Journeys was a step into a new world for The British Museum. It was a difficult project, partly because its concept is complex, but also because it presented new managerial and technical challenges. However, I believe that the final product does enhance the sum total of its object and site images, and that it will be a useful aid for museum visitors, school children and a wider public. Certainly, the project has opened my eyes to aspects of the Roman World that I had never considered properly before and I will never again study the past as I used to as a result of the experience.
Evaluations of Journeys have been encouraging and I believe that they justify the project. However, on a personal level the project has been invaluable to me, an academic who had no previous experience of multimedia work. If cutting my teeth on Journeys was a tough experience, it has taught me how to approach, plan for, and script multimedia projects. As part of the team that is producing a website, CD-Rom and kiosk for Creswell Heritage Trust in Nottinghamshire, my experience has been invaluable and has saved an enormous amount of time as we were able to approach a production company with a clear brief. Good content and project management prior to production is crucial. (http://www.creswell-crags.org.uk /virtuallytheiceage/)
With all this in mind, I am happy to dedicate my disk at the altar of the Dea Computrix and to welcome her into the Media Pantheon of the Ancient World.
The earlier part of this article is adapted from a previously-published conference
paper:
Moorhead, T.S.N. 2001 'Multimedia and the presentation of Roman Archaeology and
History'. Archäologische Museen und Stätten der Römischen Antike (2.
Internationales Colloquium zur Vermittlungsarbeit in Museen, Köln, Mai 1999)
Römisch-Germanischen Museum, Köln, pp. 275-279.
© Internet Archaeology
URL: http://intarch.ac.uk/journal/issue12/4/conclusion.html
Last updated: Thu Aug 1 2002