Re: 3/4"-Umatic and 16mm Film Replacements

Kristine R. Brancolini (brancoli@indiana.edu)
Tue, 10 Feb 1998 14:14:30 -0500 (EST)

I agree that faculty should be encouraged to use new titles when they
become available, but the content of some older titles is simple not
available. We can all cite examples, beginning with many of the BBC
series such as _Classic Theatre_. Plays in this series are classics and
for many no other performances exist. Although more than 20 years old,
these titles are still used and rightly so. This is the case for many
documentaries as well. The one we recently lost is _They Shall Take Up
Serpents_, dealing with one of those churches that use snakes during their
worship services. It was an independent production and no longer
available anywhere. It offered unique content, even though other videos
on snake handler exist. I don't think trying to protect these titles
is "bending over backwards...and maybe beyond" to accommodate faculty. We
have a right and an obligation to protect these resources.

Kristine Brancolini
Indiana University Libraries

On Tue, 10 Feb 1998, Stan Gilliam wrote:

> It sounds as though you are bending over backwards...and maybe beyond,
> to accommodate your faculty.
>
> Are any of them susceptible to being encouraged to find alternative titles
> dealing with the same material?
>
> At 08:36 AM 2/10/98 -0800, you wrote:
> >I am in the process of compiling a extensive list of dying or dead
> >3/4"-Umatic videos and 16mm films, dated 1960s, 70s, 80s, which are
> >still faculty favorites and need replacement. I have searched the
> >traditional tools such as Video Source Book and First Search
> >(WorldCat). My guess is that I will be getting down to a hard core
> >list of about 50-75 titles that appear to be "out-of-print" or
> >out-of-distribution.
> >
> >Some of these titles might make it one more pass through the
> >equipment for a transfer to 1/2"vhs. If I try all known sources and
> >I also post these titles on this list in one last attempt to find a
> >current distributor, hypothetically, would that be sufficient to
> >justify making a 1/2"vhs copy for our shelves and destroying the old
> >copy?
> >
> >Eagerly await your thoughts. judyjones@csus.edu
> >
>