Multimedia visualization and interactive systems: Drawing board possibilities and server realities - a Cuban Rafter Paradigm Case

Between 1959 and 1994, in defiance of Cuban law, more than 63,000 citizens left Cuba by sea in small groups and reached the United States alive. Thousands more washed up in the Bahamas, the Cayman Islands and other Caribbean shores. Over the years, they have been collectively known as balseros (rafters) and their precarious vessels as balsas (rafts). Over the summer of 2004, University of Miami Digital Library Initiatives had the opportunity to develop a unique multimedia information visualization system with regards to the corpus of this archive of knowledge. A collaborative environment and synergy was engendered under the content expertise of Dr. Holly Ackerman, UM and the conceptual and technical direction of Dr. Ray Uzwyshyn, UM DLI initiatives.