This paper introduces a new application called multimedia annotation, currently being developed in the European Union-funded project DIANE. A system for instant multimedia authoring, with special features for supporting the creation of multimedia documents in a distributed working environment such as distance education, is described. The system gives both teachers and learners the capabilities for multimedia authoring, which makes learning a collaborative effort with important feedback from learners improving the quality of the teaching material. Topics discussed include the annotation engine, system usage, and the use of DIANE in distance learning scenarios. Two figures illustrate the annotation engine and the DIANE document viewer. Contains 16 references. (Author/DLS)