Virtual Museums:
Incorporation of Sound




Karyn Webb
Graduate School of Library and Information Science
The University of Texas at Austin


LIS 382L.2
Information Resources in the Humanities
Dr. Loriene Roy



October 30, 2000

Introduction and Search Strategies

While virtual museums first appeared around 1993[1], the first date of incorporation of sound on such sites is less certain.  RealAudio, one of the most popular software packages available for accessing streaming media and sound clips, was introduced in 1995.[2]  It is probably safe to assume that audio has only been available on virtual museum sites since that date.

This pathfinder is intended for use as a finding aid for Dr. Loriene Roy’s Information Resources in Humanities class, or for anyone designing or thinking of designing a virtual museum.  Among the questions a patron might want answered are:  Where are some examples of virtual museums that incorporate sound? and How can I make my site accessible to the visually impaired?  The aspects of audio that this pathfinder will cover include:  software, tutorials, and access to the physically disabled.  There is no particular type of library for which this pathfinder is intended; it is for use by anyone with access to the Internet.

Most of the resources listed in the pathfinder and bibliography are available in electronic format, and are available to anyone with access to the World Wide Web.  Still more resources are available via the University of Texas at Austin’s (UT-Austin) Library Online.  The print sources are all available on the UT-Austin campus.  Most can be found in the Perry-Castaneda Library, others in the Undergraduate Library, the Fine Arts Library, or GSLIS’ Information Technology Lab.

Because sound in virtual museums is a relatively new concept, it is difficult to locate information specifically on this topic.  For this reason, I broadened the topic, to cover the use of audio technology on any Web site.  This pathfinder will also explore examples of virtual museums currently employing these technologies on their sites.  Tutorials and guidelines will be introduced to familiarize the reader with sources conducive to the use of sound in a virtual museum environment.  Finally, I will present sources dealing with access to the Internet for the visually impaired.

I began my search for sources by going to UTNetCAT, UT-Austin’s General Libraries’ online catalog.  I entered, “Web sites and sound or audio” in the “subject keywords” field.  After obtaining call numbers from the catalog, I browsed those sections in PCL for more titles.  I went to Dogpile.com, a metasearch engine on the World Wide Web.  Here, I entered several searches, such as “web design sound,” and “web sound blind.”  I also searched several of the databases and reference sources available through UT-Austin’s Library Online:  Lexis-Nexis Universe, ECO (Electronic Collections Online), and Britannica Online.

I attempted to choose sources that were recent, since the nature of the subject (technology) demands currency of materials.  When selecting sources on specific technologies I included, where possible, primary information, such as the actual Web sites of RealAudio and Shockwave.  There are thousands of Web sites offering sound today, but I included only those that are good examples of what a virtual museum might include in its presentation, such as rolling narrative, or sound bites attached to graphics.  For tutorial sources, I again focused on currency.  Authority was an important consideration when selecting sources dealing with access for the visually impaired. 

The Pathfinder is available at: http://gslis.utexas.edu/~kwebb/Pathfinder.html.

 

 

Bibliography

1.  About.com, Inc.  Sound for the Web.  9 Oct. 2000  <http://mmsound.about.com/compute/mmsound/cs/soundfortheweb/index_2.htm>

About.com offers articles, reviews, and tutorials for Internet and technology-related subjects.  The above URL leads directly to the subject heading, “Sound for the Web, ” which offers such helpful links as, “Mastering Audio for the Internet” and “Secret Guide to Real Audio.”  Anyone looking for basic information on adding sound to a Web site would do well to look to this resource for a good introduction.

 

2.  About.com, Inc.  Web Design.  8 Oct. 2000 <http://webdesign.about.com/compute/webdesign/>.

Another great resource page from About.com.  Once at this page, choose the subject, “Multimedia” from the list on the left side of the screen.  The page that is displayed extends a long list of  helpful “how-to” articles in the area of bringing audio features to Web sites.  The articles of particular interest to virtual museum creators may be “RealAudio Information,” “Audio for the Masses,” and “Creating an Auditorial.”

 

3.  Bellingham Public Schools.  Virtual Museum Home Page.  9 Oct. 2000  <http://www.bham.wednet.edu/bpsmuse.htm>.

The Bellingham Public School District in Washington state has undertaken a project to display their area’s virtual museums, as well as attempt to define a “learning virtual museum.”  One of the articles on this site, “An Article Defining Virtual Museums,” describes virtual museums as “multisensory.”  While the site does not offer an overabundance of valuable design advice, it may be one to watch in the future for interesting ideas and innovations.

 

4.  Brewer, Judy and Daniel Dardailler.  Web Accessibility Initiative Home Page.  22 Sept. 2000.  World Wide Web Consortium.  9 Oct. 2000 < http://www.w3.org/WAI/>.

The Web Accessibility Initiative focuses on technology among other aspects of Web site design and display as a way to improve the utility of the Internet for people with disabilities.  The site offers links to many valuable resources for making sites accessible, including guidelines, technical references, and interest groups.

 

5.  Britannica.com.  Home page.  9 Oct. 2000 <http://www.britannica.com>.

From Britannica.com’s home page, the viewer can use the search field to look for “virtual museum.”  From here, Web sites, magazines, and related products are available for perusal, and the traditional encyclopedia article is accessible as well.  The article mentions sound files and multimedia capabilities as features of a virtual museum.

 

6.  Buchanan, Leigh.  "A Change of Art: The John F. Kennedy Center hopes to blend art and commerce on a high-performance Web site." Webmaster 1.1 (1996): 54-60.

This article discusses the infancy of the center's Web site and is a good example of how sound can vastly improve the desirability of a site. One week after the site was up the center cybercasted their annual Messiah Sing-Along. A related article touches on the controversial area of copyright, which comes into play when a performing arts center (or museum) provides sound clips of artists' work on its site.
PCL: TK 5105.888 W38 V.1

 

7.  Center for Applied Special Technology.  Home page.  9 Oct. 2000 <http://www.cast.org>.

CAST is a non-profit organization that focuses on technology and its uses for benefiting those with disabilities.  This site provides a link to Bobby, CAST’s Web-based device that analyzes accessibility to various sites.   To test a site, one need only enter a URL;  Bobby does the rest.

 

8.  Cool Edit 2000.  Syntrillium Software Corporation.  8 Oct. 2000

< http://www.syntrillium.com/cooledit/index.html>.

Cool Edit 2000 is audio editing software that can be downloaded by a link from this site.  The editor allows a designer to add sound effects recorded with a microphone or CD player.  The site includes a tutorial for using Cool Edit with a PC.  While Cool Edit may offer a bit many high-tech options for the beginning virtual museum site designer, its services could prove valuable once the designer is ready for more.

 

9.  Dogpile.  Home Page.  26 Oct. 2000 <http://www.dogpile.com>.

Dogpile is a metasearch engine that is available via the World Wide Web.  With one search entry, the user can net results from 14 different search engines at once.

 

10.  Historic Audio Archives.  Webcorp, Inc.  8 Oct. 2000 <http://webcorp.com/sounds/>.

While this site is listed on ICOM’s Virtual Library Museum Pages (see below), it is not actually a museum.  It is a good example of what a museum can do with historic sound clips and speeches.  Some powerful clips are available from JFK, Malcolm X, and MLK.  Also check out the humorous clips from Bill Clinton and Richard Nixon.

 

11.  Holsinger, Erik.  How Multimedia Works.  Emeryville, CA:  Ziff-Davis Press, 1994.

While this book has outdated information on software, it gives a good overview of the concepts involved in creating multimedia files.  The book contains an entire section devoted to “Understanding Digital Audio.”  This section explains “How Audio is Digitized” and “How Multimedia Applications Play Back Digital Sound.”  The book is filled with large graphics and is not text-heavy.  It is definitely not for techies. Available in the IT Lab, and even circulates.

 

12.  Imagine Avenue.  Home page.  8 Oct. 2000 <http://www.imagineavenue.com>.

Imagine Avenue is a service that offers full Web site development and consultation to businesses and organizations.  The service offers music (original or pre-recorded), sound effects, and voice-overs for the purpose of enhancing a site’s visual displays.  A site development staff that does not have the expertise to add multimedia to its site can greatly benefit from such a service.

 

13.  Lowe, Doug.  Creating Web Pages for Dummies: Quick Reference.  2nd ed. Foster City, CA: IDG Books Worldwide, 1999.

As the name implies, this book is a quick reference guide to HTML tags and popular Web design software. It provides step-by-step instructions for inserting links to and embedding sound files, which are most likely the methods by which a designer would link sound to a museum exhibit piece.
PCL: TK 5105.888 L69 1999 MAIN.

 

14.  Lycos Network.  Webmonkey:  The Web Developer’s Resource.  9 Oct. 2000  <http://hotwired.lycos.com/webmonkey/>.

Well respected in the information technology community, this site provides, among other information, a “How-to Library” on multimedia.  The library is similar to About.com’s lists of tutorials and articles, offering such options as “Audio/MP3” and “Shockwave/Flash.”  Webmonkey also provides quick reference guides, such as an HTML cheat sheet.

 

15.  Macromedia, Inc.  Macromedia Shockwave.  9 Oct. 2000  <http://www.macromedia.com/shockwave/>.

This site gives information about Macromedia’s Shockwave Player and Flash Player.  Both act as Web design and end-user interfaces to display multimedia content on Web sites.  Both software packages are also available free at the above URL.

 

16.  Microsoft Corporation.  WindowsMedia.com.  9 Oct. 2000  <http://windowsmedia.com/mediaguide/default.asp>.

Windows Media Player is available on this site as a free download.  Once at this site, scroll down under the heading, “Hardware & Software” and click on “Players” for more information.

 

17.  The National Museum of Women in the Arts.  Home page.  4 Oct. 2000 <http://www.nmwa.org/>.

The National Museum of Women in the Arts site offers a fabulous virtual tour that incorporates sound along with graphics.  From the home page, the user can choose to “Take a Tour With the Founder.” He or she will choose to be treated to a thorough excursion through the museum, or to just view and hear about individual aspects of the museum.  Both options entail many video clips passing while an audio file talks over them.  The tour requires an “ActiveX Viewer,” that the user can download and install automatically from the museum site.

 

18.  Netscape.  LiveAudio Home Page.  9 Oct. 2000 <http://home.netscape.com/navigator/v3.0/audio.html>.

This site presents Netscape Navigator 3.0’s LiveAudio.  Unlike other audio products, LiveAudio is not a separate application; it is imbedded in the browser, which eliminates time spent waiting for a player to download.  Sound files embedded in HTML documents can be played directly via LiveAudio.  This is excellent news for creators of virtual museums who wish to incorporate sound, but realize the impatience of many visitors.

 

19.  Real.com.  Home page.  9 Oct. 2000 <http://real.com>.

RealNetworks has designed a number of products, such as RealPlayer and RealJukebox, that provide audio and video features on the Internet.  RealNetworks software and services permit users to both create and receive multimedia features on a Web site.  From the Real.com home page, users can download (often for free) listening and viewing software as well as multimedia creation “starter kits.”

 

20.  Soundpages.com.  Home page.  8 Oct. 2000 <http://www.soundpages.com/>.

Similar to Imagine Avenue, Soundpages helps companies and organizations add multimedia functions to their Web sites.  Soundpages uses common multimedia software, such as Real Media, Windows Media, Wav,  and MP3, and provides links to most of these sites for the purposes of downloading free software.

 

21.  TeamWeb. Introduction to RealMedia.  17 Aug. 1999.  University of Texas at Austin.  9 Oct. 2000 < http://www.utexas.edu/learn/realaudio/>.

Available through UT-Austin’s TeamWeb, whose slogan is, “Learning to Publish,”  the site offers many helpful links, including an introduction to RealAudio, plus information on creating, encoding, and publishing a Web site.

 

22.  United States Department of Justice.  ADA Home Page.  3 Oct. 2000.  Viewed 9 Oct. 2000  <http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/ada/adahom1.htm>.

The ADA home page is a must-read for any Web designer.  The government and many interest groups are beginning to initiate litigation against major Internet players who neglect to heed ADA regulations.  The Department of Justice offers technical assistance for those with questions about complying with regulations.  A link is available on this page.  Also interesting are the enforcement status reports available on the site.

 

23.  Virtual Library Museum Pages.  4 Oct. 2000.  The International Council of Museums.  8 October 2000 <http://www.icom.org/vlmp/>.

The International Council of Museums’ universal directory of museum Web sites.  This site provides links to virtual museums in more than 18 nations.  Many of these sites offer sound as part of their virtual tours.  It is best to choose the USA for a good sampling of sites, as ICOM claims that the number of US museum sites are likely greater than the total number of museum sites in the rest of the world.  Try searching the page for the word, “audio” to find the most relevant sites. 

 

24.  “Web's blind spot: Disabled users.”  ZDNet News.  16 Apr. 2000.  9 Oct. 2000  <http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/news/0,4586,2505714-2,00.html>.

This article discusses the relative lack of accessibility to the Web for visually impaired users.  The recent legal ramifications of failing to make a site accessible are discussed, as well as the
commercial risks involved in neglecting inclusion of such a large percentage of the Internet’s “population.”

 

STYLE MANUAL USED:

Gibaldi, Joseph. MLA Handbook For Writers of Research Papers. 5th ed. New York: Modern Language Association of America, 1999.

 

Virtual Museums:  The Incorporation of Sound

A Pathfinder

by Karyn Webb

This pathfinder is written for anyone designing or thinking of designing a virtual museum.  It introduces software products available for creating audio files on the Web, as well as tutorials for many of these products.  Also covered is the topic of access to multimedia- intensive Web sites for the physically disabled. 

Question

Answer

What is a virtual museum, and what features do they generally offer?

Britannica.com’s Virtual Museum article

http://www.britannica.com

Bellingham Public Schools’ Virtual Museum Home Page

http://www.bham.wednet.edu/bpsmuse.htm

Where can I find some good examples of virtual museums that incorporate sound on the World Wide Web?

Virtual Library Museum Pages

http://www.icom.org/vlmp/

The National Museum of Women in the Arts http://www.nmwa.org/

Historic Audio Archives http://webcorp.com/sounds

How do I incorporate sound into my own virtual museum?

Web Design and Sound for the Web at About.com

http://webdesign.about.com/compute/webdesign

Webmonkey:  The Web Developer’s Resource  http://hotwired.lycos.com/webmonkey/

Introduction to RealMedia http://www.utexas.edu/learn/realaudio

Creating Web Pages for Dummies:

    Quick Reference

PCL: TK 5105.888 L69 1999 MAIN

Are there services that will create the audio files for my virtual museum?

Imagine Avenue

http://www.imagineavenue.com

Soundpages.com

http://www.soundpages.com/

What are some software packages that are currently used by both designers and users to create and listen to audio files on the World Wide Web?

Cool Edit 2000

http://www.syntrillium.com/cooledit/index.html

Macromedia Shockwave

http://www.macromedia.com/shockwave/

WindowsMedia.com

http://windowsmedia.com/mediaguide/default.asp

LiveAudio

http://home.netscape.com/navigator/v3.0/audio.html

Real.com (RealAudio)

http://www.real.com

How can I make my virtual museum accessible to the visually impaired?

Web Accessibility Initiative Home Page

http://www.w3.org/WAI/

Center for Applied Special Technology

http://www.cast.org

ADA Home Page

http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/ada/adahom1.htm

Web's blind spot: Disabled users

http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/news/

0,4586,2505714-2,00.html

Begin monitoring technology journals and the World Wide Web for further developments in audio technology.  The information on this topic is forever changing; it is important to stay informed of new developments.

An electronic version of this pathfinder is available at: http://gslis.utexas.edu/~kwebb/Pathfinder.html


[1] Britannica.com.  Virtual Museum.  9 Oct. 2000

      <http://www.britannica.com/bcom/eb/article/2/0,5716,232+1+232,00.html?query=virtual%20museum >.

[2] “Progressive Networks launches the first commercial audio-on-demand system over the Internet.” 

      Business Wire, Inc.  10 Apr. 1995.  Nexis.com.  9 Oct. 2000 <http://www.nexis.com>.