Working with supplementary media

Supplementary media may be accessed from IMu via the virtual Supplementary column in the Multimedia module. Details available here.

Details about storage of supplementary media on the EMu server can be found here.

The EMu Multimedia repository stores and manages a wide range of document types. These may be:

  • In electronic format (e.g. images, Word documents, video, etc.).
  • URLs identifying a resource on the World Wide Web.
  • An identifier used to locate a particular resource (e.g. the ISBN for a book, or the location of a slide in the slide library).

Each record in the Multimedia repository describes exactly one resource. Data describing the resource may be added to the record, allowing quite detailed information to be associated with it (as a minimum, the full set of Dublin Core fields is available).

An issue arises when there's a need to store resources associated with a Multimedia record. For example, let's say a Multimedia resource is an image of a page containing text. Along with the image it may be desirable to have a text document that contains the words in the image so that users may view the image of the text but also have the option of reading the text in the associated document.

Prior to EMu 4.1, there was only one way to implement such a solution:

  1. Each associated resource required its own Multimedia record.
  2. A relationship was then established between the master resource and the associated resources via either a text field in the Multimedia record or via an over-arching record in another module that links the resources (typically the Narratives module).

In some cases the setting up of such structures is overkill. In the example above, the text document containing the words in the image may not be important enough to warrant its own Multimedia record.

Other examples:

  • The master resource is an image and a cropped thumbnail is required to display on the web.

    The Multimedia repository generates images of various resolutions when an image is added but each of these resolutions is an exact copy of the master. In some instances it may be desirable to have cropped versions of the master, or even a different image completely.

  • The master resource is a video. There may also be a separate audio track describing the video and an image of the first frame of the video.

    Rather than creating separate Multimedia records for the audio and image resources it may be more appropriate to store them with the master video itself.

The purpose of supplementary media is to allow associated resources to be stored with a master resource in the same Multimedia record. Supplementary media does not replace the use of over-arching records to related multimedia where each resource is important in its own right, rather it provides a mechanism for storing other media that may be used along with the master resource.

It is possible:

  • To import supplementary media using the EMu Import Tool.
  • To use supplementary media in reports.

The Supplementary tab

In order to provide support for supplementary media, a Supplementary tab has been added to the Multimedia module. The tab is similar to the Resolutions tab and allows media to be added, deleted, modified, viewed and saved. The Multimedia drop-down menu available in each module has been extended to allow supplementary media to be viewed and saved.

Details of the Supplementary tab can be found here.