Hi all,
Please let me introduce myself. I am Jordan White, the new product manager for *VAST: Academic Video Online*. We listen to our customers and video advisors a lot—so thank you all for your thoughts. A couple points in response to the discussion here regarding MARC records and what’s included in VAST: First, we create all of our own MARC records, which are then offered to OCLC for inclusion in their program. OCLC has reported issues recently with their ability to process these in a timely fashion and are working to resolve this as quickly as possible. If you’d like a manual download of MARC records, we can give you this in the interim—just email us. Second, *Filmakers Library Online*, our cross-disciplinary collection of 1,013 award-winning documentaries available exclusively through Alexander Street, is included in its entirety in VAST—this is the complete “backfile” of Filmakers Library titles through 2012, all there today in VAST. (A small, optional “2013 update” collection will be offered soon—around 100 films signed during the current calendar year that will not be included in VAST.) VAST should not be viewed as “all of Alexander Street’s videos in a package.” VAST is a collection crafted specifically to serve undergraduate programs across your departments, covering dozens of subject areas—more than 16,300 titles today, reaching 20,000+ titles by June 1 of this year, and continuing to grow. In addition to VAST we offer thousands more videos through various discipline collections, for libraries who want lots more content in particular subject areas. We make these additional videos available in collections (e.g., *Counseling and Therapy in Video: Volume II*) and sometimes also as single titles on DVD or streaming. In other words, VAST does not and cannot include all of our videos. The product would be too expensive; it would include content that’s specialized and irrelevant to many libraries; and occasionally, producers choose to exclude their content from VAST. (One example is that while we do have films from California Newsreel in VAST, the producer specified that some content remain exclusive to our specialized *Black Studies in Video *collection.) What VAST is—it’s a powerful tool for undergraduate research and scholarship. We grow it by selecting 400 or more complete videos each month. We’re pushing the frontier of what it will include—both in a steady stream of new partners (National Geographic, Frontline, Bill Moyers) and in formats (documentaries, interviews, demonstrations, complete feature films, interviews, and forthcoming political speeches, public television series). “Pushing the frontier” also means new tools coming in April that will let you upload local content, search beyond our content to the Web through our semantic indexing, and create and share custom learning tools and apps. Thanks again for your feedback. If I can answer questions or hear your ideas, please reach out to me by e-mail at jwh...@astreetpress.com or by phone at 1-800-889-5937 x 307. I look forward to getting to know you! Jordan On Wed, Feb 6, 2013 at 12:55 PM, Badilla-Melendez, Cindy < cbadill...@stthomas.edu> wrote: > Hi Deg, > > There are some important things to clarify: > Yes, MARC records from ASP are better than FMG, however you get only half > from ASP, whatever they find in OCLC and whatever is not there, you don't > get it. So you end up with a lot of titles not in your catalog. FMG just > re-did their records. As a matter of fact we are downloading them right now > (all the FMG records again), so we will see how better they really are or > not. > > Having VAST is different than having the individual collections. We have > the counseling collection and the music collection and they are very good. > With VAST, you don't get all the videos from Filmmakers Library, you just > get only a few and not the ones you really use. Same thing with California > Newsreel. > So as you said we cannot compare VAST with the individual collections from > ASP. > > I am very disappointed with VAST, reason why we got instead of the > individual collection was price, they put it in a way that getting > individual collections was way more money than VAST and why not VAST was > supposed to have everything... > Believe with VAST you get a lot of stuff you never want to have > > My 2 cents > > Cindy > __________________________________________________ > Cindy Badilla-Melendez, M.L.I.S > Media Resources Librarian > O'Shaughnessy-Frey Library, > University of St. Thomas > Mail #5004, 2115 Summit Ave, > St Paul, MN 55105 > phone (651) 962-5464 > fax (651) 962-5406 > > -----Original Message----- > From: videolib-boun...@lists.berkeley.edu [mailto: > videolib-boun...@lists.berkeley.edu] On Behalf Of Deg Farrelly > Sent: Friday, February 01, 2013 1:22 PM > To: videolib@lists.berkeley.edu > Subject: [Videolib] Films on Demand vs. VAST > > Arizona State University, Northern Arizona University, and the University > of Arizona all have Films on Demand and we together own the Filmakers > Library collection from Alexander Street. (We each also have additional > video collections from ASP, but to the best of my knowledge none of us has > VAST) > > Full disclosure: I personally have vested interests in both products: I > developed the subscription model with FMG after a PDA model proved too > successful, and I advise ASP on video products. But I can separate my > interests from observation and statement on the two products. > > There is some overlap between the two, largely in newsreel collections, > and some PBS content. But overall both over a wide array of unique content. > > Both offer similar features and functionalities, that vary by degree. FoD > titles are already segmented into discrete sections with individual > persistent URLs; ASP provides tools for users to develop their own > segments. FoD also offers the ability to combine segments into playlists. > Both offer scrolling transcripts and closed captioning. > > I think in that in general ASP offers more long-form content and a greater > degree of the quality documentary content media librarians have > traditionally acquired from independent distributors such as Filmakers, > California Newsreel, and the like. Tho FoD provides some of this too. I > think ASP provides a superior search interface, and their catalog records > are far superior to those provided by FMG. > > ASP is fully indexed by all the major discovery tools (Summon, EBSCO > Discovery, etc). Our FoD is discoverable in Summon from our catalog > records. > > For the record, our use of FoD is subscription and our ASP products have > been purchased in perpetuity, so use data does not exactly compare. > Suffice to say that FoD use for Arizona Libraries is less than $.20 per > use. I cannot provide comparable data for ASP as the pricing and data > reporting do not correlate. > > > I have personally observed that some library administrations assume that > having one means you do not need the other. But both products are quite > complementary, and in my opinion both are necessary in a comprehensive > university. > > This is not significantly different than how libraries approach indexes > and journal packages. Aggregators such as EBSCO's Academic Search products > and Lexis-Nexis overlap yet libraries carry both, and also independently > subscribe to some of journals that are included in these resources. > Similarly there is overlap between EBSCO index/databases both general and > subject, and ProQuest products. But all provide significantly unique > content that makes this overlap a non-issue. > > Happy to discuss either product in greater detail offline. > > -deg > > deg farrelly, Media Librarian > Arizona State University Libraries > Hayden Library C1H1 > P.O. Box 871006 > Tempe, Arizona 85287-1006 > Phone: 602.332.3103 > > > > > > >We currently subscribe to Films on Demand from Films Media Group, and > >are considering a subscription to Alexander Street Press' VAST. Both > >resources contain films from some of the same producers/distributors; > >we're unable to run an overlap analysis of the products using > >SerialsSolutions' overlap analysis tool, and are wondering if there is > >much overlap in coverage between the two products. Have any libraries > >that subscribe to both done any kind of overlap analysis - or just > >anecdotally, have you noticed much duplication of films between the two > >resources? > > > >Thanks in advance for any information you can provide. > > > >Best, > >Michelle > > > 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. > -- *Jordan D. White* *Senior Product Manager* *Alexander Street Press* *703-212-8520 x307*
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.
