Intermedia; HumBul (213)

Willard McCarty (MCCARTY@VM.EPAS.UTORONTO.CA)
Wed, 26 Apr 89 20:14:29 EDT


Humanist Mailing List, Vol. 2, No. 896. Wednesday, 26 Apr 1989.


(1) Date: Wed, 26 Apr 89 15:01:01 EDT (146 lines)
From: "James H. Coombs" <JAZBO@BROWNVM>
Subject: IRIS Intermedia announcement

(2) Date: Wed, 26 Apr 89 10:06:24 GMT (21 lines)
From: MAY@LEICESTER.AC.UK
Subject: Instructions for using HUMBUL, in case anyone is unclear.

(3) Date: Wed, 26 Apr 89 18:00:42 GMT (22 lines)
From: MAY@LEICESTER.AC.UK
Subject: List of current HUMBUL files.

(1) --------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Wed, 26 Apr 89 15:01:01 EDT
From: "James H. Coombs" <JAZBO@BROWNVM>
Subject: IRIS Intermedia announcement


Brown University and Apple Computer Announce
New Multiuser Hypermedia Development System

WASHINGTON, DC. April 25, 1989

Brown University's Institute for Research in Information and Scholarship
(IRIS), in conjunction with Apple Computer, Inc., today announced the
availability of IRIS Intermedia, a multiuser hypermedia development system
that allows individuals and groups to create and navigate through
interconnected bodies of information across a network.

Intermedia is a tool that allows users to build "webs" of
information--consisting of text, graphics, timelines and scanned images. With
Intermedia, users can easily browse through trails of information, link
together materials in the same intuitive way they associate ideas, and
organize concepts in an orderly, yet non-linear way. Intermedia webs help the
user explore vast quantities of information, discern connections between ideas
and easily understand where they are, what they've seen and what they can
explore next.

Intermedia provides yet another point in the Macintosh(R) multimedia spectrum
that started with Apple's own HyperCard(R) software. Intermedia allows
multiple overlapping windows, the facility to handle lengthy documents,
navigation aids, and most importantly, a truly multiuser environment that
allows groups of users to simultaneously create and annotate shared hypermedia
"ideabases."

Intermedia runs under A/UX(R), Apple's version of the UNIX(R)-based operating
system, an important operating system in higher education and government. It
is available through the Apple Programmers and Developers Association (APDA
tm). The Intermedia user interface is built on top of the Macintosh Toolbox
interface that is provided as part of A/UX, so while Intermedia makes full use
of the powerful capabilities provided by A/UX, such as virtual memory,
multitasking and networking, it also offers the ease of use of the Macintosh
interface. Documents are shared using Network File System (NFS).

"Our goal was to provide a seamless environment where people can create
documents and link together important concepts in much the same way the human
mind creates associations," said Norman Meyrowitz, associate directory of IRIS
and manager of the team that created the system. "We want to empower
individuals and groups with tools that allow them to create webs of multimedia
information according to their own needs and interests."

For the end user, Intermedia is a set of powerful, integrated
applications--InterWord, a word processing program; InterDraw, a structured
graphics editor that with InterPix, a scanned image viewer, allows users to
create and display diagrams and bitmap images; and InterVal, a timeline editor
that helps manage temporal events by displaying them in chronological
order--and the capability to link together materials created by those
applications into an exploratory web of ideas. The web is the structure in
which a user collects and navigates the links associated with a set of
documents. Intermedia's multiple window support lets the user display over
100 documents on the screen at the same time and visualize the connections
between them.

For example, a history instructor could create an environment for exploring
the world of Thomas Jefferson. The web could include original writings of
Thomas Jefferson that are linked to analytical articles about each work, a
biography of Jefferson, a timeline which outlines all the significant
historical events that occurred before, during and after Jefferson's life, a
collection of drawings that depict Jefferson's inventions and architectural
designs, a collection of bitmap photographs of Monticello and its grounds and
an annotated bibliography of related reading material.

In a sample IRIS Intermedia web, "Exploring the Moon," students interested in
lunar exploration can browse through a collection of materials about the
Apollo Missions, including details of the scientific objectives and goals of
each mission. Students can then "join" the astronauts in their
explorations--seeing vivid scanned photographs of the sites the astronauts
saw, studying maps and timelines, and reading transcripts of what they were
saying as they took photographs, conducted experiments and walked on the moon.
Students can customize the web by creating new documents and adding their own
links. The sample is available directly from IRIS at Brown University.

"It's a provocative way to learn because it lets students explore information
from different vantage points," said Katie Povejsil, Apple's marketing manager
of academic solutions for higher education. "We believe that it promotes
critical thinking and hones research skills. Since it can be used by
non-programmers and delivered over a network, we expect Intermedia to
accelerate the creation of multimedia instruction and research materials for
higher education. It also has great potential for use in training and
reference systems applications within higher education as well as in business
and government where UNIX operating systems and networks are commonly used."

Intermedia is currently undergoing its third year of testing in several Brown
University courses. The results of these field trials have shown that
students who used Intermedia materials demonstrated substantial improvements
in their ability to think critically and analyze the subject matter in an
integrated, holistic manner compared to students in control groups who did not
use the materials. At several other universities, it has been used for such
disparate projects as an online medical textbook and an experimental web on
the life and notes of famous philosophers.


The IRIS Intermedia System

The IRIS Intermedia system has two parts: the IRIS Intermedia Server, which
runs on a Macintosh system on a network and manages both the document file
system and a network-accessible database that contains the information about
interdocument links; and the Intermedia Client, which runs on individual
workstations and includes the four applications--InterWord, InterDraw,
InterPix and InterVal. The IRIS InterLex Server is an optional Intermedia
component which provides network-wide access to a full version of Houghton
Mifflin's American Heritage Dictionary from any of the other applications.

The IRIS Intermedia system is available through APDA for $150.00 per machine
or through IRIS at the same price. When purchased through APDA, customers in
the U.S. will be eligible for up to two hours of free A/UX hotline support for
the first 90 days. The $150 price includes the Intermedia Server and
Intermedia Client software, tutorials, and documentation. Available directly
from IRIS at Brown are "Exploring the Moon" for $25 and IRIS InterLex Server
for $250. InterLex is available on a variety of tape media--Apple
computer-compatible DC 2000 mini data cartridge, DC-600 data cartridge, eight
millimeter helical scan video tape or 1/2-inch 9-track reel. The price of
InterLex includes the license to provide the information over a multiuser
network.

In a stand-alone installation, Intermedia requires one dedicated Macintosh(R)
II, IIx, or IIcx system running A/UX 1.1, with at least 4 megabytes of RAM to
act as both the server and client. In a networked installation, Intermedia
requires one dedicated Macintosh II, IIx or IIcx running A/UX 1.1, with at
least 4 megabytes of RAM to act as the server and any number of
similarly-configured Macintosh systems to run as clients. An additional 40 to
80 megabyte hard disk is recommended for storing documents and data of any
significant size.

IRIS was established by Brown University in 1983 to investigate ways in which
computing technology can help individuals in their research, teaching and
learning. Its goals are to create experimental tools that empower individuals
with new capabilities for harnessing information, to enhance group interaction
and communication, and to develop a deeper understanding of the ways people
work. Brown University is a member of the apple University Consortium, a
council of 32 leading universities formed in 1984 that explores innovative
uses of the Macintosh, develops courseware and advises Apple about future
technological directions. Apple's Macintosh personal computers have found
growing popularity among college students and faculty because of its
easy-to-use graphical interface.

Phone Contacts:
IRIS 401-863-3438
APDA 800-282-2732
(2) --------------------------------------------------------------30----
Date: Wed, 26 Apr 89 10:06:24 GMT
From: MAY@LEICESTER.AC.UK
Subject: Instructions for using HUMBUL, in case anyone is unclear.

Dear Colleagues

Welcome to the HUMBUL distribution list. This is based on
the HUMBUL data base on the use of computers in the humanities
and is accessible from EARN, BITNET and JANET.



--------------------
[A complete version of this announcement is now available on
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by issuing either an interactive or a batch-job command, addressed to
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(3) --------------------------------------------------------------31----
Date: Wed, 26 Apr 89 18:00:42 GMT
From: MAY@LEICESTER.AC.UK
Subject: List of current HUMBUL files.

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--------------------
[A complete version of this announcement is now available on
the file-server, s.v. HUMBUL CONTENTS. A copy may be obtained
by issuing either an interactive or a batch-job command, addressed to
LISTSERV@UTORONTO -- not to HUMANIST. See your Guide to HUMANIST
for information about how to issue such a command. Problems
should be reported to David Sitman, A79@TAUNIVM, after you
have consulted the Guide and tried all appropriate alternatives.]