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Multimedia information retrieval has become an important issue in library work, particularly since users can have access to the Internet both at their homes and in libraries. Besides bibliographic information, pictorial resources are nowadays requested to meet the new and demanding users' needs. Research on different aspects of multimedia information retrieval can improve practice in different ways and findings can be beneficial to many professionals: cataloguers, indexers, reference librarians, Web designers, chief librarians, and administrators. This paper presents a critical account of the developments in multimedia information retrieval research and practice in Italy in the last ten years. The paper also tries to determine if dissemination of research findings has been critical in establishing new approaches to practice. The study examined the LIS sector, analysing projects through relevant publications and implementations, as well as computer science and other disciplines, to trace future developments and trends. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]