The reason for the development of a mutual interest between a young MA graduate from the University of Tampere and the Media Lab UIAH was not only the attraction of opposites, but the common interest represented by the subject of my degree thesis. My study deals with hypertext/hypermedia and its purpose was to find the utmost nature of hypertext beneath all the fuzzy, and often misleading, methaphores. It seems that I did not find what I was looking for, and I think I know why: hypertext has no unambiguous, utmost nature, there is only a mass of loosely connected expectations, methods and products that outline the new possibilities to use the computer as a tool for producing, organizing and transmitting information.
Currently the best example of the good and bad aspects of hypertext is probably the WorldWideWeb, which runs on the Internet. For example, the problematic "associativity" of hypertext can be seen in WWW as a difficulty to find certain information. The retrieval of specific information using casually created links inside other texts would be almost impossible if there were not index pages created by enthusiastic WWW fans. Nevertheless WWW offers a continuously expanding and developing forum for distributing information which is also worth considering seriously here in UIAH.
However hypertext plays only a small part in the large field of new media. And in my opinion the Media Lab should study new media in as large a perspective as possible. We should not restrict ourselves even to the seeming diversity of multimedia, but aim for solutions where the computer and its possibilities work within a tight and meaningful relationship with both cultural and material environments.
As soon as the Media Lab is in the condition to welcome its new students my main project will be the construction of the New Media Database. The database will offer information and references in the area of the new media. The project also aims to develop tools and methods useful in research, teaching and communication within the Media Lab and in UIAH as a whole. One such area is digital picture archives that are needed in many different situations within our university.
Another important task is to develop the full use of the possibilities offered by the WorldWideWeb, starting with the reconstruction and redesign of the UIAH home pages and, naturally, the Media Lab's own home pages. Additionally the use of other Internet services should be encouraged so that they become a natural part of the daily routines of both staff but students in this community.
