AbstractMultimedia technology integrates the computing power of computers, with potentials offered by media such as full‐motion video, sound, text, graphics, and animation. Use of this technology allows developers to take advantage of the flexibility, effectiveness, and innovations in a number of technologies to produce tools that enhance the teaching/learning process in a variety of fields. A project is under way to develop a multimedia book for a first course in structural steel design offered by civil and architectural engineering programs. The software, currently being tested at The Pennsylvania State University, is being developed with collaboration of a number of sources including the American Institute of Steel Construction, and is expected to be distributed widely upon its completion in 1996. © 1996 John Wiley&Sons, I