Re. the DVD that comes with the textbook and workbook for a language course-I can speak to that specific case because I run a language lab, aka language learning center, foreign language media resource, etc.
I think it is reasonable and even important to make available to the students on campus copies of the a/v media which accompany textbooks. This is a different case from just making the textbooks available, and quite different from workbooks. 20 years ago, language labs helped textbook publishers ensure that students had access to "ancillaries"-the audio and video they needed to do their workbooks. The textbook publishers gave them to us free (almost always) with permission to duplicate and/or display them as needed so that the students could do their work. Publishers made their money (a lot of it) on the textbooks themselves and especially on the workbooks, which were printed on cheap paper and meant to be used up by the purchaser (no secondary market). I think there was some effort to ensure that, unlike say a Pimsleur course, these ancillaries were fairly meaningless without the purchase of a textbook and workbook. They had a term for the audio/video and even software drills, which meant "not expected to be sold for profit." Typically now the publishers put the audio and video online themselves as part of an Online Activities Manual which may replace the old workbook. They control access to it-sometimes it is free, sometimes it requires the student to pay extra for a password good only for 1 year. Alternatively, they may package the textbook with CDs or DVDs; this can be problematic though because the media items can be damaged or go astray, particularly in the secondhand market. So it is indeed very handy to have copies available. Judy Shoaf Language Learning Center University of Florida
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.
