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CRIO was formed as a centre by the CCR and HRC
to explore the use of digital media as a research tool and to disseminate
the products of research.
Its work is based in a methodology in which the
processes of research and those of media creation and production are
integrated from the outset. This methodology contrasts with other,
perhaps more usual, processes of media production in the humanities
and social sciences in which a research phase is distinct from, and
precedes, a production phase. In that model, roles are typically carried
out by different people with distinct and separate skills.
In integrating its research and production functions,
CRIO is seeking to build project teams of members whose skills include
both research and the use of multimedia, and thus to further the innovative
application of multimedia technologies as part of the research process.
A central aspect of this strategy is to build collaborative, potentially-long-standing
working relationships. In visual anthropology and other disciplines
this approach has been shown to produce the most sound and beneficial
outcomes, particularly in projects involving Indigenous communities.
A major aim of CRIO is to use digital media to bring
the results of research to a wider audience than is normally reached
by traditional academic publishing. CRIO adopts two strategies to
achieve this. The first is to undertake projects which are cross-disciplinary,
potentially embracing the humanities, social and physical sciences.
Such projects can exploit the potential of digital technologies to
incorporate and inter-relate information resources from different
areas of research expertise.
The second strategy is to create partnerships with other
organisations which undertake to reach a wide, cross-section of the
public through exhibitions, publishing, or other means. CRIO was established
in partnership with the National Museum of Australia, and it aims
to create working relationships with other cultural institutions and
community-based organizations. For example, CRIO work to date has
involved the participation of, amongst others, the National Museum
of Australia (NMA), the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS), the Bawinanga Aboriginal Corporation
of Maningrida, the New South Wales Department of Education, the Yirrkala
Art Centre, and the Australian National Maritime Museum (ANMM). |
