Глобализация культуры и миссия вузов культуры и искусств (на англ. яз.) (80
.pdfBeing polysemantic, the term “multimedia” can be understood in different ways: as a multimedia program; a product made on multimedia technology; computer equipment/CD drives; soundand videocards; suitable computer memory; high resolution monitors and other parameters.
It is also a special type of computer technology which combines both traditional static visual (text, graphic) and dynamic (speech, music, video, animation, etc.) information.
So in broad meaning “multimedia” is a wide range of information technologies which use different software and hardware in order to influence more effectively the user (who becomes a reader, listener, and viewer at the same time).
Multimedia products and services possess a great store of emotion because they use graphic, sound, and visual information all at once. Because of this they are widely used in the entertainment industry as well as in information institutions’ practices and at home for personal use.
Today multimedia products worldwide number in the tens of thousands. The Russian market is not as rich as in the west but it is growing. In 1995 first issue of a Russian CD-ROM and multimedia directory mentioned only 34 such products, in 1996 there were more than 112 of them and in the beginning of 1998 there were already 300. Today we have more hundreds this kind of resources. The illustrated catalog of Russian multimedia electronic resources in culture, art and education is located on web: http:// www.museum.ru/CPIK_KATALOG-CD- ROM
Multimedia products may be used in many aspects (as reference books, exercise books, entertainment programs), they may be divided into the following types:- Encyclopaedias, reference books, informative multimedia programs (the best known are “Cyril and Methody
Encyclopaedia,” “Brokgause and Efron Encyclopedia,” “Classical Foreign Encyclopaedia,” “The Romanov Dynasty: Three Centuries of Russian History,” and others).
-Educational programs (electronic textbooks such as “Internet,” ”Multimedia ABC,” multimedia courses for teaching foreign languages, CD “Open Physics 1.0,” “Physician” (the winner among educational programs at the Russian Multimedia CD-ROM Festival
“Continent-97”) and others).
-Fiction with educational elements (for example “Alice’s World”, and others.
-City and museum guides (DVD –rom “The Hermitazh. Virtual visit”, “Moscow Kremlin,” “Peterghof,” and others).
-Catalogues (CD-ROMs in Russia, for example, published by ILIAC).
-And others.
The special part of multimedia is Internet resources.
In Russian Internet there are a whole lot of resources, devoted culture. Conditionally the resources may be classify according to the purposeful and social significant.
- First, resources classified by territorial and administrative significance these are governmental sites (for example, Ministry of Culturehttp:// www.mincult.isf.ru),
Non profit organization, educational institutionslibraries, universities (http://www.msuc.edu.ru) and others.
-Second, resources. Which enhance concrete zhanres and type of culture. The most authority portal is museum http://www.museum.ru (which includes information about more than 4070 records (2,5 thousands museums), architecture (arhi) about 370 artists and 940 photographs – which got a price as a winner in Intel Internet Competition -2001, and others.
-Third, resources, devoted different part of Russian (region) – GOLD CIRCLE of Ural (http://UralRing.eunnet.net) and others.
The Internet has no scarce resources but they are quire scattered and these is no coordination of the profile servers. Besides that, not all the site equally subject oriented, informative and technological refinement. The criteria of the website structure have not yet been developed, especially in the field of culture.
The Internet is a new language of communication and expression, which is adequate to this and that aesthetic conception or taste, is not widely accepted yet. A lot of dispute is going on about the difference of cultures, issues of authenticity on the web, the continuity of traditional and digital art, about the specific of Russian net-art and so on.
Some of the issues need to be clarified in detail:
1)the issues of the terminological consistency: the difference between such notions as
“electronic resources”, “multimedia resources”, “on-line resources” as an academic subject, understanding their are specific and as an teaching means.
2)Systematization and classification of multimedia resources, Internet resources in particular.
3)The continuity in teaching information resources, that is: studying the traditional and nontraditional resources as well as mastering the tools, which are used to create them, consecutive gaining of knowledge and skills for creating and using of information resources (the principle of “ from simple to complex”.
4)The presence of the technological basis, which enables to study the creation and use of electronic resources in socio-cultural field.
In Russia the practice of teaching electronic multimedia resources has some difficulties: lack of special equipment to show computer material on a large screen, shortage of available programs, lack of modern computer classrooms in many universities, difficulties with Internet connections and others. Nevertheless, there are increasing opportunities to use multimedia resources in the educational and teaching process there.
Multimedia contributes to the appearance not only of a new rich area of communication and information transmission, but also a domain of a new way of thinking. That is why it now occupies a new place in modern culture alongside traditional and known means of communication and information dissemination.
Multimedia gives an opportunity to organize material systematically but also to allow the student to access and learn some parts independently, to choose full or partial study options. The result is a more logically accessible educational tool.
Multimedia contributes to the appearance not only of a new rich area of communication and information transmission, but also a domain of a new way of thinking. That is why it now occupies a new place in modern culture alongside traditional and known means of communication and information dissemination.
Future librarians, museum and archives clerks need to be familiar with the principles of making electronic products, necessary technical equipment and planning needs for information services because they will need this information to meet the needs of users of these information institutions.
Some versions of different multimedia programs (“PowerPrint”,”ToolBook”,”Hypomethod”, etc.) are used in classes. Some CD-ROM products, thanks to their demonstration versions (for example, A.S.Griboedov, A.S. Pushkin – products of Informregistr, some encyclopedias), are studied in educational courses teaching students how to serve the users at libraries and cultural institutions.
Multimedia, even in its first stage, brings communication between the user and the author of the computer program, the teacher and the student, to a new level. It improves forms and devices of information exchange. It strengthens creative work in the process of making educational programs as well as in the process of education itself. It reduces everyday routine and improves the process of education.
One of the main directions of MSUCA activities is training of specialists of information profile whose mission is in the formation of information culture of the society which is the condition of information society and free market information building on the basis of humanitarian traditions of social control, guaranteeing the effective usage of new computer technologies in all spheres and directions of the activity.
All specialties and specializations, especially of information-technology profile, are used with the popularity on the modern market of labor and are called “Professions of XXI century”.
MSUCA also contributes much in the information and spreading the so-called second literacy of the XXI century – computer. For all specialties of culture and arts computer disciplines are included in the programme and for the specialists in the field of culture as well. Along with such subjects as “Information Science”, “Computer Practice” there appear such new disciplines as ”Computer technologies in Music”, “Internet resources and services in sociocultural field”, etc, profiled on specialty.
There is no alternative to this tendency because the possession of multimedia means, internettechnologies, on-line retrieval is of great necessity for each modern person.
The study is not limited only with theory but it is considered for students to participate in real applied investigations.
Practice-oriented studies take place in large companies and leading establishments: great libraries such as Russian State Library, AllRussian State Library for Foreign literature, etc, theatres, museums, information companies: “Informregist”, “Rambler”, “RosBusinessConsulting”, “Art-info”, FAPSI and many others.
There widely used in the process of training in MSUCA new information technology and teaching means such as: electronic tests, models and cases, demonstrating materials, computer multimedia business presentations, PR-technologies with software “E-Publishing” (Hypermethod Company), Cronos+, Garant system, “Consultant+” and others.
This list is our future programme although some of them are being used at Information faculties at the University.
Our nearest plans are creating of integrated cultural and education space. We hope that we’ll find professors and scientists in the 2d World forum at Taiwan whose interests are in the line of our work directions and our cooperation will be useful for both our people.