Where to start? So much stupidity, so little time to vent... First of all, as you have wisely pointed out, they'd very likely be breaking copyright. A unit such as the one you're talking about really doesn't meet the requirements of Section 108 (regarding duplication of physically-at-risk and/or unobtainable materials)...so there's absolutely NO wiggle room or legs to stand on.
Secondly (and this has become one of my major bugaboos): Content and user needs should drive collection building and service NOT the technology that delivers the stuff, nor should convenience of acquisition and access shouldn't be the driving sole force behind media collections and services. The kind of myopia you're describing has some really nasty implications for the future, I'm afraid...viz.: only providing access to titles which are available as streamed video. The situation you've described is, I'm afraid, what happens when tech people are the ones calling the shots and not librarians. > Hello All, > > We just found out through an article published in our campus paper that > our campus equipment unit will no longer be supporting VHS in the > classrooms because it is too hard to fix the VHS decks and because "DVD > equipment is easier to use than tape decks; DVDs are more portable; they > are more reliable etc.". > > They also advertised in that same article that they will convert all VHS > tapes that faculty use to DVD. > They never mentioned anything about copyright - just that "because its > for educational use then its ok to do the conversion (for a price)." As > far as I can tell they never talked to campus legal either. > > Needless to say we were surprised (we have over 5000 VHS tapes in our > Media collection). > > Has any other Media unit dealt with this? I seem to remember this > thread but could not find it in the archives. > > Any help would be appreciated. Please feel free to contact me off the > list too if you would like. > > > Beth Traylor > Media Librarian > UW-Milwaukee > > > > 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.
