USING THE WORLD WIDE WEB MEDIUM FOR LIBRARY EXHIBITS

 
by Eric H. Schnell 
MC Journal: The Journal of Academic Media Librarianship, v4#2, Fall 1996:1-8. 

INTRODUCTION

Previous designs of library World Wide Web sites have focused most often on delivering general information such as policies and procedures, staff directory listings, access to online catalogs, and listing Internet resources for patrons electronically. Libraries with more extensive technical support continue their Web site development by creating online services which allow patrons to submit interlibrary loan requests, ask reference questions, and register for workshops. Recent advances in Web technology now provide libraries with new opportunities to create media-based information resources for their sites.

 

Unlike past attempts to distribute media remotely, the Web makes it simpler to transmit multimedia information to users. The Web is inherently a multimedia oriented Internet protocol with the capability to distribute any mix of media types and formats including still images, audio, and motion video. The reasons librarians are slow to develop media-based resources include the lack of easy-to-use production tools, little understanding of the different media formats, and few people skilled in media production techniques.

The creation of multimedia content for the Web provides media specialists another application for their media and production skills. This paper is intended to introduce the use of the Web's multimedia orientation as a medium for creating online library exhibits. After discussing the various advantages of the Web medium, it will provide a summary of a prototype Web exhibit project, highlight some of the production techniques and software used in its development, and it will cover potential effects such use of the Web will have on libraries and librarians.

 

WHY A WEB EXHIBIT?

Using the Web as an exhibit medium has many advantages over the traditional library exhibit. The viewership of most library exhibits is limited to those who visit the library during the dates and times the exhibit space is open. To increase viewership, exhibits are left up for extended periods. This factor, in addition to space, also limits most libraries to a single exhibit at a time. The networked environment of the Web means an exhibit can be viewed by anyone, at anytime, from anywhere patrons can gain access to the Web. Not only can several Web exhibits be made available simultaneously, they can be archived and stay online indefinitely.

Traditional library exhibits often have to be restricted in size and scope because of limitations of the exhibit space and the display cases. Especially large or small items may require special space considerations and may need to be eliminated if they cannot be accommodated. Historical artifacts are often not included if special lighting or environmental control cannot be provided. A Web-based library exhibit helps overcome most of these limitations. The inexpensive cost of computer disc space, as compared with physical display cases, means exhibit developers are no longer limited in the number and size of images or artifacts they display. Historical or archival materials can be included without concern about possible damage.

 

Integrating media materials into traditional exhibits often means having to arrange for video players, monitors, and slide projectors to be installed and maintained at the exhibit site. Many librarians do not include media resources in their exhibits because of the technical problems that could arise during the presentation. Distributing visual and audio materials via the Web helps to eliminate these concerns. The exhibit developer can integrate any media materials including audio, video, and still images within a Web document. Rare file footage and oral history materials can be distributed in this manner.
Finally and most importantly, a library can use the Web exhibit to provide researchers, educators, and library patrons from around the world access to resources which they might not otherwise have known existed. Materials often stored in closed collections can be organized in an exhibit and made available perhaps for the first time. The Web provides libraries with a new tool that enables them to become producers of multimedia information of value to their patrons and the world.

CREATING A PROTOTYPE EXHIBIT

In 1994, a history of medicine exhibit was developed by librarians Barbara VanBrimmer and Mary Sprague of the Prior Health Sciences Library at The Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio, USA. Their exhibit, called "Development of American Medical Education" was displayed from June 20 through September 5, 1994 at the Philip Sills Exhibit Hall at the William Oxley Thompson Memorial Library at Ohio State. The original exhibit contained thirteen cases with more than 200 medical artifacts, publications, and photographs.
VanBrimmer and Sprague were approached with the idea of using the resources they gathered for a prototype Web exhibit. They agreed for two reasons. First, they wanted to make a more permanent record of their exhibit since the only evidence existing were letters of appreciation and the printed exhibit catalog. Their second reason was to make available materials that could not be used in the original because of limitations of the exhibit space. To keep the prototype simple, a single display case was entitled "Development of Medical Education at The Ohio State University." It was selected primarily because of the unique focus on the history at Ohio State.

Document Text and Organization 

 

The documents that comprised the prototype Web exhibit were created using standard Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) coding. No special browser specific coding was used. All the exhibits original narrative text, statements of ownership, and notes of thanks were produced using the desktop publishing package Adobe Pagemaker.[http://www.adobe.com/] The information for each electronic display case was exported in ASCII text and sent in separate mail messages to an account on the server. Little additional typing was needed other than to include the HTML coding. A final edit of the text was done once the first draft of the layout was completed.
The prototype exhibit was organized using the print catalogue from the original exhibit. In addition to a contents page, a Web document was created to correspond to each of the seven phases of the colleges development. To maintain a uniform look for the documents a template was developed and used for all of the exhibit documents. Included in the template was an informational footer containing the date the document was last updated and the initials of the person responsible for the document page. Also, built into each document were links that allowed the patron to navigate forward, backward, and back to the table of contents. Finally, each of the documents also contained its Uniform Resource Locator (URL) so users printing it could recall the site.

Inserting Images 

 

Most of the images needed for the Web documents had already been gathered for the original exhibit. The images were scanned using a workstation borrowed from the library's document delivery department, which used it as a part of its ARIEL Internet service. It was a 486 computer running Microsoft Windows with an attached Hewlett-Packard ScanJet IIc color scanner. After making sure none of the materials would be harmed by the scanning process, full sized copies of the images were created and saved in the GIF file format.
After the images were scanned, they were transferred to the server where the draft documents were located. Each image was then imported into the program L-View [http://world.std.com/~mmedia/lviewp.html] and modified in two ways. Each of the images were first converted to the JPG file format. This format was chosen since it uses a compression scheme which made the images smaller. The compact file size allows the images to be transferred to the patron. Even compressed, not all of the images were small enough to be inserted as graphics within the documents. To avoid excessive download times, smaller thumbnail versions of the larger images were made using L-View. These thumbnails were inserted into the documents and were made into hypertext links to the larger images. This allows the patron to view the full-size version of only those images they chose to view by clicking on the thumbnail.

The completed images were then inserted into the text contained on the various Web documents. Some final HTML editing of the documents was done to make sure the images were inserted in a visually appealing manner. After all the hypertext links were checked to make sure they worked, the finalized documents were organized into a directory on the Web server and assigned a Uniform Resource Locator (URL). [http://bones.med.ohio-state.edu/heritage/meded/meded.html]

DISCUSSION

The Online Medical Heritage Center was successful in demonstrating the World Wide Web can be used as an exhibit medium. However, the development of the prototype has also shown that, like any other media production, proper production equipment and skilled staff are required. Experience working with electronic imaging and audio/visual production is important for a professional looking presentation. Since the needs and expectations of potential audiences are not well understood at this point, many library administrators have not placed such projects as high priorities for allocation of library resources.

 

The development of the prototype Web exhibits also showed that such projects are labor intensive and challenging. It is not surprising that few Web exhibit projects have been undertaken to date. One successful attempt is the Online Images collection from the History of Medicine at the National Library of Medicine. [http://wwwoli.nlm.nih.gov:80/databases/olihmd/olihmd.html] This project provides access to more than 60,000 images which until now were only available to those who visited the library. Librarians need to look at projects such as this one and develop Web exhibits based on the information needs of their local users.

The creation of a Web exhibit can also help in the preservation process. Many archival resources can no longer be physically accessed due to concerns over degradation. Once a resource has been digitized, the original can be stored and accessed on a much less frequent basis. Although there are many issues to be resolved regarding archiving Web and computer-based media, once in digital form, the transfer of computerized media to another format becomes a relatively simple task. Librarians need to look at Web technology as a tool that can provide unprecedented access to historical materials while also contributing to their preservation.

 

Finally, as multimedia applications of the Web reach the different library departments there will be some blurring of lines between librarian job functions. Many questions remain to be answered as to how libraries will manage multimedia resources. What level of resource support will libraries provide multimedia content development? What is the role of the media librarian in the production of Web-based materials? What is the role of the library in creating resources to support the curriculum? How will the roles of the library Web site editor and the media librarian differ in future multimedia resource development?

 Eric H. Schnell, M.L.S. is an Instructor and Head, Automation Services at the John A. Prior Health Sciences Library at The Ohio State University, 376 W. 10th Ave.,Columbus, OH 43210 
Internet: schnell.9@osu.edu 
 

 This article is copyright (c) by Eric H. Schnell. All Rights Reserved. All commercial use requires permission of the author and the editors of this journal. 
 

    ISSN 1069-6792
      Lori Widzinski, Editor (widz@acsu.buffalo.edu)
      Revised: 08/27/98
      URL: http://wings.buffalo.edu/publications/mcjrnl/v4n2/exhibit.html