Without changing the museum's archives organisation, the RAMA system provides remote access to existing museum databases using broadband telecommunication networks to transmit text, still images, video clips and sounds. The commission of the European Community is funding RAMA up to 8 million ECUs. At the start of the RAMA project, prospective users were surveyed to discover their demands and expectations. Their clear preference was for a tele-research service targetted at museum staff and scholars. Other potential users include researchers in related fields, journalists and students.
Additional information can include documentation and video clips.
The researcher consults several RAMA databases using a work station to retrieve images of the comparable objects and any information attached to the objects. This may be texts, images, sound and video clips. If the database provides video clips, a researcher can see a continuous frieze of an object using a moving view of the three dimensional object. Through zoom and pause functions, he can also interactively study details. The first demand means that the functions of the screen must be self explanatory to avoid complicated manuals.