This booklet contains two papers that won the 1998 Audiovisual Education Prize of the Japan Audio-Visual Education Association. "Nurturing the Ability To Live in an Advanced Information Network Society: Making the Most Effective Use of Networking" reports on a study of 7th grade students in Okazaki City (Japan). The focus was on an 8-month extracurricular activity, entitled "Our Hometown River," that had the following objectives: to cultivate an attitude leading to an interest in the students' hometown and encourage them to preserve it by researching the Oto River; to give an opportunity to think about environmental problems by researching the water quality and history of the Oto River; to enable students to learn various methods of research and how to collect information; and to cultivate the ability of versatile observation of the Oto River. "Multimedia and Lifelong Learning: See, Listen, Create, and Transmit Information" describes the Ueda City (Japan) Multimedia Information Center, including: background; an overview of the staff, facilities, aims, expenses, and financial resources; and management status of the Multimedia Gallery, Seminar Room, and Local Digital Archive. (MES)