Ohhhhh, nooooooooo!!! You will be sorely missed! Thanks for the
mentoring you have given so many of us. Sounds like you have plenty of
interests waiting to take center stage. Enjoy them all!
Gail
On 4/2/2012 10:17 AM, ghand...@library.berkeley.edu wrote:
Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls
It is with a mix of melancholy, ebullience, slight trepidation, and vast
relief that I announce my forthcoming retirement from the University of
California Berkeley and the Media Resources Center on June 28, 2012.
Today marks my 33rd anniversary with the University, and this year my 36th
as a librarian (a fact which seems more than a little surreal to me).
I’ve been director of the Media Center for about 28 of those years, and
there hasn’t been week, good or bad, that has gone by without my murmuring
a little thanks for the cosmic hiccups that allowed me to stumble into
such a cool and personally rewarding gig. I simply cannot think of
anywhere that I would have been happier professionally, or another
position in which I would have grown and learned and contributed as much.
In some sense, I feel a bit like Mark Twain, who was born during the fiery
appearance of Halley’s Comet, and who went out with its reappearance, 74
years later. I began my career in media in the early 80s, at the dawn of
the home video age (or the “Video Revolution” as it was often
hyperbolically called in the library literature at the time). I’m bowing
out of the business at a time when the technologies and economics of video
production and distribution, and the video content universe itself are
again in a state of radical flux. Along with these changes, video
collections and service in libraries are also bound to experience major
tremors and evolutionary shifts. I’m not sure whether I’m leaving the
scene feeling sanguine or pessimistic about this future, but in any case
it’s definitely going to be an interesting and challenging next decade.
I am going to miss all my long-time professional pals profoundly, both
those on the library side and the distributor side of the fence. I grew
up with a number of you in this field, and along the way you’ve become a
kind of extended workaday family, complete with the obstreperous
get-togethers, occasional bickering, and comforting sympathy. I’m also
heartened by the number of young, creative, and energetic colleagues who
have hopped on board in more recent times. Definitely makes me less
gloomy about prospects for the future.
Not sure exactly what I’m going to do next: I’d like to continue teaching
film somewhere on campus or off; I’m up for grabs as a consultant; want to
write a bit; gotta catch up on all the national cinemas I’ve given
short-shrift to over the years; want to log in more gym time; would like
to hone my banjo and ukulele-playing chops; want to get back to freelance
cartooning and illustration. At very least, I’m aiming at becoming an
accomplished and well-known Berkeley flâneur and café personality.
As for the fate of the UC Berkeley Media Resources Center… In light of
the dire economic straits into which UC has been shoved, it is almost
completely unlikely that my position will be filled any time soon. The
future of the redoubtable MRC collection and website remains murky, at
best. I can’t really think about all of this too much; it’s just too damn
depressing to ponder, and I’ve got other things on my mind. In other
words, après moi, le deluge, and there’s not a damn thing I can do about
it.
For the time being, Gisele Tanasse (MLIS), crack MRC Operations Czarina,
will look after the shop. She has also graciously agreed to keep an
administrative eye on videolib and videonews. (Note, however, that she’s
going out on maternity leave from May until around the end of September,
so you’re pretty much on your own during that hiatus. Play nice!).
Gisele’s email is gtana...@library.berkeley.edu. I’ll be around and
wrapping things up for the next few months. My civilian email address
after June is going to be garyhand...@gmail.com and I’m also on Facebook.
I’d love to stay in touch (but please don’t contact me about anything
having to do with copyright or fair use).
Best of luck for the future, comrades! Continue fighting the good fight.
It really has been an honor and a delight working with you all.
Salud!
Gary Handman
Gary Handman
Director
Media Resources Center
Moffitt Library
UC Berkeley
510-643-8566
ghand...@library.berkeley.edu
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.
--
Gail B. Fedak
Director, Media Resources
MiddleTennessee State University
Murfreesboro, TN37132
Phone: 615-898-2899
Fax: 615-898-2530
Email: gfe...@mtsu.edu <mailto:gfe...@mtsu.edu>
Web: www.mtsu.edu/~imr <http://www.mtsu.edu/%7Eimr>
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.
