Multimedia in museums

This page is an outline of a report on Multimedia in museums. It is one of a number of pages about museum information standards prepared by the International Committee for Documentation of the International Council of Museums ( ICOM-CIDOC ).

The CIDOC Multimedia Working Group has published a first public version of Introduction to Multimedia in Museums .

A draft version of the report was reviewed at the CIDOC Multimedia Working Group meeting in Stavanger, Norway, in July 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 multimedia databases accessible through the Internet or the World Wide Web). Multimedia is also being used as a documentation tool, building integrated museum databases that 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 themes of multimedia as a communication tool and multimedia as an archival tool echo throughout this report.

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
• III. Issues in Multimedia

Introduction to Multimedia in Museums examines the impact of multimedia on the traditional functions of the museum. It begins with an overview of the ways interactive multimedia applications might be used in the museum, 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.

The final section of the report, "Issues in Multimedia," introduces two critical questions that must be considered when a multimedia system is developed: Intellectual Property and Funding. The report concludes with a bibliography and a glossary.

Introduction to Multimedia in Museums reveals the potential for multimedia to both preserve and communicate the knowledge embodied in museum collections. Reusable museum multimedia archives, will, however, depend upon a foundation of technical and content standards to ensure the inter-operability of systems and the interchangeability of data. Without a common standards framework, it will not be possible to take full advantage of the potential for integration that communications networks offer.

The report can be found at the homepage of the Netherlands Institute for Art History.

http://cidoc.icom.museum/multi1.htm
revised/dernière mise à jour: 2002-12-17.
contributor: Jan van der Starre
editor: Andrew Roberts
Now maintained by / Maintenant entretenu par: Leonard Will
link to/passerelle vers CIDOC home page/la page d'accueil du CIDOC or ICOM home page/la page d'accueil de l'ICOM
© the International Committee for Documentation of the International Council of Museums/Comité international pour la documentation du Conseil international des musées (ICOM-CIDOC), 1996