I.A EXPANDING ACCESS DURING PROJECT

The Library would like to vary the access provided during three periods in the project:

• Internal staff review period. During this initial period, the prototype-under-development will be accessible to specified Library staff. This will be the case during early iterations and shakedown activities. Of course, from time to time during this period, a few visitors will be shown the work in progress.
• M/B/RS reading room period. After a shakedown period, the system will be made accessible to researchers and other visitors in the Motion Picture and Television and Recorded Sound reading rooms. Access will also be provided in a section of Information Technology Services and may be offered in the National Digital Library's Learning Center. Access to the prototype in these situations is envisioned as follows:
• One high-end workstation in each location, fitted to a high speed network and capable of high quality reproduction of the works being viewed or heard. These are thought of as the principal researcher workstations.
• Two or more moderate capability workstations in the two reading rooms that employ existing network connections and will offer moderate quality reproduction. These are thought of as adjunct staff-access workstations, although they may be used by researchers as well.
• Expanded Library of Congress access period. After a period of use by staff and researchers, broader access within the Library is to be provided. Access may be limited to designated staff and public workstations, especially in allied reading rooms (e.g., American Folklife Center, Music Division), although access may be generally provided within the "loc" domain. This access will employ existing network connections and will offer moderate quality reproduction.

I. B WHAT SORT OF RESEARCHERS VISIT THE MOTION PICTURE AND TELEVISION AND RECORDED SOUND READING ROOMS?

The researchers are generally scholars or persons producing new television and radio programs or sound recordings. Some sense of the clientele may be deduced from the Library's guidelines governing use of the facilities:

• "Viewing facilities, which are available without charge, are provided for those doing research of a specific nature leading toward a publicly available work such as a dissertation, publication, or film/television production. We regret that the facilities may not be used for purely personal study or appreciation, nor in ways--such as preview--that conflict with commercial distribution."
• "Listening facilities, which are available without charge, are provided for those doing research of a specific nature, leading toward a publicly available work such as a publication, thesis or dissertation, radio/film/television production, or public performance. We regret that the facilities may not be used for purely personal study or appreciation."
• "Graduate students and undergraduates in advanced classes wishing to screen films should first obtain letters from their professors endorsing their projects. The facilities may not be used to make up missed classroom screenings, or to complete class assignments."
• "We are unable to accommodate groups. There is a limit of two persons per [viewing] machine. Both viewers must be involved in the research project."
• "All viewing is by advanced appointment."

I.C WHAT TOPICS ARE STUDIED?

Researchers may pursue the biography and works of a film director, actor, musical performer, or scriptwriter; styles used in filmmaking or represented in performances (which may require close analysis of an item in the collection); trends in news or entertainment content; aspects of the politics or culture of a period represented in the collections; graphic arts styles of phonograph record albums; and many other topics. Researchers often seek to make "scratch" or reference copies of visual items, e.g., photocopies of articles, film frames, or graphical elements of, say, a phonograph record.

The moderate quality workstations will be on one of the reference desks and on one or more staff desk. Listening at these workstations would be via headphones or perhaps loudspeakers of the type typically furnished with multimedia desktop computers.

II.B MOTION PICTURE AND TELEVISION READING ROOM

The Library proposes that high-end audio workstation be located in a small room at the edge of the reading room, presently occupied by microform readers and microfilm storage shelves. The Library's initial preference-subject to discussion and modification during planning-is for a two (or even three, see below) monitor setup: one or two video monitor(s) for the actual program and a computer monitor for the bibliographic (cataloging) information and a "remote playback controller. Listening to soundtracks will generally be via headphone although loudspeakers should also be available for special projects or selected tours by visitors. There should be some type of modest color printer available to print still frames and bibliographic data.

The moderate quality workstations will be on one of the reference desks and on one or more staff desk. Listening at these workstations would be via headphones or perhaps loudspeakers of the type typically furnished with multimedia desktop computers.

II.C ITS AND NLDP LEARNING CENTER WORKSTATIONS

Locations to be determined.

III.A VERY DESIRABLE CAPABILITIES

1. ability to display elapsed time and/or frame counts
2. provision of controls to pause, rewind, slow-motion or video step frame
3. ability to adjust viewing and listening factors such as color rendition, contrast, brightness, audio equalization, application of anti-pop/anti-click software, switchable Dolby or other noise reduction systems (for recordings where it is unknown whether noise reduction had been used)
4. ability to flag or mark spots or segments within audio and video selections and "loop" playback
5. display of waveforms or other technical information, especially for audio
6. ability to compare two passages in different sound recordings, e.g., have two recordings of the same segment of the same musical composition available for one-after-the-other comparative playback

III.B DESIRABLE CAPABILITIES

1. ability to listen to audio during fast forward and rewind to locate desired portion of a track
2. ability to advance an audio selection automatically to a point where db level drops below a given threshold
3. for slow-motion audio playback: restoration of pitch
4. ability to produce an "edit decision" file/printout. Explanation: The researcher marks his/her segments in the listening software as he/she listens. Then at the end of the session, he/she can get an info file or printout that gives timecode for the whole selection indicating: selection start (0:00), segment one start and stop, segment two start and stop, and selection stop. Later, when LC supplies a copy of the file, we will provide a file of the whole selection, e.g., the whole side of an lp. The patron would then refer to the edit decision list to guide their own manipulation of the file after they have received it.
5. dual viewing of video. Explanation: The researcher is able to compare two segments of footage, typically in two different items. Providing this capability may be very CPU-intensive and the Library is happy to explore best compromises, including successive playing of two segments. The notion of having two picture-program monitors for the high-end workstation is related to this capability.
6. print still frames (or screen grabs when a video program is on) to paper with and added boilerplate warning about copyright added to the sheet

III.C INDIANA UNIVERSITY EXAMPLE

IV.B STYLE

The interface to be developed is a researcher's interface and ought not achieve "entertainment-industry" levels of beauty or excitement. It should be complete, clear, and workmanlike in order to serve persons with a serious interest in the underlying content. In short, the style is to be more akin to a reference book than a weekly newstand magazine.

The design will presumably make extensive use of scripts to produce HTML pages on the fly by scripts.