I have a collection that's pushing 50K titles and I have not paid over $400 for a single one of them. I was only half-joking with my Second Coming crack. Given the shape of academic library budgets, I cannot possibly justify paying 500 bucks for a single title, regardless of quality or use (the closest I've come is shelling out to Zipporah Films). And unless I got departmental or grant funding to support purchase, I'd refuse to do so... 500 bucks is what the usurers who sell to the corporate sector charge...because they can get away with it. Let's get real. I've been around long enough to fully understand the high production costs and slim markets for indie docs...still, there are limits on what I'm willing to shell out for ANY single doc.
gary > I would pay $500 for the Cubs World Series highlights DVD ( No Dennis > not one from 1908). > > Gary, I'll back in the day you paid $500 for more than a few films. I > think under some specialized circumstances it might be worth it. > You might pay $195 for a title that would be used once in a class of > 15 students, while the $500 film is for an intro course that has > 250 students every semester. I think the bottom line is that the Prof > needs to justify the expense. > > On a related note, do departments every buy something on their own or > contribute to a high end item to be used by someone in their dept. ? > > On Thu, Jan 21, 2010 at 11:17 AM, <[email protected]> wrote: >> I wouldn't pay $500 for footage of the Second Coming... >> >> Gary >> >> >> >>> Do you think $500 for a documentary is kind of out of line? ��That is >>> for >>> direct from producer. ��Producer says they are in process of partnering >>> with an educational distributor and that the price may go up. >>> >>> Sarah E. McCleskey >>> Head of Access Services >>> ��Acting Director, FIlm and Media Library >>> 112 Axinn Library, 123 Hofstra University >>> Hempstead, NY 11549-1230 >>> 516-463-5076 >>> [email protected] >>> >>> VIDEOLIB is intended to encourage the broad and lively discussion of >>> issues relating to the selection, evaluation, acquisition,bibliographic >>> control, preservation, and use of current and evolving video formats in >>> libraries and related institutions. It is hoped that the list will >>> serve >>> as an effective working tool for video librarians, as well as a channel >>> of >>> communication between libraries,educational institutions, and video >>> producers and distributors. >>> >> >> >> Gary Handman >> Director >> Media Resources Center >> Moffitt Library >> UC Berkeley >> >> 510-643-8566 >> [email protected] >> http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/MRC >> >> "I have always preferred the reflection of life to life itself." >> --Francois Truffaut >> >> >> VIDEOLIB is intended to encourage the broad and lively discussion of >> issues relating to the selection, evaluation, acquisition,bibliographic >> control, preservation, and use of current and evolving video formats in >> libraries and related institutions. It is hoped that the list will serve >> as an effective working tool for video librarians, as well as a channel >> of communication between libraries,educational institutions, and video >> producers and distributors. >> > > VIDEOLIB is intended to encourage the broad and lively discussion of > issues relating to the selection, evaluation, acquisition,bibliographic > control, preservation, and use of current and evolving video formats in > libraries and related institutions. It is hoped that the list will serve > as an effective working tool for video librarians, as well as a channel of > communication between libraries,educational institutions, and video > producers and distributors. > Gary Handman Director Media Resources Center Moffitt Library UC Berkeley 510-643-8566 [email protected] http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/MRC "I have always preferred the reflection of life to life itself." --Francois Truffaut VIDEOLIB is intended to encourage the broad and lively discussion of issues relating to the selection, evaluation, acquisition,bibliographic control, preservation, and use of current and evolving video formats in libraries and related institutions. It is hoped that the list will serve as an effective working tool for video librarians, as well as a channel of communication between libraries,educational institutions, and video producers and distributors.
