A D V E N T U R E S in C Y B E R S O U N DMasters of New Media : Lecture Series
RMIT Centre for Animation and Interactive Media Adventures in CyberSound: A Future for Radio?, A Radio for the Future?
by Russell Naughton
Adventures in CyberSound: A Future for Radio?, A Radio for the Future? I'm about two thirds of the way through a Ph.D. with the AIM Centre. I actually started at Masters level but last year was successful in upgrading to a Ph.D. During the daytime I tread the corridors of what's left of the ABC playing the role of Online Services Coordinator for Radio Australia, the overseas broadcasting service of the ABC. Some of you who I now regard pretty much as family have heard part or in some cases just about all of tonight's content but for those who haven't, I hope the next 15 minutes or so will shed some light on my field of research. The title of my project, a decision which in hindsight now some three years on seems a little dated, is 'Adventures in CyberSound'. The alternate title - the one that adds the popular 'play on words' factor and one I'm really much happier with is ...A future for Radio? (as in is there a future for radio as we currently know it ?), A radio for the Future (as in the device which in the future might provide programming we now access via the Walkman©, the GhettoBlaster and even the FM card in our PC.) The project is being approached in two parts, the project proper, and actual online radio site, Radio Australia, and the project documentation, a separate web site sitting on the Cinemedia Server. Cinemedia is the joining of two interrelated bodies, the State Film Centre and Film Victoria. In mid 1995, a memorandum of understanding was struck between the then alone State Film Centre and RMIT Visual Communication to both provide, external to the RMIT Campus, a so called 'media lab' and also provide a vehicle for RMIT Online academic works. I urge you to investigate their site not only to have a look at my work but also all the other various projects therein. It is a fascinating and very 'content rich' site. Originally Adventures in CyberSound encompassed both project and documentation but the decision by the ABC in late 1995 to go online gave me an opportunity to experiment in the real world rather than a purely experimental site and as things have turned out, it has been somewhat of a windfall most markedly with the volume of equally real world feedback to my work. Working Online The main advantage of a project which is online based both in a practical and documentary sense is the fact that from day one you can claim to be publishing your work. Publishing lends credibility in an academic sense and adds that `putting your money where your mouth is' factor to your research. It is the perfect machine to create `primary data' the heart and soul of any worthwhile research. It is however a vulnerable workspace. Your real world 'guinea pigs' are not usually concerned in any way with your reasons for stating one fact or another but the statements themselves. They have no hesitation in being harshly critical when they feel like it but I hasten to add, they equally have no hesitation in praising you when things go right. To say the least, the online world is still far short of the traditional library in volume of content but where it does shine is that it has a real sense of vibrancy far removed from the silent world of a library reading room. One often feels as if there is a group of people standing around a huge white board all adding and subtracting to both their own work and more importantly, the work of others with the outcome being a whole new raft of thought unravelling before your eyes. Under the traditional publishing model this cross fertilisation can and always has taken place but the time frame has been lengthy. What one notices on the web is that the data you uploaded last week, last night for that matter, has been `borrowed' by someone else, modified, in most cases enhanced and then re presented as if you like, a 'version 2'. Alongside this `borrowing' tradition, it is pleasing to see the acceptance and respect of original thought and one normally finds clear reference to the source(s) of the original 'first draft' The Research Site Theory I might now describe how I came to design the structure of the Cinemedia site as it may help others similarly deciding on using an online method of documentation even if they are doing a non project based thesis. After some experimentation and especially after moving my project proper to the ABC site in April/May 1996, I decided on using the book metaphor. Although not really representing the potential of the new medium I saw it as a 'tipping of my hat' to academia in that as I don't intend to produce a so called `hard copy' of my documentation, the least I can do is present the data in a recognisable, traditional format albeit screen based. By recognisable I guess I really mean linear in nature and essentially this is how it appears at first glance. A cover page, a contents page, the 'chapters' themselves and finally at the back (or is that at the bottom), the various appendices. The reality of the site is of course far more complex. There is the obvious hyperlinking within the local site itself but also the external hyperlinking to parallel work by others in this field. There is also a vast amount of correspondence concerning both the project site and the documentation. It is intended that this will also be hyperlinked in the final version. The concept of references and footnotes in a hypertext document is the final icing on the 'interactive cake' with the finished work taking the viewer on a trip through your study that no bound volume could ever approximate. Practice The casual visitor is initially presented with a simplistic though fully functional 'main' index which presents them with 'chapter' like headings. Underpinning this 'main' index is one fully broken down into individual documents - my 'hyperindex'. Borrowed from the 'combing screen' concept of Simon Pockley (thanks Simon) although I must admit not taken as far to the same 'absolute' depth, my 'hyperindex' is the tool that I construct the site with, move and update pages and their own submenus. As material is prepared for the web, be it a 'found' essay or a simple bibliographic addition, it is first added to the hyperindex. The same data once verified and checked is then duplicated on the individual pages. Largely for my own use at this developmental stage, but I guess eventually for the dedicated viewer and certainly the eventual examiners, I have now also begun annotating this 'hyperindex'. The annotations include notes about various 'constructional' matters, comments to myself about criticisms of this part or that, and jottings of those things that need to be written down at one time or another but not necessarily to be published in the final work. Primary Evidence It cannot be stressed too strongly that the gathering and 'recording' of so called 'primary evidence' or primary data is not only one of the main responsibilities of a good researcher but though its collation and referral (via hyperindexing) to the main body of work, it can provide precise reference points to and indeed actual hard evidence of events mentioned in the main body of the thesis. In my case, the main source of primary evidence has been the electronic correspondence (eMail) between myself and my fellow ABC employees and in the case of the Cinemedia based documentation site, similar contact from readers literally world wide. These documents via their very creation usually carry a trail of data such as date, creator, authoring site etc. which further helps to take the worry out of logging everything that comes across your desk. The main task then is to file this information as soon as possible and to also file any follow up mail from you back to the sender. Often the reply is more important than the request as it shows action on your part to attend to a given matter as a direct result of external input. Thankyou Discussion The lecture will move to a hands on 'live' exploration of the two online sites.
Notes Project Site: Radio Australia Online: http://www.abc.net.au/ra Research Site: Adventures in CyberSound: http://www.cinemedia.net/RMIT/rnaughton
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