Introduction

Audiovisual media in the digital domain share many of the basic and fundamental user requirements of other types of collections, centred on a high degree of usability, focused around specific tasks and actions matched to different user groups. However, the delivery of and user interaction with audiovisual collections does have specific considerations that need to be addressed in order to provide and maintain user satisfaction. ‘Audiovisual’ can be an ambiguous term, as Ray Edmondson observes (Edmondson, 2004); in this chapter we are concerned with collections made up of sound and moving images, such as film and video. User groups for audiovisual collections have many different profiles: the case study in this chapter addresses access to audiovisual content specifically for the personal consumer, the educational sector and media professionals. These are three very distinct groups with separate needs and expectations that need to be catered for in order to ensure a good level of service acceptability. These user groups were the primary targets of a recent project exploring how best to cluster audiovisual material from a number of European archives and provide access over the internet. We illustrate how endusers’ needs have been addressed through a taskled approach and by using a requirementsdefinition process that comprised questionnaires, qualitative interviews and field evaluations.

The cost of providing audiovisual collections in digital Form

There is a push to put many audiovisual collections online, and evidence of the great interest of users in this type of material. One of the findings from recent international user testing of Europeana illustrates this:

Various digitization initiatives have come from many quarters. One example is the cultural heritage sector, wishing to share content with the widest possible audience. Another is the commercial sector, where the internet has enabled the full range of providers of audiovisual services, from independent filmmakers through to multinational companies selling DVDs and music, to place both new and archive audiovisual material online. They have a common goal in their desire to reach a target audience, and modern search engines really can help to match providers of services with their intended audience – driven in many cases by the commercial ambition of search engine providers to match advertising around search queries directly to targeted audiences.