The Multimedia Information and Technology Group aims to unite CILIP members engaged in, or interested in, multimedia information and technology developments in library and information science.
It is a means of sharing experience and ideas, and promoting common professional interests.
Members are drawn from all information service sectors, but have in common an interest in the delivery of information based on modern media, including graphic forms, streaming video, film clips, sometimes animation, and sound – alongside traditional text.
The Group acts as a forum for explaining, and reflecting on, the exploitation of technology in information provision.
It deals with the integration and management of all the forms in which information is presented, the use of a range of electronic delivery systems, now including web-based applications, and innovation; all in the interests of communicating information.
What We Do
The Group is concerned with the organisation, delivery and exploitation of information in all of the above forms, in various combinations and for all purposes.
With multimedia now a mainstream concern, the Group retains the significance, usefulness and influence it has displayed since its conception.
Our task is what it always has been: to champion the continuing importance of multimedia, to identify and explain trends and developments, and to provide development opportunities for our members.
How We Do It
The Multimedia Information & Technology Journal is a central feature of our activities.
Our regularly updated newsblog can be used by anyone with a useful contribution to make, whether it is an event, a research report, opinion piece, or anything else relevant to multimedia.
The Group website is regularly reviewed, updated and revised.
An autumn conference, usually oversubscribed, covers a key topic of the moment, and invariably boasts highly respected speakers. Examples of recent conferences include:
Radio Frequency Identification: Beyond the Barcode
Virtual Learning Environments: What’s all the Fuss About?
Which Shelves do You Keep E-journals on?
How to Effectively Promote Electronic Library Resources
E-books: How to Make Them Work
A programme of workshops is also a feature, and is currently in preparation for the next 12 months.
Our Structure
Multimedia Information & Technology is decentralised, which allows the Group to keep in touch with members’ needs and concerns.
Scotland (MMITS) and MMIT North West run their own programmes and promote professional interests in their own spheres, while contributing UK-wide and in an international context. Institutional members of the group are worldwide.