For example, in many fields there is a growing need to support the creation and acquisition of image databases. The visual arts provide the most obvious example, as more and more images are being distributed on the Internet, and as CD-ROMS have become a means of distributing art for study. But the need for images occurs elsewhere as well, including disciplines such as science or medicine, where images from observations, formulas, and graphics are essential, or the performing arts, which require musical, dance, and stage notation.
Audio files are also becoming increasingly important as they are incorporated into many of the newest CD-ROM products. At Georgetown, it is easy to imagine the campus-wide distribution of audio materials such as music or the spoken word in the form of poetry, plays, and speeches.
Finally, we live in a society where full motion video is commonplace through movies and television. It is only a matter of time before full motion video becomes readily available over the network. Such resources could be useful in drama classes, or in classes in Government or in the school of Foreign Service where current events are of central interest. Taking this one step further, given full digital libraries of CNN broadcasts with indexing, it would, for example, become possible to compare all the public pronouncements of a world leader on a critical topic.
In short, digital representations of all the major forms of information --- print, image, audio, and full motion video --- will be needed in virtually all parts of the campus in the foreseeable future.