Thanks to everyone who offered suggestions for open-source film and video selection tools. After an un-scientific survey of the alternatives I'm even more convinced that VL is an indispensable tool for busy librarians trying to ensure we're leaving no cinematic stone unturned. Remarks from VL publisher Randy Pitman add further evidence to my conclusion:
Like others mentioned, we too have to search far and wide for information while working on each issue. On the plus side, we receive daily press announcements as well as daily deliveries of DVD and Blu-ray titles for review. We’ve been doing this for 30 years and, in my opinion, the AV universe has only grown larger and more complicated over time. It’s extremely difficult to keep up on releases that come from a myriad of companies, even from filmmakers whose work you would think would be highly publicized (I was surprised last week when a copy of Werner Herzog’s “Gesualdo” Death for Five Voices” came across my desk—how many people have even heard of this?) So three cheers to everyone who contributes to VL and helps us librarians create wonderful AV collections! [image: Library-logo-ES.png] *Anna Simon * Collection, Research & Instruction Librarian Art, Film, and Museum Studies 202-687-7467 ajs...@georgetown.edu Ars Hoya: GU Art Blog <https://blogs.commons.georgetown.edu/ajs299/> Georgetown University Lauinger Library 37th & O Sts. NW Washington, DC 20057
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.
