I am not sure whether I should butt in because I'm not a real librarian. But as a library user I think there is something to be said for having movies related to movies used in the classroom available. Not everything in higher education involves a one-on-one correspondence between required or even required + recommended materials and the actual stuff people read (or watch) which becomes part of the course or a follow-up to the course. So many times I have had the experience of being the first person to take out a particular book--or the first one since 1926. I don't know how the package pricing works but surely it is better to get a subscription to a group of related works instead of paying perhaps nearly as much to stream only the most popular ones.
...? Judy -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of [email protected] Sent: Wednesday, February 23, 2011 12:51 PM To: [email protected] Subject: [Videolib] What gets streamed...what gets used Hi all In light of deg's Big Statistics (not to be confused with the teenpic deg's Day Off), I've continued to stew about the whole issue of collection development/selection vis a vis streaming: the question of why/when to stream, or, more precisely, when to commit increasingly precious collection dollars to a serial payment obligation. I know I've blathered endlessly about this "just in case vs just in time" conundrum in the past, but I think it's worth continuing to ponder it seriously in order to avoid the knee-jerk "streaming is cool and convenient, user's want it, let's leap" scenario. Thus said, I did a bit of due diligence recently by taking a look at what has been requested for classroom screening over the past month (approx Jan. 22 thru Feb 22). The findings are eye-opening, to say the least. (List of titles is attached, with departmental users indicated. In many cases, a number of courses in the same department used the same film during this period). Of the 212 features/TV shows and the 194 documentaries, a TINY number of titles are currently available for licensing to stream. And of the titles available for licensing, only one or two were used in classes with more than 30 or 40 students enrolled (Race: Power of an Illusion and the MEF stuff) Now, I'm not saying that Berkeley is typical (I would NEVER say that Berkeley is typical), but these figures tell me something about cost-benefit when it comes to licensing access to streamed content for my particular institution. The current match between online availability and actual classroom needs is not all that great--at least at UCB. In the old order, taking a risk on a "just in case" acquisition was not all that big a deal: you bought a tape or DVD (once), publicized it, and hoped for the best. If it lay unused over the short-haul...well, chalk it up--SOMEONE might eventually find it useful. In the world of term-licensed content, the rules of the game have changed--the stakes are higher. In this fiscal environment, paying serially for under-utilized content (or for casual recreational viewing) simply isn't an option. gary handman 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.
