Hope:

A broad array of emerging technologies promises to revolutionize the tasks
of cultural resource management.  First and foremost, preservationists must
assimilate the requisite technical skills that will enable them to develop
electronic solutions to the dramatically expanding information management
challenge.  The fundamental key to successful cultural resource management
is through enhanced access to a broad body of information relevant to the
decision making process.  

Research that focuses on the development, adaptation, and application of
appropriate information acquisition and management technologies can provide
a means of redressing preservation deficiencies.  Advances in computer and
video technologies have made these electronic tools not only more
sophisticated, but less expensive.  As a consequence, these technologies
hold significant promise for the development of cost effective tools to
facilitate the tasks of preservation information acquisition and
management.

Clearly, in order to take advantage of these opportunities,
preservationists must begin to cultivate a better informed technological
perspective.  However, along with the ability to recognize and capitalize
on technological opportunities, a fundamental understanding of resource
management tasks and responsibilities is essential to appropriately and
successfully adapt emerging information management technologies (and tools)
to serve preservation needs.

In understanding the potential for resolving needs through advanced tools
and techniques, the articulation of appropriate preservation applications
can begin to drive the development of accessible, user friendly, cost
effective tools and methodologies for preservation information integration,
management, manipulation and dissemination.  The preservation community
must learn how to mold complex technologies into accessible, comprehensible
tools and methodologies.  Above all, the degree to which the end user finds
the setup, operation, and maintenance of the information system
comprehensible and useful, will determine the effectiveness of its
application.  Because of the intimidating character of many emerging
technologies, application developers should be especially sensitive to the
need to make complex operational parameters transparent to the user.  The
structure of an information management system designed to achieve broad,
effective application must appear simple.  A successful user interface must
accommodate a variety of user skills and require a minimum of off-line
support documentation.

<afile15>   Information Flow:  Three Problems
<afile17>   Summary of Introduction
<efile12>   Underutilized Technologies
<ffile29>   Monitoring Technological Developments