IMS has completed their move from Building 214 to Building 50, the computing building. IMS manager, Stephanie Weitzenkamp, Publishing Services, and Knowledge Management are located on the third floor while Visual Media Services and Website Services are located on the first floor.

As a result of the January storms, IMS is no longer in Building 214 and is in the process of being relocated. During this transitional time, the best way to contact IMS staff is by email, ims@slac.stanford.edu or through the InfoMedia website.

Thank you for your patience.

Earlier this year, SLAC InfoMedia Solutions launched SciDoc, a scientific and technical document repository. This personalized gateway was designed to provide SLAC authors with quick registration, upload of new and revised documents, and real-time viewing and access to SLAC’s science documents.

This week, IMS launched the first in a series of upgrades to continuously improve support to the One-Lab mission. This enhancement to the standard author toolkit now allows SciDoc to provide tracking and reporting capabilities at the programmatic level using criteria such as:

• SLAC program affiliation
• Funding source(s)
• Principal investigator(s)
• Field work proposal number

If your group has a need for custom reporting, IMS is here to help. Please e-mail documentservices@slac.stanford.edu for assistance.

InfoMedia launches SciDoc, SLAC's new scientific document repository site featuring a personalized gateway for quick registration, upload of new and revised documents, plus real-time views and access to documents while in process. Even searching is improved, with full-text, metadata, and citation information search capabilities.

Visit the SciDoc service areas to browse products and services, request services online, or access templates and tools.

The InfoMedia team encourages you to familiarize yourself with our new service site, and let us know how we can help you today.

On September 18, 2008 the television game show Jeopardy featured SLAC science, and InfoMedia Solutions was there to help provide the clues!

In the quiz category "Accelerators: science at almost the speed of light from the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center," Jeopardy's Clue Crew were filmed posing answers from SLAC's Kylstron Gallery and Main Control Center. Amidst these clips were animations, created by InfoMedia's Greg Stewart.

"It's a great honor to see my work representing SLAC to such a large audience," said Stewart. "An even bigger thrill is that it helped educate people about the research conducted here at SLAC."

With thanks to the show for their permission, here are some clips:

Windows Media Player format
Quicktime format

As of Monday, August 25, InfoMedia Solutions will temporarily call Building 214 home. The move is part of the overall plan to renovate Building 40, our old home, to make room for the PULSE group. There will not be any disruptions to our services, with the exception of iDoc (see below for more info), which will be down Thursday, August 21, 12:00pm to Wednesday, August 27.

We encourage you to come visit us in our new home!

During InfoMedia's move, the iDoc Online Document Registration System will be off-line. Authors can submit document number requests using the Number Request Form and will receive an email notification with their new document number no later than Wednesday morning, August 27.

If questions about document registration or publishing documents at SLAC, please call Binh Vo (x2317) or Sharon West (x2594).

Lori Pirri joined InfoMedia as our permanent Process/Operations Writer in August, having contracted with us since late July 2007.

Lori's technical background ranges from technical writing, to process analysis and content management. Her skill set makes her a valuable asset to help our SLAC Improvement Initiative (SII) and Corrective Action Plan (CAP) teams achieve their milestones.

Her main focus is on SLAC's SII team helping them analyze and improve current SLAC processes, and creating a lab-wide work planning and control process for the C2 team. Her goal is to create processes that encourage safety and efficiency without hindering SLAC's creative spirit.

When she's not designing processes for SLAC, Lori is tending her own creative spirit enjoying yoga and nature here and her native country of Canada.

The Kids Day safety video featuring SLACerMan is now available!

SLACerMan, a character originally created by InfoMedia's Terry Anderson, heralds the message of safety in this comic book-style animation. The video was created by animator Greg Stewart, who also provided narration.

View the animation using Window's Media Player:
Low resolution version (480x320)
High resolution version (720x480)

View the animation using Quicktime:
Low resolution version (480x320)
High resolution version (720x480)

Download the comic book:
PDF

We are pleased to announce a new addition to InfoMedia: Michelle Whiting joined our Website Services team as a Sr. Web Programmer in early July.

Michelle's diverse background includes experience with web programming, databases, graphic design and science, making her well-suited for SLAC's web development needs.

Her first projects include a new website for the Office of Communications, and the development of a new streamlined, dynamic system to make creating conference websites faster and easier.

When she's not developing websites for SLAC, Michelle runs a collection of websites dedicated to midcentury Polynesian pop culture, including a directory of tiki bars all over the world, and a site for tiki mug collectors.

On March 23rd, SSRL dedicated the new Molecular Observatory Beam Line and InfoMedia was onboard to help visualize it.

Neil Calder of Communications and Mike Soltis of SSRL approached InfoMedia with the idea for the animation. Animator Greg Stewart worked closely with Soltis to narrow down the science involved and how to best represent it visually.

For the particle at the end of the animation, Stewart was able to take actual Pymol molecule data and import it into the 3D application, Lightwave 3D. "Doing so saved a lot of time and added an important level realism to the animation," said Stewart.

The animation showcases the new SSRL beam line and undulator and is accompanied by a soundtrack created by Chip Dalby, also of InfoMedia.

View animation using Window's Media Player:
Low resolution version (480x320 pixels / 5 megs)
High resolution version (720x480 pixels / 60 megs)

View animation using Quicktime:
Low resolution version (480x320 / 7 megs)
High resolution version (720x480 / 32 megs)

Terry Anderson's cover design was picked for the March 9 issue of the Journal of Biological Chemistry (JBC). The cover is Anderson's interpretation of the recent advance in research into the mechanism of photosynthesis in plants (view SLAC Today article).

"Science is so exacting...that sometimes it really enhances the process to have the expertise of graphic artists", said Anderson. "The challenge of visualizing abstract scientific concepts keeps my job in InfoMedia Solutions very interesting and certainly rewarding".

The JBC cover image created by Anderson and InfoMedia Solutions is based on a conceptual drawing provided by the paper's authors, and represents their discovery with a diagram of the molecule detailed behind a magnifying glass.

Designed by InfoMedia Solutions, the LCLS Dashboard is the first interactive tool of its kind at the lab, providing a graphical breakdown of the major components of the LCLS, allowing users to follow the construction progress of those components.

The Dashboard will be updated frequently to reflect the latest progress in the construction effort as well as tracking worker safety.

The LCLS Dashboard uses Adobe's Flash technology that promotes an interactive and rich user experience, while conveying the LCLS construction status quickly and easily. Download the latest Flash player.

Visit the LCLS Dashboard.

On October 20th, SLAC officially broke ground for the Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS), the world's first X-ray free-electron laser. With nearly 1,000 in attendance, InfoMedia unveiled a 3D animation of the LCLS. The four minute video depicts how the LCLS will work—from an aerial flyover to electron pulses surging through the undulators.

Click on the links below to download the animation (Window Media Player):
Low resolution version (480x320 pixels / 9.41 megs)
High resolution version (720x480 pixels / 85.2 megs)

Click on the links below to download the animation (Quicktime):
Low resolution version (480x320 / 23 megs)
High resolution version (720x480 / 55 megs)

The visuals were created by animator Greg Stewart and a custom soundtrack was put together by Chip Dalby. Insight into the physics of LCLS was provided by Partick Krejcik. SLAC's Mechanical Design Department provided, as reference, the actual design models being used to build the LCLS, which served as a basis for the 3D models in the animation.

When planning a conference, it is essential to post a website as soon as possible. InfoMedia has created a way to reduce a conference website's time to market significantly by employing reusable, modular design.

SSRL33 is one of the first sites at SLAC using these conference modules as part of a powerful web application. Available modules include registration, payment, abstracts, and nominations, to name a few. When planning their conference web application with InfoMedia's Conference Services team, SSRL could customize their conference website and administrative area by choosing a subset of the available modules. Combined, these modules provide exactly the functionality SSRL requires.

In addition to web application development, InfoMedia's Conference Services provides bundled services, such as pre-conference poster design, printing, and abstract collection, as well as post-conference services including proceedings collection and publication.

InfoMedia is working on making iDoc better for you. iDoc is SLAC's online publication registration system. Using iDoc, you can:

• determine if your document is a SLAC document;
• obtain a SLAC document number; and
• register your SLAC document.

Stay tuned for a new and improved iDoc.

InfoMedia is developing a robust epublishing system to replace the existing eConf site.

Stay tuned for a new and improved eConf.

InfoMedia is developing a one-stop shop for conference hosts, coordinators, and attendees alike. Conference Central puts you in touch with the right people for the job.

InfoMedia will announce the launch of Conference Central soon!

InfoMedia launches its freshly redesigned and restructured website, featuring the many services offered by the department. Be sure to update your bookmarks!

Visit the InfoMedia service areas to browse products and services, request services online, or access templates and tools.

The InfoMedia team encourages you to familiarize yourself with our website and our services, and let us know how we can help you today.

Technical Publications has outgrown its name! Because we offer many services beyond technical publications, we have renamed our group to better define our services. Now we are InfoMedia Solutions! We offer publishing, graphics, and website creation. In addition, we provide conference-specific services aimed at helping your conference run smoothly.