Defining Multimedia

Defining Multimedia and Multimedia Writing

In our efforts to understand the nature and use of multimedia writing, our class has assembled these defintions of "multimedia writing" and simply "multimedia." Is multimedia writing a form or method best described as a set of techniques for integrating text, audio, video, and images? Should we think of it in terms of purpose, as a means of enhancing or delivering information or entertainment? Or is it an agency, something we think of in terms of the technology that enables multimedia writing (such as the Web)? Before settling that question, let's look at what some others have said . . .

1. "Multimedia involves the combination of two or more media types to effectively create a sequence of events that will communicate an idea usually with both sound and visual support. Typically, multimedia productions are developed and controlled by computer."

Source: Strain, Jim, and Albert Goodman. "Lecture I: Multimedia Technology." n.d. <http://www.deakin.edu.au/~agoodman/sci204/lecture1.html>. 22 August 2001.

Comment: In simple terms, "multimedia" means "more than one media" or multiple media. In the quotation above, multimedia becomes the use of various media as representations (or re-presentations) with stress upon "re-." The authors note that it is the computer that enables this process. So perhaps we might call "multimedia" the "repackaging and dissemination of ideas in multimedia formats." (D. Blakesley)

2. "The use of computers to present text, graphics, video, animation, and sound in an integrated way. Long touted as the future revolution in computing, multimedia applications were, until the mid-90s, uncommon due to the expensive hardware required. With increases in performance and decreases in price, however, multimedia is now commonplace. Nearly all PCs are capable of displaying video, though the resolution available depends on the power of the computer's video adapter and CPU. "

Source: Webopedia. <http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/m/multimedia.html>. 16 May 1998.

Comment: Accordng to this definition, multimedia is any information that is accessible through a computer. This definition doesn't limit the information to be just text, but it includes video, animation, graphics, and sound as information. This definition is useful because it specifies computers as being a medium to pass information. I don't neccessarily agree with this definition because it states only computers as being the medium to present information. However, because this new medium is so widely recognized, the definition needed to be expanded to include computers. (Eunice Kwon)

3. Multimedia could be described as "enabling software technologies that allow you to glue everything together and orchestrate the actual production in a process called multimedia authoring. Authoring is where you select sound, music, graphics, video and animation form many different sources, and creatively combine them and determine how they play back, and often interact, with the intended audience."

Source: Scala- Multimedia, Multimedia Definition" (Online) <http://www.scala.com/multimedia/multimedia-definition.html> 27 August 2001.

Comment: This definition gives us a different approach to thinking about what multimedia really means or describes. It goes on to describe more than just that it is a collection of different types of media. It also describes technology and all the components that make up the final solution that is delivered to an intended audience. (Allison Henke)

4. Multimedia incorporates "a wide range of digitized media into the myriad of curriculum-related activities fundamental to teaching and learning"

Source: This definition has been adapted from material published by EDUCOM and by the University of Toronto, http://www.acs.ryerson.ca/~ccsnews/Jan96/crseware.html

Comment: This defintion of multimedia writing is a good one because it includes the wording "wide range." Multimedia writing has over the past few years really expanded and offers so much more than just the use of a basic computer. And now in this day and age multimedia writing is so important in order to teach and learn for future years to come. (Allison Cole)

5. Multimedia is defined as "using, involving, or encompassing several media <a multimedia approach to learning>," according to the online Merriam Webster Collegiate Dictionary. Source: Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, Tenth Edition copyright © 2001 by Merriam-Webster, Incorporated. Official Website: http://www.m-w.com/

Comment: My definition of multimedia writing is the writing of several different types of media including CD rom, Internet Web pages, PowerPoint presentations, or even television or video to further enhance one's message. Multimedia knowledge is very useful in today's world because we no longer live in a simple "notebook and textbook" environment. Technologies such as the aforementioned are becoming more standard each year. I believe this is a good definition of multimedia because it demonstrates that there are many different types of technology that can be used to get a message or point across in the ever-changing world we live in. I incorporated my own experience into this definition. I don't know if it makes sense to any of you, but in my experience, this is what "multimedia" entails. (Anna Herkamp)

6. "Multimedia, in computer science, [is] the presentation of information using the combination of text, sound, pictures, animation, and video. Common multimedia computer applications include games, learning software, and reference materials, such as this encyclopedia. Most multimedia applications include predefined associations, known as hyperlinks, that enable users to switch between media elements and topics. Thoughtfully presented multimedia can enhance the scope of presentation in ways that are similar to the roving associations made by the human mind. Connectivity provided by hyperlinks transforms multimedia from static presentations with pictures and sound into an endlessly varying and informative interactive experience. Multimedia applications are computer programs; typically they are stored on compact discs (CD-ROMs). They may also reside on the World Wide Web, which is the media-rich component of the international communication network known as the Internet. Multimedia documents found on the World Wide Web are called Web pages. Linking information together with hyperlinks is accomplished by special computer programs or computer languages. The computer language used to create Web pages is called HyperText Markup Language (HTML). Multimedia applications usually require more computer memory and processing power than the same information represented by text alone. For instance, a computer running multimedia applications must have a fast central processing unit (CPU), which is the electronic circuitry that provides the computational ability and control of the computer. A multimedia computer also requires extra electronic memory to help the CPU in making calculations and to enable the video screen to draw complex images. The computer also needs a high capacity hard disk to store and retrieve multimedia information, and a compact disc drive to play CD-ROM applications. Finally, a multimedia computer must have a keyboard and a pointing device, such as a mouse or a trackball, so that the user can direct the associations between multimedia elements."

Comment: Basically, multimedia (in this definition) is defined as different forms of media used together to present an idea. Hyperlinks are very important because they allow interaction. (Chantal Breedlove)

7. "In a semiotic communication model the text is a sign, while Hjelmslev prefers to talk about the sign function, which is the internal or external function of the sign. There are two sides (or planes) of the sign function: content and expression, which he calls functives (Hjelmslev 1974). The first is the verbal aspect or meaning potential of written language, while the second is the visual aspect of writing, the expression potential. There is a relationship of what Hjelmslev calls 'solidarity' between the sign function and its two functives, and there is never a sign function without both being present at the same time, they presuppose each other."

Source: Bostad, Finn. "What happens to writing when texts in 'a world on paper' are replaced by messages in 'virtual space?'" n.d. (Section 3) <http://www.hf.ntnu.no/anv/Finnbo/Finn/Finn3.html>

Comment: The evolution of written communication to use modern technology will only make modern writing more potent and intense, and also more effective as a pure thought-communication medium. Written communications evolved from verbal communications as a way to pass on cultural and social data through the generations. After Gutenberg (printing press), writing became a much more pervasive medium, and with the development of the internet and multimedia communications, writing will hopefully evolve into a grander medium that is more exciting, effective, and productive. (David Woodward)

8. Multi- is defined as "big, strong. having, consisting of, or affecting many. more than two, or sometimes, more than one. many times more than."

Media is defined as "all means of communication, as newspapers, radio and television, that provide the public with news, entertainment, etc., usually along with advertising."

Source: Webster's New World College Dictionary, Third Edition. Simon & Schuster, Inc. 1997.

Comment: Multimedia is how our world receives the news of the day. We are converging as a world, cultural lines are being swept away, and we must communicate to as many cultures as we can at one time via newspaper, T.V., radio, on-line banners, billboards, magazines, books, advertisements etc.. This is the challenge of our generation. Publications that are mass produced are not printed in just one city and shipped to every newsstand in the world. Those companies own presses all over the world and they talyor every regional production of each medium for its own region to be target rich. These companies are big and strong and they want us to make them better, so keep learning, I am an advertiser, and this is my spin. (David Kuta)

9. "Literally, "more than one medium" Therefore, anything mixing text and graphics is multimedia However, multimedia usually implies additional features: sound, motion and/or animation, video, interactivity (advanced)."

Source: Vargas. "Definition of Multimedia" n.d. <http://tuts.cit.nih.gov/multimedia_vargas/intro.html>. 27 August 2001.

Comment: I found this interesting because the author (another professor teaching multimedia) would consider something like a regular newspaper (containing text and photographs) to be an example of multimedia. This introduction is handy because it's very concise, while still covering all of the basic ideas involved in multimedia. (Jessica Burdge)

10. Multimedia involves "the use of a combination of moving and still pictures, sound, music and words, esp. in computers or entertainment"

Source: Harley, Andrew, Richard Eradus and Ivan Salcedo. "Cambridge Dictionaries Online." n.d. <http://dictionary.cambridge.org/define.asp?key=multimedia*1+0> 23 August 2001.

Comment: This definition is useful because it explains the main idea of multimedia - encompassing several media. This definition is clear and concise, and conveys the important point that multimedia is especially prevalent in computers. It is short, yet thorough, by identifying almost every aspect of possible media. I believe that animation and graphics is an additional media that could be included. (Lindy Thackston)

11. "So, you want to write multimedia. At least, you think you do, after getting hammered with that and a dozen other buzzwords every time you read a magazine or switch on a cable TV show about emerging technologies. Everything else is changing on a daily basis; isn’t the way we write next? ... As professional communicators, we know that words count; it’s our job to make sure they do. But multimedia writing also demands adaptability. Just as different topics require varied approaches in style, computer-based multimedia necessitates that a writer become knowledgeable about audio, video, text, graphics, and animation. In other words, you must write for the medium you’re using."

Source: Mike Butzgy. "Writing for Multimedia 101." Communication World, March 1998.<http://home.earthlink.net/~atomic_rom/overview.htm> 25 August 2001.

Comment: I really like this introduction to multimedia writing, it shows how it has gone through changes from when it came around to 1998 when this article was written, and, holding true to the writer's words, has been adapted to culture today. It also made me think of how Dr. Blakesley mentioned that newspapers are starting to look like Web pages, and how newspapers' Web pages have completely changed, because the media have taken different approaches to text and graphics. This writer somewhat predicted the route of change that multimedia would take in the near future, with writers still needing to keep up with the bombardment of "buzzwords" about the emerging technologies. (Meg Hertzler)

12. "Talking in general terms about multimedia in education is like talking about the use of paper in education. There is plenty to be said but trying to grasp its many uses in multiple contexts is difficult. It is important to avoid the trap of thinking about multimedia in a singular way or just in a specific context. This might make it easier to manage but shuts off paths into new and imaginative multimedia design."

Source: Goodfellow, Robin. H802 Online Study Guide 2000, Week 1. 7 June 2000. The Open University. 23 August 2000 <http://iet.open.ac.uk/h80/2/b3wk1.html>.

Comment: This isn't a traditional definition, but it highlights an important point: To define a medium as broad and malleable as multimedia is to constrain the nature of the technology. (Using the word technology loosely.) (Misti Pinter)

13. Multimedia writing "involves the combination of two or more of the following elements: text, image, sound, speech, video, and computer programs. These mediums are digitally controlled by a computer(s)."

Source: Acab, Michael R. "What is MULTIMEDIA?" 16 Jan. 1996. <http://www.cs.yorku.ca/Courses95-96/4361/q1.html> 23 August 2001.

Comment: Multimedia is exactly what it says, a form of media or communication that incorporates more than one type of communication. Any combination of two media types constitutes multimedia. The end product is possible, according to this definition, by the use of a computer. (Rachel Rice)

14. Multimedia is "he use of varied media in combination with computer technology. This marriage creates an especially effective method of presenting information. By using interactivity to involve the user, more knowledge is retained, far more than the rate for most other instructional methods."

Source: Butzgy, Mike. "Writing for Multimedia: A Guide" (Introduction), 2001. <http://home.earthlink.net/~atomic_rom/intro.htm> 26 August 2001.

Comment: Using different kinds of media with computer technology has become the new way to communicate and to give out information. Being involved with the source while the information is being learned is a new idea and is now being widely used in schools. Kids are learning to use computers and learning things from the alphabet to calculus through the use of computers. Writing from a book to teach has moved over to writing through various interactive medias to help learning and provoke more interest. (Sarah Gerdom).

15. Multimedia is a "human-computer interaction involving text, graphics, voice and video. Often also includes concepts from hypertext. This term has come to be almost synonymous with CD-ROM in the personal computer world because the large amounts of data involved are currently best supplied on CD-ROM.

Source: Howe, Dennis. The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing. 2001 www.dictionary.com 23 August 2001.

Comment: Of the definitions I've found, this is the most relevant to this course and also the best definition. Most of the others were very similar in nature, but not as concrete as this. In fact, they often used the words multi and media to define itself. This particular definition did a good job of explaining just what multimedia meant. Multimedia combines all various types of communication from visual to verbal and is usually used in coordination with the other. (Stephen Smith)

English 396: Multimedia Writing
Instructor: David Blakesley
Purdue University
30 August 2001--DB