Multimedia Laboratory

The Multimedia Laboratory of the Institute and Museum of the History of Science, in operation since 1990, is engaged in carrying out the informatics applications of the institution.

It is staffed by over twenty persons of different professional capabilities, making it possible to manage on-site all stages in the development of applications, from planning to two- and three-dimensional graphics, to programming, up to the final issuing on CD/DVD and/or the Web.

The Laboratory can count on all of the skills and equipment necessary for the realization and management of:

  three-dimensional animations
  multimedia CD/DVDs
  relational databases
  websites

The most important projects include the realization of a multimedia Catalogue of the Museum in DVD and Web versions, a series of multimedia CDs for disseminating knowledge on the operation of ancient scientific instruments, the creation of files for managing the documentary resources of the Institute, the Museum and the Library and integrating them into a single consultation system which includes the Iconographic File and the Digital Library. In 1994, the IMSS inaugurated its own website, which has been implemented and developed by the Multimedia Laboratory. Moreover, on the occasion of the exhibitions held by the IMSS, the Laboratory prepares both the multimedia applications for the exhibition itinerary and their presentation on the Web.

The Multimedia Laboratory operates in direct and close collaboration with the IMSS research and documentation departments, thus guaranteeing the realization of products of high scientific quality. The intense collaboration between "informatics" operators and content authors ensures optimization of the modes of presenting the material in relation to different classes of users. The Laboratory is thus the nodal point of connection between research, documentation and divulging.

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