文章基本信息

标题：Strokes ... from the Penn
作者：Penn, Ira A
期刊名称：The Information Management Magazine
印刷版ISSN：1535-2897
电子版ISSN：2155-3505
出版年度：1995
卷号：Apr 1995
出版社：A R M A International

Strokes ... from the Penn

Penn, Ira A

Multimedia is the latest piece of technoglitz to invade our offices. With multimedia you can incorporate sounds, animation, and even video as an integral part of the information stored for use by your PC. At the moment multimedia is pretty much limited to training productions. But those of us who were in records management back when secretaries still knew what carbon paper was, intuitively understand that it is only a matter of time until we have multimedia records as well.

Somehow I just know that when the first multimedia memorandum hits my desk, I'm going to long for the good old days of E-mail. With multimedia, instead of being able to skim rapidly through the innocuous message about the upcoming employee picnic, I'll be subjected to contrived pictures of cartoon characters dancing with the children who attended the previous year's event and a smarmy voice-over telling me that "It'll be sooo much fun!"

Eventually, of course, we'll see the introduction of the Multimedia Records Management Manual. No more boring numbered sections and paragraphs. No more transmittal sheets with the bold authorizing signature. It will start off (as will all organizational manuals) with the "Top Manager" talking about how committed he is to "the Program." From there we'll segue to the records management office (conveniently omitting the elevator ride down 56 stories to the basement) where we'll hear the Records Manager say, "We're here to serve YOU! For information on our alpha-numeric filing system, press 1; for information on disposition scheduling, press 2; for information on disaster contingencies, press ..."

As we access the information, we'll find that the text is accompanied by music which appropriately fits the subject matter. "The Impossible Dream" might be a good background piece for the section explaining the life-cycle concept. "It's A Small World" could accompany the section on micrographics. You get the idea.

As with all new technologies, multimedia will take some time to get established. But it's going to happen-- and in a manner similar to that suggested above. I can hardly wait.