MDID 3 as a platform for building innovative multimedia applications

This post has originally been published in the February 2010 issue of Images, the newsletter of the VRA.

MDID 3 will feature an updated version of the familiar interface for discovering images, building and presenting slideshows and managing collections. Beyond the familiar, MDID 3 will also serve as a powerful platform for building innovative, web-based multimedia applications. The MDID 3 core stores, manages and delivers data records and media files; web developers will be able to author customized user interfaces to take advantage of specific MDID 3 core functionality.


The Center for Instructional Technology (CIT) at James Madison University (JMU) is currently using the MDID 3 platform to power JMUtube, a web application that allows faculty to upload and manage video and audio files for delivery to students through a variety of venues, including class web sites and Blackboard. JMUtube takes advantage of the MDID 3 core to store video and audio files and associated metadata. It also uses MDID 3 to manage user accounts and create thumbnail derivatives for audio and video files. JMUtube users, who for the most part are not teaching with still images and do not need the full functionality of MDID, may not even be aware that they are using an MDID-powered web application.


CIT is also using the MDID 3 platform to create a highly specialized oral history web application for history faculty. All audio files and associated metadata and audio transcripts are stored and managed by the MDID 3 engine. A novel interface allows faculty and students in the history department to synchronize audio time lines with typed transcripts. A web page for each composite record allows users to listen to the audio recording as the transcript automatically scrolls in step with the recording. Such functionality is beyond the scope of the traditional MDID web application, since it is only applicable to a relatively small set of records.

JMUtube and the oral history project exemplify the manner in which MDID can move beyond a single discipline into multiple disciplines. Imaginative faculty and skilled programmers will be able to collaborate to create innovative and useful multimedia applications. Once completed, the applications can be easily shared with other institutions as add-ons to existing MDID 3 installations.

VRA Conference Atlanta 2010

The schedule for the 2010 VRA Annual Conference in Atlanta, GA is available online.

MDID will continue to be represented with the MDID Users Group meeting on Thursday, March 18, from 2:00 pm to 3:30 pm.

We will also be part of an Ask the Experts session, probably the one on Friday, March 19, from 3:30 pm to 5:00 pm, although this could still change.

Hope to see you there!

Development Update

Development work on MDID 3 has continued throughout the summer and fall and we have made significant progress with the application core and frontend support. The MDID user interface and management tools are only partially complete at this time and require some additional work.

At this time we are targeting the 2010 Annual VRA Conference in March for the official release.

We are also experimenting with MDID 3 as the backend for different multimedia web applications here at JMU. We will shortly switch JMUtube, our faculty video site, to use MDID 3 as the data management system. The Shenandoah Valley Oral History Project will be another showcase for this new functionality.

Attending OSCON in San Jose, CA

I will be attending OSCON in San Jose, CA from July 20 to 24. If anybody is also attending or lives in the area and is interested in setting up an MDID Birds of a Feather session, please comment below or email mdid@jmu.edu.

Mid-Atlantic Chapter meeting report

The VRA Mid-Atlantic Chapter met at James Madison University, Harrisonburg VA on Friday, May 29, 2009. The meeting report is now available.

Automatically generated thumbnails

Generating thumbnails from full-size images has been a weakness of MDID 2. Often the thumbnails ended up being pixelated, especially for line drawings and certain kind of photographs.

MDID 3 uses a different image processing library (PIL, Python Imaging Library) that produces much better results. I just created these samples for comparison:





The left thumbnails are saved at 80% quality, the ones on the right at 95% (and twice the file size), but both appear to be of reasonable detail and quality.

VRA Mid-Atlantic Chapter meeting at JMU

The VRA Mid-Atlantic Chapter will meet at James Madison University, Harrisonburg VA on Friday, May 29, 2009.

This day-long chapter event "Engaging in New Technologies," facilitated by staff from the JMU Center for Instructional Technology, will introduce members to several tools that can be used by visual resources professionals to promote their services and create an online presence for their Visual Resources Centers. Hands on experience with tools such as Google forms/sites/groups, Blogger, Twitter and Flip cameras will be the focus of the day.

And we are offering a door prize – a free Flip Camera will be given away at the end of the workshop!

The meeting will be held in at the beautiful new East Campus Library at the Center for Instructional Technology. Parking is close by. There will be a catered lunch, along with hands-on workshops held in the morning and afternoon. The schedule for the day is:

9:30-10:00 a.m. Registration/coffee

10:00-12:30 p.m. Workshops

12:30-1:30 p.m. Lunch/Chapter business meeting

1:30-4:00 p.m. Workshops and wrap-up

The workshops will be free for Chapter members, VRA members who are not Mid-Atlantic Chapter members will pay $15 and receive the benefits of a Chapter membership; non VRA members will be charged $20; there will be a $15 charge for lunch for all attendees. We welcome you to invite colleagues who might be interested in the program. Please be sure to RSVP (see below)!

Our hosts at JMU have set up a Google Site with the plans for the day, which includes the agenda, a survey for attendees to fill out before the workshop, picture of the flip cam door prize, directions to JMU with map to parking lot and the east campus library, etc.: https://sites.google.com/site/vramidatlantic/Home

For those of you who may be considering staying overnight either Thursday or Friday here is the link to local lodging and dining facilities: http://www.jmu.edu/parents/accommodations.shtml

Please RSVP to Chapter Chair, Macie Hall: macie.hall@jhu.edu or 410-516-6165 by 5 PM (EDT) on Wednesday May 20.