Managing multimedia content databases

Abstract

The Internet provides an effective means of dissemination of information in the Humanities, and so in many cases the Internet is becoming the primary or even only form for dissemination of information. In this context, the effective management of published resources becomes essential. Management of published multimedia content on the internet must deal with not only the Content Management but issues of technological obsolescence, effective management and reuse of the digital assets, and version control of information. Sites must address the established disciplines of effective description, classification and preservation to be more than just transient sources of information. Content Management systems on their own address only one part of the problem: the workflow management of publication and separation of content from presentation. The theory toward a Content Management System design that incorporates elements of digital asset management and version control will be described and a working system that implements these principles through internal XML definition of content structures and use of relational database techniques to provide database content management.