DVDs off campus?

[madran]

HELLO HOW ARE YOU

So how come we can't take DVDs from the film library off campus? The reg. library trusts us enough to take BOOKS off campus. I'd say the film dept as a whole is at least a little more responsible than the rest of BC.. ( that there is the inner film school snob leaking out_).. at any rate if someone could give me a valid reason as to why the film library is the way it is, I would greatly appreciate it. There are some good films back there I hear!

Thanks,

Madeleine

[Beatrice]

Hey, that's a good question. I didn't know we couldn't take the movies off campus. (But then again, I don't think we can take movies out of the library, either.) I'll ask tomorrow at the staff meeting.

[BedtimeForBonzo]

Hello, How are you?

[Sal]

the reasons for not allowing dvds to be borrowed are as follows:

a) fear that they wouldn't be returned
b) that the dvds would be returned scratched
c) equipment room does not want to deal with the task of keeping track of who has what, etc.
d) dvds must be available to professors when they want to show them in class

this does not mean that renting dvds is out of the question!

i, for one, am 100% in favor of allowing dvds to be rented out.

professors are capable of reserving dvds in advance. this way, what they need will always be available. there should be a period of at least one week prior to the profs. reservation date, that the dvd will not be allowed out. this should alleviate (legitimate) fears on the parts of the profs. who require these films for class. it would even be reasonable to allow the profs. to keep a particular dvd out for super-extended time if he or she needs that particular title. the reason we even have any of these dvds is because profs. ordered them in the first place. we must, of course, respect that fact.

the equipment room does not want to deal with yet another thing. dvds would be one more thing to have to keep track of in an already busy environment. some members of the equipment room, when asked about the possibility of them renting out dvds, were pretty unhappy at the prospect. i totally understand why. our job, as a film society is to make it easier for them. all suggestions on how to do so are welcome. that is what meetings/this forum are all about. i envision this:

1) rentee goes to the cage and asks for a particular dvd
2) renter hands a contract similar to the one we use for equipment over to the rentee, and retreats to the back to get the dvd
3) contract goes in folder. folder goes in drawer.

for every day that the dvd is late, there is a 2 dollar fine. a lot? yes. excessive? i don't think so. it would help to alleviate the reasonable fear that stuff won't be brought back in a timely manner.

there could even be a sign-up fee. this way only those signed up will have a file. this would lessen the burden on the equipment room, if only because the system will be more organized. plus, the fee will help cover the costs of damages, and even more dvds. of course, we shouldn't turn brooklyn college into blockbuster, but a 25 dollar yearly sign up fee (or something, i'm obviously being presumptuous by throwing out numbers) would be reasonable for everyone. as far as space goes, it should only take up one filing drawer or a milk crate in the equipment room. i dunno, it's not rocket science.

a big concern is damages to dvds. a "subscription fee" would help some of that, but mostly it would be up to us to take care of the stuff. most will think that they can be responsible for such a simple task, but before getting on the rental bandwagon, please think whether or not you trust your fellow classmates to be careful with the dvds. i, for one, think having the dvd library available to us is worth the risk of the inevitable: a few dvds that need to be replaced. as president of the society, i guarantee that any damaged dvd will be replaced immediately. what is the point of having all of these wonderful movies if no one is watching them?

right now, you CAN NOT take the dvds out. what you CAN do is reserve room 228 and watch anything from the collection there. let us give that system a chance before we rent stuff overnight. matt moore, program coordinator, has just sent out an email about said room. i know that there are flaws in such a system, but the room is really nice, and i'm afraid many people just don't know about it. once the word is spread, maybe renting will not even be an issue. for now it is a good compromise.

you can rent movies out from the main library, but they don't have much good stuff.

-s

[Sal]

oh yeah.

FILM SOCIETY MEETING THIS COMING TUESDAY, OCT, 21! WE WILL DISCUSS THIS ISSUE!

[madran]

Thanks for your thorough response. I got the e-mail from Matt Moore today. As usual he is on top of things! Your suggestion sounds like a good idea-- charging a 2 dollar late fee and even a subscription fee. It all sounds reasonable. (That is what they do at my library back home with rented movies..)

At any rate-- I'm not one to tick off the guys in the equipment room. I like them very much! I just think it's a shame, like you said.. that we have all of these movies available to students and no one besides profs are taking advantage of them.

At any rate I'll try and make it to the meeting on Tues. to discuss things further.

Thanks again,

Madeleine

[oz]

I didn't get that e-mail from M.M. Could someone post the gist of the room 228 reservation process?

[phill]

From the email:

"For those of you who are not aware, last year, we set up a screening room in WEB 228, so that students can take advantage of our DVD collection and also screen dailies for any films they might be working on. Currently, the room is equipped with a DVD player, a 40" HD LCD TV and 5.1 surround sound. If you would like to book the room to look at a film, you can do so through our equipment room. The room will be available during the same hours as our two computer labs.

If you are curious about what films we have in our library, you can go to: www.bcflix.net and click on Resources. You will then see a link for "Film Library," where you can search by title, director, or keywords"

[madran]

Wow. I missed the meeting. Damn Location Sound projects are consuming my Tuedays. PARMARRRR

you know how it is.

I think I'm gonna nominate Matt Moore for employee of the month.