Thanks, Rue! This is helpful I'm only looking at feature films on vhs at the moment. We have about 14K documentary, performance, primary source titles on vhs that I'm not touching at the moment (although we are sending big chunks of this stuff out to remote storage)
Gary > 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. > 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.
