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Knowledge Explorer Centre: The Web as a Multimedia Publish<strong>in</strong>g Medium<br />

Greg Dixon<br />

The Dixon DesignWorks, Canada<br />

gdixon@dsoe.com<br />

Introduc<strong>in</strong>g the Knowledge Explorer Centre<br />

In response to the phenomenal <strong>in</strong>terest <strong>in</strong> the World Wide Web, the Dixon DesignWorks has changed its view<br />

of the Internet from that of promotional medium to that of publish<strong>in</strong>g medium for multimedia educational<br />

content. The result is the KNOWLEDGE EXPLORER CENTRE, recently launched on the World Wide Web<br />

(www.dsoe.com/explore). This paper exam<strong>in</strong>es the benefits, challenges, and viability of us<strong>in</strong>g the World Wide<br />

Web as a multimedia publish<strong>in</strong>g medium.<br />

A Brief History<br />

The Dixon DesignWorks developed an English language tutorial program called English Structure and Style<br />

<strong>in</strong> the 1980's. English Structure and Style helps secondary, college, and adult students learn about grammar<br />

and style elements. A few hundred schools, school boards, and colleges have licensed the program for use <strong>in</strong><br />

their language labs.<br />

The Dixon DesignWorks converted the content of English Structure and Style to W<strong>in</strong>dows hypermedia <strong>format</strong><br />

and published it as a shareware program called Explor<strong>in</strong>g English. Explor<strong>in</strong>g English was the first <strong>in</strong> the<br />

planned Knowledge Explorer Series. Other titles planned for the series <strong>in</strong>cluded Explor<strong>in</strong>g English as a<br />

Second Language, Explor<strong>in</strong>g Literature, and Explor<strong>in</strong>g Libraries. Market research <strong>in</strong>dicated high <strong>in</strong>terest <strong>in</strong><br />

Explor<strong>in</strong>g Literature, followed by Explor<strong>in</strong>g Libraries. The results of the market survey, plus excit<strong>in</strong>g new<br />

developments on the Internet, have led to the creation of the KNOWLEDGE EXPLORER CENTRE on the World<br />

Wide Web.<br />

Objectives of the Knowledge Explorer Centre<br />

The KNOWLEDGE EXPLORER CENTRE is an <strong>in</strong>novation <strong>in</strong> Internet publish<strong>in</strong>g. Some of the ma<strong>in</strong> objectives are:<br />

• To share educational materials to help students achieve success.<br />

• To encourage others to explore specific areas of knowledge.<br />

• To provide a forum for people of varied backgrounds to share their knowledge and enthusiasm for a wide<br />

range of subject areas.<br />

Current Knowledge Explorer Titles<br />

Each ma<strong>in</strong> area of the KNOWLEDGE EXPLORER CENTRE provides a multimedia overview to a subject area with<br />

po<strong>in</strong>ters to other resources available on the Internet and on other media.<br />

• Explor<strong>in</strong>g English provides a webmedia tutorial on the English language for adults and young adults.<br />

• Explor<strong>in</strong>g Gardens provides <strong>in</strong><strong>format</strong>ion and photographic images of plants and garden topics.

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