Thoughts on streaming video in libraries

I sent this post as a reply to a VIDEOLIB LISTSERV thread about video distributors, streaming content, and libraries being forced to license the rights more than once.

original post:
Gary Handman, Head Media Resources Center, Moffitt Library, UC Berkeley.
I'm very interested in distributors that opt for limited-term licenses rather than in-perpetuity licensing...makes absolutely no sense from a buyer's perspective: this ain't ejournal territory, in which content in a database changes and expands over time (in which case limited-term licensing makes sense). What we're talking about is paying for access to the same film over and over and over again. This kind of economic model wasn't foisted on us in the days of analog...why should it be in the days of digital?

Gary Handman

reply by Patty Hornbeck
Hornbeck, Patty wrote:

> Good point, Gary. Talk with your distributors! Many of them are trying to find their balance with this new service as well, and will listen and consider fair comments about their pricing and licensing terms. Buyers need be involved with setting the ground rules for the marketing of streaming media and we will never have a better opportunity.
> Patty _________________________________ Patricia Hornbeck Media Resources Development Coordinator Middlebury College Library and Information Services/#212 Middlebury, VT 05753
> (802)443-2268 phone (802)443-5698 fax Email: hornbeck@middlebury.edu

My reply:

I hope the distributors are listening! So many questions arise when we start talking about licensing. What about the quality of the product? If a library has three year license to stream a 320x240 pixel video to their patrons, are they also purchasing a dvd for their library collection as part of the price? Digital distribution of the media but with severely diminished quality does not make for an equal exchange. And we are being asked to pay more than once? puh-leeze!

What about features or feature-length films as opposed to shorter educational video? If they are streamed and have no physical counterpart in the library, can the media be projected to a group at an acceptable quality for programming purposes?
The only difference that _should_ exist between a library circulating a physical digital versatile disc and being able to deliver that same content over a network should be the ease of access to users (who knows? maybe as the technology becomes ubiquitous, networked audiovisual content will become an ADA compliance issue?!).

Social Web connects long lost library school nerds almost immediately!

OK, so I was posting a comment to the gaminginlibraries blog which is just getting off the ground.But anyway, Jenny Levine, aka "The Shifted Librarian" helped tremendously in setting it up and appears to be very active as an enthusiastic librarian and technology facilitator. While perusing her photos from flickr.com, I found a buddy link of hers to Mike Porter my old friend from Library school. He has this really extensive blog and almost 1000 photos on flickr as well. visit it! libraryman.com I tell ya, one week after listening to the burks on learning podcast, and I am shifting into high gear with "Web 2.0" social web, interactive and inter acTING Web services, however you like to slice it. I have Helen Georgas to thank for it all. She is our instructional coordinator and she's forging ahead to bring us into the 21st century with Web-based instructional tutorials using camtasia or ... oh what is that other one called... shuffle shuffle.. . We here in the academic world move at a slower pace, but rest assured, there are dedicated librarians chomping at the bit to bring information services to the Internet far beyond email ref. Wish us luck!

"Meatspace" heh heh

I saw this article in Wired and thought people might want to see it. Gamers in Second Life are making a living in the game space and no longer have to work in the “meatspace”
http://wired.com/news/technology/0,70153-0.html?tw=wn_index_1

what! you play video games?! 2 old 2 play

Slashdot posted an interview with the founder of 2old2play.com

“In it he discusses the future of gaming for older people, why we need communities like 2old2play, and how the gaming industry needs to refocus its efforts on the games it makes. Cool insight and worth the read for any older gamers.”
http://tinyurl.com/9c24o

all the other 'places' I live

Rather than repeating myself in several spots, I offer you the links... Livejournal, http://brantles.livejournal.com/ , Friendster: http://www.friendster.com/profiles/brantles . There is enough out there for you to get an idea of where I'm coming from. I plan on keeping this blog fairly personal and eventually only open to a few people of my choosing. For the time being, brantles.blogspot.com is not restricted.
So, why come here? I keep up with Web services and report my opinions on them. I am a librarian and I find a lot of interesting information I pass along.

latest meanderings

What a lame title for a post.
I've been freaking out about the huge amount of free (and pay) video available from a lot of different Web sites. youtube.com/, ess.tv/, channel101.com/ "The unavoidable future of entertainment" thelonelyisland, and sooo many others not to mention video.google.com
To top it off I saw this real UIC presentation in realmedia of Burks Oakley, an educational technology professor from UIUC about podcasts, and then Helen gave this cool presentation about captivate and camtasia (I prefer Camtasia thus far) We are kind ofg chomping at the bit here to get going with online tutorials for library instruction.
anyway, I want to investigate technorati tags and del.icio.us more as well. check burns podcast on web2 technologies. (burnso2.blogspot.com) I think.

first silly call to audioblogger from the ELL