Hmm--so it is going to be easier to convert 5000 VHS tapes to DVD than to keep VHS players in working order? What will the resulting DVDs be like? I suspect that digitizing and constructing a useful and reliable DVD will be more expensive than buying a commercial one.
I recall a thread (this list? A different one?) about the relative usefulness in the classroom of a cued-up VHS tape vs. a DVD with its scenes menu. Behind the whole clips-compilation exception is the fact that instructors do not want to waste valuable class time finding the right place on a videorecording of a movie. A DVD with no scenes menu, etc. will be less useful even than a tape. A DVD with a scenes menu requires a lot of work by someone who knows something about that movie. Setting aside the principle as Gary enunciates it and the flagrant illegality, the practicality of the undertaking is pretty fuzzy. Judy Shoaf 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.
