Gary, I agree with your assessment of the streaming vs. Blu-ray argument, particularly when it has to do with the question of non-commercial vs. academic use. If the user is simply concerned with content access, streaming will do, but areas like Film Studies are usually concerned with the quality of the image and sound. If I was not supporting Film Studies I would also be questioning the never ending process of repurchasing titles.
The Concordia University situation is that we are now getting 2k projectors for the auditoria where Film Studies are taught. We also enthusiastically support 35mm films. Film Studies courses have almost always been taught with a licensed projectionist in a projection booth setting up clips, projecting films and digital media. I have been buying Blu-rays for 3 years now and we have somewhere over 200 titles. My Dean managed to argue for some badly needed capital funds and I have been able to equip my 3 seminar rooms with 65" THX 1080p monitors and all-region Blu-ray players. I'm also in the process of changing the individual viewing stations to make them less institutional and more semi-private with 32" 1080p monitors and all-region Blu-ray players. But all this is simply because we have an academic area that requires this and I have been able to successfully lobby for the money (and miraculously there was some money). The result has been very interesting: students are really responding and actually spending a lot of time watching movies here compared to when we had 17" monitors and DVD players. This is the beginning of the semester and it looks like the end of the semester in terms of student traffic. And as for differences in DVD vs. Blu-ray, on some films, if you have an upconverting DVD player the differences are almost indistinguishable. But, on other films, like Kino's The General, the difference is completely mind boggling. Doing a side-by-side comparison of the DVD and the Blu-ray is like watching a VHS transfer next to a 35mm print. In this particular case, I'm not exagerating. It's all a matter of budget first, and supporting client's real needs. Oksana At 11:50 AM 24/09/2010, you wrote: >...oh, buy the way: in thinking about the next evolutionary hop in >mediadom, I think it's important to avoid conflating issues having to do >with media delivery and ease of access (streaming)with image quality. >Let's face it, unless there's a some spectacular quantum technological >leap, moving images delivered over networks are always going to be >inferior to what can be delivered/projected locally...at least in >non-commercial contexts). In other words, the "I'm not buying Blu-ray, >I'm waiting for streamed delivery" is sort of a misguided argument. > >gary > > > > Blu-What? > > > > Look...what exactly is the point? Does the university intend to install > > Blu-ray machines (or HD projectors) in classrooms? Hell, they can barely > > get it together to put in shades on the windows. Is the media center > > going to install 42" HD monitors at individual or group viewing > > stations??? I don't THINK so... > > > > Not to mention: In the past three years, I've spent maybe 10 to 15 grand > > on replacing VHS titles with garden-variety DVDs...no way I can justify > > rebuying the collection again for the sake of sweeter eye-candy. > > > > gary handman > > > > > >> A perennial question, but a good one to revisit to from time to time: > >> > >> Are you purchasing Blu-Ray titles for your library, or are you holding > >> off? (I'm especially interested in hearing from college and university > >> libraries, since we're in the same boat.) > >> > >> If you're purchasing, what criteria do you use? Do you re-purchase > >> titles > >> you have on DVD, or only new titles? > >> > >> Having just about completed switching the collection from VHS to DVD, > >> the > >> thought of moving next to Blu-Ray makes me want to lie down and go to > >> sleep, for about 45 years. And, the cost would be prohibitive. > >> > >> Wouldn't it be a wonderful thing if libraries could go straight from DVD > >> to streaming video, at Blu-Ray image quality? For feature films, not > >> just > >> educational and documentary titles? Oh well, a girl can dream. > >> ______________ > >> Pamela Bristah, Collections Librarian, Wellesley College, 106 Central > >> Street, Wellesley MA 02481 > >> phone 781-283-2076, fax 781-283-2869, pbris...@wellesley.edu > >> > >> > >> 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. > >> > > > > > > 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 > > > > >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.
