DVD, video checkout services will move from Hart Media Lab to Shields Library

Faculty and students who want to reserve or check out DVDs and videos for coursework will soon have a new destination: the Reserve Services Desk of Shields Library. The media reserve and checkout services in Hart Hall's Media Distribution Lab will move to Shields by summer 2009.

Hart Media Lab currently houses thousands of DVDs, VHS tapes, and non-print media for use in instruction, plus equipment to view them. Most customers are faculty who check out material to show in class, or students who come in to view videos.

Starting in summer 2009, many of the most heavily used titles in Hart Media Lab will be permanently transferred to the General Library, with access available through Reserve Services. The Information and Educational Technology computer lab in 163 Shields will have a few machines set aside for viewing the films. As part of the transition, many older VHS titles will be replaced with DVD versions.

The change means the Hart lab will gain space to install more open-access computers for general use, said Tim Leamy, computer lab manager for IET-Academic Technology Services.

During fiscal year 2008-09, the General Library and IET-ATS staff will prepare media titles for transfer to the Shields Library Reserves unit. As they are processed, the cataloged materials will be listed in Harvest, the Library Catalog. The transition, a joint project between the library and IET, takes advantage of the strengths of each department.

"There will be a lot of behind-the-scenes work between now and next summer," Leamy said. More publicity about the move is planned. Older materials that have not been used recently, and are not likely to be used much in the future, will not be moved.

The permanent collecti on being transferred to the library is owned by the university. Titles are usually acquired through undergraduate academic grants, but can also be donated.

Read more about the transition, video checkout and reserve services here.