Re: [Videolib] Re: Average shelf life for av materials

media2 (media2@burlco.org)
Tue, 24 Feb 2004 17:25:17 -0500

> Unless you are a multi-type library I suspect the deselecting process
> for a public collection would be different from a county educational
> video collection like ours. But a few criteria overlap.
>
> As a rule of thumb we check tapes at 50 and 100 circs for signs of
> physical damage and signal deterioration. Then we go to age and
> content criteria to determine if the tape should be replaced.
> Children's Literature titles and holiday titles fall easily into this
> category. A sub routine for this is to compare the title against
> newer titles already owned in the same topic and grade level.
>
> Titles on substance abuse and safety go out of date faster than
> science titles because the dated production values and clothing
> detract from the content.
>
> Ditto for computer "how to" tapes. The shelf life for these it
> limited. "Tips and Tricks for Windows 95" or "Understanding Your
> Franklin Computer" get weeded based on relevancy criteria.
>
> Travel videos are inexpensive, but they also go out of date in a few
> years depending on how skillfully they are shot.
>
> Health issues also have a shorter shelf life due to advancements in
> health care and new techniques. Likewise the content ages when they
> cite numbers that are out of date in two or three years. Applies to
> Career Opportunity titles also.
>
> We rarely pull all the copies of a title out of circulation all at
> once. As circ drops the older prints ("prints" goes back to the days
> of film - Ill explain "film" another time . . . ) are pulled and a
> last copy left for the die hards who won't use a newer title, or for
> the titles with "significance" to the collection, no matter how low
> the circulation is. "Powers of Ten" and "Letters from a Birmingham
> Jail" come to mind.
>
> In education we also have interests that go in cycles like the
> Olympics and Elections. Every four years we can't keep Olympic
> related titles or election titles on the shelf. Then they sit for
> three years.
>
> Sometimes the cycle is really long. We had multiple copies of several
> titles on Haley's Comet to support interest at the time . . . . since
> it won't be back for another 70 some years we wonder if it's worth
> keeping them in the collection . . . I think we'll form a focus group
> and select an advisory committee . . .
>
> But I digress.
>
> Happy weeding!
>
> Mark Richie
> EMTC Director
> Burlington County NJ

Keely Morrison wrote:

>I think maybe I used the wrong terminology. What I meant was did anyone
>have a weeding guideline that was based on # of circulations or number of
>times played? We have some videos that have circulated over 300 times.
>It seems to me that video in particular might deteriorate or at the very
>least gather dust/dirt and that the picture quality would deteriorate. I
>suppose it is not as much of a problem with compact disc and dvd.
>
>
>
>
>On Tue, 24 Feb 2004, Hooft, Robert wrote:
>
>
>
>>We too have videos dating back to 1978 that are still functioning quite well. Weeding should probably focus more on customer usage as opposed to shelf life.
>>
>>Robert Hooft
>>Justice Institute of B.C. Library
>>715 McBride Blvd
>>New Westminster, B.C.
>>V3L 5T4
>>Ph: 604-528-5598
>>Fx: 604-528-5593
>>
>>
>>-----Original Message-----
>>From: videolib-bounces@library.berkeley.edu
>>[mailto:videolib-bounces@library.berkeley.edu]On Behalf Of Hornbeck,
>>Patty
>>Sent: Tuesday, February 24, 2004 11:43 AM
>>To: 'videolib@library.berkeley.edu'
>>Subject: RE: [Videolib] Re: Average shelf life for av materials
>>
>>
>>Keely, we have videos in our stacks that are still playing back well after
>>18 years, so it's hard to generalize about shelf life.
>>_________________________________
>>Patricia Hornbeck
>>Middlebury College
>>Sunderland Language Center
>>Middlebury, VT 05753
>>
>>(802)443-2268 phone
>>(802)443-2075 fax
>>Email: hornbeck@middlebury.edu
>>
>>
>>-----Original Message-----
>>From: Keely Morrison [mailto:kmorriso@bcpl.net]
>>Sent: Tue, February 24, 2004 1:52 PM
>>To: videolib@library.berkeley.edu
>>Subject: [Videolib] Re: Average shelf life for av materials
>>
>>
>>
>>Hi all,
>>
>>We are trying to formulate some weeding guidelines centered on the average
>>shelf life of audiovisual materials. If anyone has established guidelines
>>they would be willing to share it would be most appreciated.
>>
>>Thanks,
>>
>>Keely Morrison
>>Baltimore County Public Library
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>>
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