Gary, Thank you very much for shepherding us through so many ups and downs in this profession. I can't begin to tell you how much you have helped me professionally.
Enjoy the next phase of your life. Steven Steven C. Matthew -----Original Message----- From: videolib-boun...@lists.berkeley.edu [mailto:videolib-boun...@lists.berkeley.edu] On Behalf Of ghand...@library.berkeley.edu Sent: Monday, April 02, 2012 11:17 AM To: videolib@lists.berkeley.edu Subject: [Videolib] Good Night and Good Luck 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. 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.
