In order to illustrate the potential for this new medium the Working Group outlined an Introduction to Multimedia in Museums. Each of the sections was initially drafted by a member of the Working Group (the original authors are listed in the acknowledgements). As work on the report progressed, so to did our collective understanding of the role of multimedia in museums. The draft report was reviewed at the CIDOC Multimedia Working Group meeting in Stavanger, Norway, in July of 1995. In Norway, the CIDOC/MMWG confirmed that multimedia played two distinct roles in the museum context. Multimedia is used as a communications tool, interpreting museum artifacts and collections, both within the institution (in the exhibition gallery or orientation kiosk) and through distribution mechanisms (such as published CD-ROMs or multi- media databases accessible through the Internet or the World Wide Web). Multimedia is also being used as a documentation tool, building integrated multimedia databases which record information about collections. These may be used simply as internal collections management or documentation tools, or they may be made accessible to outside researchers. The theme of multimedia as communication tool as well as multimedia as an archival tool echoes throughout of this report.
Following the Stavanger meeting, Ben Davis was asked to act as General Editor to provide a consistency and integrity to the report as a whole. Working with Jennifer Trant, the chair of the ICOM/CIDOC MMWG (Canada/USA) and an Editorial Committee composed of David Bearman (USA), Jan van der Starre (The Netherlands), and Tine Waning (Denmark), he has revised the structure and organization of the report. The editing and production of the report was completed through collaboration with the Imaging Initiative of the Getty Art History Information Program.
Multimedia as an information technology presents the museum visitor with more than formatted data and textual information. It encompasses interactive multimedia, hypermedia, imaging applications, digital video, computer graphics, virtual reality, and computer-controlled interactive displays and active exhibitions. It does not include non-interactive, computerized variants of established projection, audio support and animatronic systems.
Introduction to Multimedia in Museums examines the integration of computer-based multimedia applications into the traditional activities of the museum, profiling the issues involved in developing and implementing multimedia applications. The review is structured in three broad sections: I. Using Multimedia in Museums; II. Developing Multimedia Systems; and III. Issues in Multimedia.
Introduction to Multimedia in Museums examines the impact multimedia has on the traditional functions of the museum. It begins with an overview of the range of reasons interactive multimedia applications might be used in the museum. This is followed by specific discussions of Multimedia in Museum Exhibitions, Multimedia in Museum Education and Multimedia as a Research and Documentation tool.
The second section, Developing Multimedia Systems, identifies the stages in the development of a multimedia application or product. Beginning with Project Definition, this section introduces issues of Multimedia Technical Formats, Project Management, Interface Design, Information Architectures, and the Stages of Systems Development - prototyping, the design specification, production, testing, and distribution. This section ends with a discussion of the role of evaluation throughout the development process.
Issues in Multimedia, the final section of the report, introduces two critical questions which must be considered when a multi-media system is developed: Intellectual Property and Funding. The report concludes with an overview of outstanding issues, and points towards the future role for rich museum multi-media archives in the emerging global information network.
Introduction to Multimedia in Museums reveals the potential for multi media to both preserve and communicate the knowledge embodied in museum collections. Reusable museum multimedia archives, however, will depend up on a foundation of technical and content standards to ensure the inter-operability of systems and the inter-changablity of data. Without a common standards framework, it will not be possible to take full advantage of the potential for integration offered by communications networks.
The International Documentation Committee of the International Council of Museums (ICOM/CIDOC) has a long history of developing documentation standards for museums. CIDOC's Multimedia Working Group (CIDOC/MMWG) has identified two primary concerns for future multimedia standards development within the museum community. The first, documenting multimedia data types, focuses on standards for describing the full range of digital data types including still images, moving images, sound, and unstructured text. The second, using multi- media as documentation, explores the potential of sound, images and video as effective means of capturing descriptive and contextual information about museum objects. Developing guidelines and standards in these areas will be key to creating reusable digital multimedia archives within the museum context.
Foreword 1. Multimedia in Museums