Welcome to the first of several modules that will help you get to know the Landscape Change Program or, for short, the LCP. For this module, you will be making extensive use of the LCP (that's Landscape Change Program) web site at http://uvm.edu/ landscape.

Just what is the LCP?
Well, it's a virtual collection of images of Vermont as it was and as it is. Go to the home page of the web site by clicking here. We have more than 25,000 images in the collection with more coming on line every day. Most LCP images are historic and stand alone. More than 10% of the LCP collection is paired imagery where we have two images of the same location taken at different times. Click here to see an example of a modern pair. Click here to see an example of a much older pair of images. At this point, please take 20 to 30 minutes and try to click your way through every link on the LCP site just to see what's there! Make sure to check out the home page which is your best way to navigate quickly to the rest of the site. Also, note the navigation bar at the top of every page.

Want to find out just how many images we have?
That's easy. Go to the search page by clicking here. Don't do anything else and click on "quick search". The number of images you see returned is the number of images we have in the collection!

How is each image identified?
That's easy. Every image has an LS number. That number is a unique identifier. To find the "ls number" do a search. Click on the thumbnail that interests you. Check the web address showing in your browser. It should look something like... well, OK, there may be a really long string of numbers but somewheres will be ls=XXXXX where those Xs stand for numbers.

http://www.uvm.edu/landscape/extensions/zoomify.php?ls=00115

The LS number is at the end. In this case, it's 00115.  You can also find the LS number displayed with the images in many other places including below thumbnails and to the uppper left of larger images.  Just think of it as the catalogue number.

So, what kind of images do we have?
Let's have a look. We have photographs, drawings, paintings, postcards, stereoviews, airphotos, and lanternslides. Most of the original images are black and white but a few are hand-colored. Click on the thumbnails in the table below to view examples of these different types of images. Can you see that in the table I have identified the LS number for each image?

Photos LS00422	Postcards LS03727	Stereoviews LS04979	Airphotos LS01418
Lanternslides LS05832	Drawings LS00770	Paintings LS00849	Handcolored LS05864

OK, let's get started.
Go ahead and open up the landscape change web site. It's at http://uvm.edu/landscape.

I am going to ask you to find a number of parts of the site.
You may have to spend a couple minutes hunting around but that's part of the exercise. The site you are working on has been completely redesigned over the past year by a team of people including a UVM undergraduate and graduate student (Ben) in computer science with help from a UVM programming guru (Wes).

Ok, here goes.
First, find the mission of the LCP and read it so you have some idea what the whole project is about.

Now, try out the quick search
Quick Search is the fastest way to start seeing images.  Pick a topic that interests you and type that word in the search box in the header bar.  Then, click on quick image search and see what comes up!  Try the word bear and you should be greated by a number of thumbnails.  Now click on one of those thumbnails and you'll learn lots more about the image.

Hey, what are all those little icons around the images and thumbnails?
Glad that you asked.  Those icons have all kinds of useful functions.  Try the magnifier first; it's our favorite.  To try it, click here.  You can double click or use the + tool to zoom in and see all sorts of detail in the images. Great fun and very useful when you are making image descriptions (more on that later!).  Now, try all the other icons.  If you mouse over them, you'll get a description of what they can do for you.  Make sure to try them all!  You can even register (use the members link in the header) and make an album of your favorite images.

Next, find the search page (hint, check the header bar)
Try using the map to search for images in Essex County.
Find images from a town you know in Vermont using the map search in the header bar.
Find images from a town you know by typing the town name in quick search
See which images have been viewed most frequently (hint, look in upper left).

Last, try the advanced search
If you really need to find a specific image, this is where the action is.  The best way to learn advanced search is to do it.  Try lots of combinations and see what you can find for images.  Change date ranges, search in different data fields with the pull downs.  My favorite is the last pull down.  Use it to find all the images that we can locate on a map or all the images that have been reshot already (the multiple images).

Before you leave the site, check out the learn button on the header
Here, you'll find lots of information for using the Landscape Change site as an education tool, both for the classroom and for the general public.  Look around and find the modules.  Then, take a total of 15 or 20 minutes to browse through all of the modules linked to the modules page. Enjoy views of and information about Shelburne, Oakledge Park and the 1927 flood in northern Vermont.

If you are having any trouble finding these pages,
click on the proper link below and we'll give you some on-line help.
The LCP mission
The Search page
The Modules Page