December 10,2002
To Whom It May Concern:
I am delighted to provide this letter of recommendation for the
Georgia Tech Interactive Media Technology Center. I have worked
with the
Interactive Media Technology Center (IMTC) on two large media projects.
In my position as assistant director of the Georgia Tech Library,
I worked with IMTC on a large, grant-funded project to develop
two interactive CD-ROMs honoring Senator Sam Nunn, for distribution
to
Georgia public high schools and universities. The two CD-ROMs -
Sam Nunn, the Man from Perry and National Security for the 21s1
Century
- are very different in nature and scope. For the first CD-ROM,
the issue was to create an engaging CD-ROM that made the life and
accomplishments
of Senator Sam Nunn memorable and thought provoking for a high
school audience. IMTC developed an entertaining and immersive experience
that included a portrait gallery lining a stairway banister, a
scrapbook,
a day timer to describe a day in the life of a senator that included
an emergency bell calling the Senator to a floor vote, and a briefcase
with files highlighting the substantive accomplishments of the
Senator's 24 years.
This CD-ROM represented my first experience working with IMTC.
I was very impressed with their understanding of the ways a high
school
audience interacts with digital information. They provided the
Georgia Tech library with guidance far beyond the parameters of
their subcontract
in synthesizing complex information into small and memorable pieces
that ultimately provided a seamless, thematic whole. IMTC interwove
those information snippets with media - images, audio and video
- to create an engaging experience to introduce and define one
of Georgia's
most influential senators for successive generations of schoolchildren.
The navigation was particularly effective, allowing users to bypass
audio introductions and move rapidly around the sections to encourage
repeat usage by individuals. The concept of repeat usability is
one of many valuable lessons that IMTC provided to the library
participants.
IMTC staff were completely engaged in the project and more than
willing to instruct the library neophytes into the storyboarding
process
to leverage the library's research strengths with IMTC's design
skills and understanding of multimedia information in an interactive
educational
setting. Senator Nunn was very pleased with the end result and
continues to use the CD-ROM for public relations activities. We
also received
glowing reports from schoolteachers utilizing the CD-ROM in political
science, civics and Georgia history classes. IMTC's expertise and
guidance were largely responsible for the project's completion
on time and within budget, since the library was new to multimedia
and
learning throughout the project.
The second CD-ROM was a very different experience. National Security
for the 21st Century introduced the very complex issue of nuclear,
biological, and information security to high school and university
students. IMTC created a compelling CD-ROM that combined activities,
such as the exploding of a nuclear bomb and the aftermath of such
a bomb across a 100-mile radius.
Several unforeseen complications arose during the development
of the CD-ROM. IMTC remained completely engaged and focused despite
some course changes. It is not uncommon for project subcontractors
to respond to unavoidable changes of course by holding strictly
to
the letter of the contract. Instead, IMTC was as committed to the
project completion as the library and took the approach of a partner
with an equally strong interest in the project's success. As a
project administrator, I have found this level of commitment and
flexibility
to be very rare in subcontractor organizations.
I have since moved to Rutgers University, but I continue to partner
with Georgia Tech IMTC, not only because of their exceptional design
skills and understanding of how digital information is successfully
incorporated into a multimedia presentation, but also because I
can trust their level of commitment to the project absolutely and
I know
that the outcome is as important to them as it to me. The CD-ROM
was awarded an Axiem award for excellence in electronic media.
Perhaps more importantly, the CD-ROM was distributed to universities
and
high schools around the country in the aftermath of September 11
and provided, by special request, to the Congressional Research
Service of the Library of Congress in late September 2001 to develop
a briefing
paper for Congress on biological terrorism.
Currently, IMTC is partnering with the Rutgers University Libraries
on a National Science Foundation funded project entitled, "Moving
Image Collections" - a web portal to the world's moving image
collections - to be hosted by the Library of Congress. IMTC is responsible
for the portal design, which includes dynamic, database-driven information
portals customized to the unique needs of specific audiences.
Moving Image Collections will include a portal for science educators
- "Science Goes to the Movies" - with the goal of integrating
moving images into mainstream science education. This portal will
incorporate science-related moving image collections from organizations,
such as the Library of Congress, the National Library of Medicine,
Smithsonian Institute, National Geographic Television and CNN, among
others. IMTC is responsible for merging two databases - a catalog
and an archive directory - into a database-driven portal that supports
many goals, including support for education and, ultimately, the
preservation of the world's moving image sources.
The project began in October 2002, and IMTC's level of engagement
and participation is already meeting or exceeding my expectations.
William Price is the co-principal investigator for this project.
He has met with the moving image community on several occasions
and ably presented the project in professional forums and conferences.
This project is co-sponsored by the Library of Congress and the
Association
of Moving Image Archivists. IMTC graphic designer Tiffany O'Quinn
has designed a very clean, attractive, and functional website that
moves the user among contextual portals swiftly and easily, without
confusion. It is a tribute to her design skills that the committee
was able to rapidly select a logo and design from among the options
provided by Tiffany O'Quinn. Tiffany does considerable homework
before developing a design, in this case spending time with moving
image
web sites and education portals to insure a functional design that
is responsive to community needs. IMTC provides exceptional design
and interactivity expertise, ranging from web site and interactive
graphics development to complex programming to support a cutting
edge web portal. In addition, they are experienced and up to date
on accessibility requirements and technologies, which is critical
for providing an educational experience for every user. This project requires IMTC to work directly with interested,
engaged volunteers in the moving image archives community. They
have already
built relationships with many of the moving image community representatives
participating in the project. The Library of Congress will be the
ultimate host site for the Moving Image Collections portal. The
technology behind the portal is new to them and, while they are
excited about
extending their digital library infrastructure, they also have
some misgivings about their own ability to support the project
after the
grant's completion. This project is a very political, high profile
project in the moving image community. Given the concerns of the
Library of Congress and the interest and engagement of the moving
image community, there was no question in my mind that IMTC's participation
was essential for the project's success. IMTC is unique in my experience
for their level of engagement, their ability to understand and
work with any community, their commitment to the goals of each
project,
and their ability to seamlessly transfer their technological and
design expertise to their customers throughout a project.
A minor anecdote can further illustrate this commitment. Two
days before the annual conference of the moving image archives
community,
the leaders in that community asked whether it would be possible
to provide stickers advertising the portal, to be affixed to conference
badges. I was drafting an email response politely regretting that
there wasn't time. I checked with IMTC just to be conscientious.
Their response was, "no problem." They quickly drafted
and printed a sticker, which proved to be a big hit at the conference,
providing instant name recognition for the portal. Sticker design
was not included in their subcontract award and, strictly speaking,
IMTC could easily reject such requests. However, this attention to
detail and responsiveness to small as well as large concerns is ultimately
responsible for a project's success and represents IMTC's willingness
to go beyond the details of the project to the project's mission
and spirit.
In summary, I am delighted to recommend IMTC to anyone in need
of cutting-edge multimedia expertise. Their professionalism and
commitment
to clients and projects is unsurpassed in my opinion. If I can
provide any additional information concerning the Interactive Media
Technology
Center, please do not hesitate to contact me. My contact information
is provided below.
Sincerely,
Grace Agnew
Associate University Librarian for Digital Library Systems
732-445-5908
gagnew@rci.rutgers.edu |
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