I was in this position (for various reasons) last year. I have problems with
wholesale withdrawals/disposals of media based entirely on format (which has
been seen as quite OK by some here and I guess necessary at times) and need to
keep a balanced perspective, so the considerations I focused on were:
Our campus is having a harder time supporting certain formats, and VHS
is one of them.
Our media collection in general has been allocated less and less
physical space in the past few years, primarily due to two complete physical
moves to different floors in the building. This diminishing space includes
both our open stacks and on-site storage.
Many of the heavily used VHS titles, particularly feature films, have
been purchased on DVD. Many of those had multiple copies on VHS.
Upon further review, some of our multi-part series had become less
valuable because of missing parts.
I was allocated additional funds to replace VHS with DVD whenever
possible and appropriate.
Anyway, we ended up letting go of thousands of titles to start. We still have
thousands more in our collection. It takes time if you want to handle the
withdrawal process adequately. And it definitely takes time to handle the
replacement on DVD process. I am surprised at the number of heavily used titles
in our VHS collection that simply are not available on any other format. Many
are still in fine condition and we can still provide VHS players (on a limited
basis). On occasion I still purchase VHS titles new to the collection when
specifically requested and there is no alternative.
Gary, regarding your VHS international cinema titles now owned on DVD, I would
first let go of any multiple VHS copies. I guess you can assume for the
majority that if they've been purchased on DVD, they are out there to be
replaced on DVD if needed. Those users with a preference for VHS might have to
adjust, but how often would that really come up? Of course DVD is the format
of choice for faculty and students. Hey...me too I guess. Unfortunately, I
feel DVDs are a terrible alternative to VHS regarding their lifespan. For a
circulating collection with so many different users, DVDs bite the dust so much
sooner than VHS. At least in my years of experience.
Bottom line, if space is an issue for you as it has become for me, it seems
best to use that space for video titles that are still used and
valuable/unique, but not available in any other format than VHS.
Rue
Rue McKenzie
Coordinator of Media Collections
Academic Resources
University of South Florida, Tampa Library
813-974-6342
"We have met the enemy, and he is us." -- Pogo
-----Original Message-----
From: [email protected]
[mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of
[email protected]
Sent: Monday, October 18, 2010 8:06 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: [Videolib] adios vhs?
Hi all
I think I need input and/or moral support: for various reasons having to
do with space and projected library renovation plans here at UCB, I'm
taking a hard and fairly ruthless look at the collection.
We currently have somewhere around 5K international cinema titles, about
96% of which we've re-bought on DVD. As an alternative to sending these
out to storage (thereby completely blowing my storage quota), I am very
seriously considering...gulp!...de-accessioning them. This makes me
nervous and breaks my heart (for which reasons I'm not exactly sure).
Have any of you larger academic collections gone this route? Are there
compelling reasons NOT to go down this road? I realize that there are
certain benefits to vhs (such as the ability to easily cue) and that some
faculty prefer the format, still... For a largely non-archival collection,
it seems crazy to hold onto fading formats forever.
What do you think?
Gary
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.
