A Framework for Indexing Personal Videoconference 293 Copyright © 2005, Idea Group Inc. Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written permission of Idea Group Inc. is prohibited. Chapter XIII A Framework for Indexing Personal Videoconference Jiqiang Song, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Michael R. Lyu, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Jenq-Neng Hwang, University of Washington, USA ABSTRACT The rapid technical advance of multimedia communication has enabled more and more people to enjoy videoconferences. Traditionally, the personal videoconference is either not recorded or only recorded as ordinary audio and video files that only allow linear access. Moreover, in addition to video and audio channels, other videoconferencing channels, including text chat, file transfer, and whiteboard, also contain valuable information. Therefore, it is not convenient to search or recall the content of videoconference from the archives. However, there exists little research on the management and automatic indexing of personal videoconferences. The existing methods for video indexing, lecture indexing, and meeting support systems cannot be applied to personal videoconference straightforwardly. This chapter discusses important issues unique to personal videoconference and proposes a comprehensive framework for indexing personal videoconference. The framework consists of three modules: videoconference archive acquisition module, videoconference archive indexing module, and indexed videoconference accessing module. This chapter will elaborate on the design principles and implementation methodologies of each module, as well as the