Matt/Gary, This is an experiment, I have no idea if it will work. But, it seems to me if guaranteed sales are what is keeping title costs high, we should at least be giving some consideration to some method of leveraging technology for consortia (lowered) pricing. I don't believe concerns of collection development/video business models and bulk pricing need be mutually exclusive. This model may be context specific.
To that end, first, I agree that long-term structural changes need to occur to balance out the distorted pricing models of educational/indie media for institutions. Nor should this model be implied as a single best practice for collection development (Matt, if you get a faculty request, that is a different use case then I am envisioning here - you should generally purchase if you have the funds). Gary, I believe this consideration of my example is a nuanced collection decision that you describe. So with "The Strange Disappearance of Bees", this is a topic where we know at Minnesota that we should purchase some titles as this is an issue we are investing in research and also a subject likely to be increasingly taught in our courses. Currently, we have no titles on the topic. Though no single cause of CCD is known, and at the risk of propagandizing one potential cause over another, the Icarus' title appears to emphasize the potential contribution of agribusiness related to insecticides and industrialized farming (as others do see below) while highlighting a success story in overcoming this problem through natural beekeeping. Not all of the "disappearing bee" flicks emphasize this facet or provide this point of view. We will also likely be purchasing films that emphasize other facets, to provide faculty members an opportunity to screen this films to hopefully, act as catalyst for critical discussion (call it a "media literacy in science" moment). Just think about the rich opportunities for Dr. Spivak to discuss with her student other points of view, particularly when she is in one of them! In terms of this model: a) because these are just-in-case instead of faculty requested just-in-time purchases (which is about half of our collection purchases in film) b) because I agree $400 is very steep, but I really appreciate the different facets of the title c) because I think this topic would be of interest to other institutions, I put this title forward as a possibility for bulk pricing. At 45 we still have a long way to go, so we may will likely not get there in a reasonable amount of time. There are at least 2 other disappearing bee titles available for $200 (see below). So the fundamental question is whether these particular facets (natural farming in particular) are worth the additional $200? We may end up paying full price at any rate, but I am curious if a different platform or lower required consortia bulk pricing could bring about lower prices for purchasing content, that may be out of the price range for some institutions or not quite worth the additional expense for a different perspective when there are variety of titles on the subject. Here are 2 more that I am aware of with apparently different emphasis: Vanishing of the Bees (agribusiness pesticide cause emphases, Dr. Spivak is in this) - The Video Project, $195 depending on PPR pricing interpretation The Beekeeper (multiple causes, world without bees "bee armageddon" considered) - Cinema Guild $195 Best, Scott On Tue, Jul 5, 2011 at 11:41 AM, <[email protected]>wrote: > Send videolib mailing list submissions to > [email protected] > > To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit > > https://calmail.berkeley.edu/manage/list/listinfo/[email protected] > > or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to > [email protected] > > You can reach the person managing the list at > [email protected] > > When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific > than "Re: Contents of videolib digest..." > > > Today's Topics: > > 1. Re: New releases Blu-ray/DVD combos? -- but I want both > formats! (Jessica Rosner) > 2. Re: Strange Disappearance of Bees deal (Ball, James (jmb4aw)) > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > Message: 1 > Date: Tue, 5 Jul 2011 12:35:44 -0400 > From: Jessica Rosner <[email protected]> > Subject: Re: [Videolib] New releases Blu-ray/DVD combos? -- but I want > both formats! > To: [email protected] > Message-ID: > <cacre6m-wmgtahtqqldomg8ev5wr5qdguohehau3q3cfmxew...@mail.gmail.com > > > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="windows-1252" > > I hate to be snarky but Amazon would likely be a perfect source. > > I find the vendors response odd but I guess it depends on the titles. Gods > & > Monsters is only ever going to be a two pack according to my friend at > Sony. > I mean a year from now I suppose they could change their mind but not now. > I > also don't really get how a vendor would not know. Presumably any order > placed now should get the desired pack. I may not be found of studios but I > really don't think they pull a combo pack off the market in a month > however > I recall something fishy re Red Box and that they would release combo packs > to discourage Red Box so who knows. > > On Tue, Jul 5, 2011 at 12:25 PM, Michael May <[email protected]> > wrote: > > > Sorry for hijacking your post, Matt, but I have the opposite problem. I > > want both the Blu-rays and DVDs of titles like Of Gods and Men, but my > > preferred vendor includes the following warning on combo packs: **Limited > > quantities will include bonus DVD version of the film** > > > > When I asked what that strange blurb meant exactly, this is the response > I > > got: "The studios do not inform us when they stop adding the DVD to these > > titles. You need to assume you will not get it and it is a bonus if you > do." > > > > Does anyone know of a good source that can guarantee that the combo packs > > actually include both formats? > > > > Mike > > > > Michael May > > Adult Services Librarian > > Carnegie-Stout Public Library > > 360 West 11th Street > > Dubuque, IA 52001-4697, USA > > Phone: 563-589-4225 ext. 2244 > > Fax: 563-589-4217 > > Email: [email protected] > > > > ________________________________________ > > From: [email protected] [ > > [email protected]] on behalf of Ball, James (jmb4aw) [ > > [email protected]] > > Sent: Tuesday, July 05, 2011 10:47 AM > > To: [email protected] > > Subject: [Videolib] New releases Blu-ray/DVD combos? > > > > Hi All, > > > > I?m noticing that a lot of new titles are being released as Blu-ray/DVD > > combo packs (Of Gods and Men is one example). I don?t really want a > Blu-ray > > copy of these titles and I certainly don?t want to pay $45.99 just to get > > the regular version. Does anyone know of a good source for just the > regular > > DVD versions? > > > > Cheers, > > > > Matt > > > > ______________________________ > > Matt Ball > > Media Services Librarian > > University of Virginia > > [email protected]< > > > https://mail.eservices.virginia.edu/owa/redir.aspx?C=f9bb9e66e0cb45eb9c98da126198ad7e&URL=mailto%3amattball%40virginia.edu > > > > > 434-924-3812 > > > > > > 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. > > > > > > -- > Jessica Rosner > Media Consultant > 224-545-3897 (cell) > 212-627-1785 (land line) > [email protected] > -------------- next part -------------- > An HTML attachment scrubbed and removed. > HTML attachments are only available in MIME digests. > > ------------------------------ > > Message: 2 > Date: Tue, 5 Jul 2011 16:41:48 +0000 > From: "Ball, James (jmb4aw)" <[email protected]> > Subject: Re: [Videolib] Strange Disappearance of Bees deal > To: "[email protected]" <[email protected]> > Message-ID: > < > 302d2154cd0ea448aef4b356e8605427135...@wilson.eservices.virginia.edu> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" > > In the spirit of playing out an experiment to see how it goes, you can > count me in. But I don't think this will be especially revealing since, > even at half off, this title is still very expensive and out of range for > many libraries. > > In general this seems like a fun idea, but I'm not sure how well it will > work in the long-term. It feels kind of gimicky and not really sustainable > as a new purchasing model. What if next month I want Hotel Terminus, will I > need to propose to Icarus a Groupon deal, and then wait to see if enough > people respond? In the meantime, I have a professor who needs it in two > weeks. > > Cheers, > > Matt > > > > ________________________________________ > > Matt Ball > Media and Collections Librarian > University of Virginia > Charlottesville, VA 22904 > [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> | 434-924-3812 > > ________________________________ > From: [email protected] [ > [email protected]] on behalf of Catherine Michael [ > [email protected]] > Sent: Tuesday, July 05, 2011 11:44 AM > To: [email protected] > Subject: [Videolib] Strange Disappearance of Bees deal > > Greetings Great Innovators of Media Economics: > > I checked with our Science Librarian. Ithaca College would be interested > in participating in the pending deal for the Strange Disappearance of Bees: > http://icarusfilms.com/new2011/bees.html > > Do I take a number? > > Regards, > > Cathy > > Catherine H. Michael > Communications & Legal Studies Librarian > Ithaca College Library > Gannett Center 1201, 953 Danby Road > Ithaca, NY 14850 > phone: 607-274-1293 > http://comlaw.wordpress.com/ > > On Jul 5, 2011, at 11:34 AM, Hutchison, Jane wrote: > > Count me in. > > Jane B. Hutchison > Associate Director > Member > Instruction & Research Technology CCUMC: > Leadership in Media & Academic Technology > William Paterson University > http://www.ccumc.org > Wayne, NJ 07470 > 973-720-2980 (work) > 973-418-7727 (cell) > 973-720-2585 (facs) > [email protected] > > > -----Original Message----- > From: [email protected] > [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Pearson, > Jeffrey > Sent: Tuesday, July 05, 2011 11:29 AM > To: [email protected] > Subject: Re: [Videolib] videolib Digest, Vol 44, Issue 22 > > Me too. > > Jeff Pearson > Univ of Michigan Ann Arbor > > > -----Original Message----- > From: [email protected] > [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of > [email protected] > Sent: Friday, July 01, 2011 5:14 PM > To: [email protected] > Subject: Re: [Videolib] videolib Digest, Vol 44, Issue 22 > > Count me in. 97 left. > > gary > > > > Jon, > > I pitched this to our Entymology Librarian, and we are in for "The > Strange > Disappearance of Bees". So 98 more to go for the $200 price? ;) I > don't > want to play my hand but one of our Entymology faculty, Dr. Marla > Spivak, > just won a MacArthur Genius grant and I'm told we have this new Bee > Lab to > study this monumental problem, so we will likely need to purchase the > 3 or > 4 > bee disappearance films. Come on folks, just need 98 more... Jon, > we'll > be in touch :-) > > -Scott > > > On Fri, Jul 1, 2011 at 3:04 PM, <[email protected]> > wrote: > > Send videolib mailing list submissions to > [email protected] > > To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit > > > https://calmail.berkeley.edu/manage/list/listinfo/[email protected] > y.edu > > or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to > [email protected] > > You can reach the person managing the list at > [email protected] > > When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific > than "Re: Contents of videolib digest..." > > > Today's Topics: > > 1. Re: Groupon suggestion.. (Linda Gottesman) > > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > Message: 1 > Date: Fri, 1 Jul 2011 15:42:06 -0400 > From: Linda Gottesman <[email protected]> > Subject: Re: [Videolib] Groupon suggestion.. > To: [email protected] > Message-ID: <[email protected]> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" > > > In response to the Groupon suggestion and Gary's query, Filmakers > Library would love to participate. We'll put our heads together and > come up with a specific offer either for NMM or before, but consider > us interested! > > Linda > > > > On Jul 1, 2011, at 2:22 PM, [email protected] wrote: > > I'd like to hear from John and Winnie from Bullfrog, Jon Miller > from > Icarus, Larry Daressa from California Newsreel, Debbie Zimmerman > from WMM, > and whoever is in charge of Filmakers...and other indie > distributors > > Gary > > > > I think I was 15 minutes ahead of you, but then I just read a > Vanity Fair > profile on Groupon. > > I think we could try to set something up, however the issue with > current & > older titles might be libraries who bought them at full price > getting > upset, > but i guess you can't do much about that. I do think trying this > with new > releases would be a way to start. > > On Fri, Jul 1, 2011 at 2:03 PM, scott spicer <[email protected]> > wrote: > > Apologies for the spamming, but this got buried in the thread on > post. > I > am interested to hear folks take on this, and it appears Jessica > reached > a > similar conclusion at the same time: > > Just a thought experiment here... > > I understand that smaller distributors do not want to devalue > their > collections by cherry picking individual titles for substantially > lowered > costs and am sensitive to Jessica's claim that lowering prices > would not > necessarily make up for lost sales in terms of volume. You > gotta give > us > video librarians a fighting chance. Challenging times call for > creative > solutions. So I propose we crowd source this thing...in the > spirit of > Elizabeth Stanley, we need a Groupon/Social Living service for > Indies/educational media. > > Picture it: for one day (or week) only, The Strange Disappearance > of > Bees > is > $200 or The Big Sellout is $100 (PPR negotiated separately if > needed). > Let's say price predicated on collective volume sales of at least > 50 > units, > offer ends at 500 takers. Only 5 titles can go up at any given > point, > and > only once a year. Open to all filmmakers/distributors targeting > the > academic market (with a small percentage of sales recouped for > promotion > and > maintenance). > > Thoughts? > > -Scott > > -- > Scott Spicer > Media Outreach and Learning Spaces Librarian > University of Minnesota Libraries - Twin Cities > 341 Walter Library > [email protected] 612.626.0629 > Media Services: lib.umn.edu/media > SMART Learning Commons: smart.umn.edu > > > 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. > > > > > -- > Jessica Rosner > Media Consultant > 224-545-3897 (cell) > 212-627-1785 (land line) > [email protected] > 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. > > Linda Gottesman > Filmakers Library, Inc. > 124 E 40th Street > NY, NY 10016 > 212-808-4980 > [email protected] > > > > > > -------------- next part -------------- > An HTML attachment scrubbed and removed. > HTML attachments are only available in MIME digests. > > End of videolib Digest, Vol 44, Issue 22 > **************************************** > > > > > -- > Scott Spicer > Media Outreach and Learning Spaces Librarian > University of Minnesota Libraries - Twin Cities > 341 Walter Library > [email protected] 612.626.0629 > Media Services: lib.umn.edu/media > SMART Learning Commons: smart.umn.edu > 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. > > 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. > > -------------- next part -------------- > An HTML attachment scrubbed and removed. > HTML attachments are only available in MIME digests. > > End of videolib Digest, Vol 44, Issue 32 > **************************************** > -- Scott Spicer Media Outreach and Learning Spaces Librarian University of Minnesota Libraries - Twin Cities 341 Walter Library [email protected] 612.626.0629 Media Services: lib.umn.edu/media SMART Learning Commons: smart.umn.edu
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.
