may be impossible using comtemporary Apple or Windows-based operating systems, the use of a barcode reader or hand-controller may be more appropriate for selecting and displaying a particular image frame from the videodisc.

THE ASCII DATA VERSION OF THE INDEX: info

The descriptions of the images found on the SLICE OF LIFE VII are also provided as stripped down tab-delimited ASCII text for either the Macintosh or the Windows computer platforms. These text files can be imported into your favorite version of a database or spreadsheet in order to search and browse the image descriptions. An accompanying Adobe Acrobat PDF file called ASCII.PDF explains what you need to know about our ASCII index and identifies and describes each field used in the index, including the field order of the descriptions and the type and length of each field. The barcode field found in the FileMaker Pro version of the index is not included in the ASCII data package. Approximately 10MB.

CONTENT SAMPLERS FOR SOL VII:

The sample of subjects and image locations provided here only scratches the surface of the breadth and depth of the SLICE OF LIFE videodisc. This sampler is not intended as a complete index (see INDEX TO THE SLICE OF LIFE VII VIDEODISC). It is an overview and can be used if you already have access to one of our videodiscs.

This sampler is organized in two ways:

 SOL VII SAMPLER: Sorted by Representative Subject Areas

 SOL VII SAMPLER: Sorted by Individual Contributor