I nformation retrieval is an i ncreasingly complex process, due to digital integration of video, audio, and text resources. An experimental project will explore the challenges posed by these digital video libraries. Computer he Informedia Digital Video Library project' will establish a large, on-line digital video library featuring full-content and knowledge-based search and retrieval. Intelligent, automatic mecha nisms will be developed to populate the library. Search and retrieval from

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... video, audio, and text libraries will take place via desktop computer over local-, metropolitan-, and wide-area networks. Initially, the library will be populated with 1,000 hours of raw and edited documentary and education videos drawn from video assets of WQED/Pittsburgh, Fairfax County (Virginia) Public Schools, and the Open University (United Kingdom). To assess the value of video reference libraries for enhanced learning at different ages, we will deploy the library at Carnegie Mellon University and local schools, from elementary school through high school. Our approach applies several techniques for content-based searching and video-sequence retrieval. Content is conveyed in both the narrative (speech and language) and the image. Only by the collaborative interaction of image, speech, and natural-language understanding technology can we successfully populate, segment, index, and search diverse video collections with satisfactory recall and precision.