Abstract

The Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) predicates its "Guidelines for Media Resources in Academic Libraries" on assumptions that general principles of collection management and library service apply equally to media formats (http://ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/acrl/standards/mediaresources.cfm). Yet, implicit in ACRL's Guidelines is the additional (and perhaps contradictory) assumption that, to be effective, academic library media collections and services must form a separately administered "program," headed by a single librarian. At The North Carolina State University (NCSU) Libraries, we have instead chosen to administer our many media collections and services using the same structures we use for those of other formats, interweaving media into the very fabric of the NCSU Libraries' collections and services. While they sometimes pose particular challenges, media are increasingly present and significant in our collections, and "mainstreaming" them – dealing with them as a holistic part of our already diverse portfolio of formats – has meant tremendous benefits for budget, workflow and user experience. As the unofficial "coordinator" of media collections for a decade (one of many hats!), I offer a quick review of our many collections and service points, including: a "media center" that is now integrated into the library's main circulation desk, an open-shelf circulating DVD collection, video game collections, and a vast and growing collection of online films (both vendor- and library-hosted, and many of which are not owned anywhere else in streaming format). Our media collections and approaches to providing them are equally forward-thinking.

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Mainstreaming Media: Innovating Media Collections at the NCSU Libraries

The Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) predicates its "Guidelines for Media Resources in Academic Libraries" on assumptions that general principles of collection management and library service apply equally to media formats (http://ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/acrl/standards/mediaresources.cfm). Yet, implicit in ACRL's Guidelines is the additional (and perhaps contradictory) assumption that, to be effective, academic library media collections and services must form a separately administered "program," headed by a single librarian. At The North Carolina State University (NCSU) Libraries, we have instead chosen to administer our many media collections and services using the same structures we use for those of other formats, interweaving media into the very fabric of the NCSU Libraries' collections and services. While they sometimes pose particular challenges, media are increasingly present and significant in our collections, and "mainstreaming" them – dealing with them as a holistic part of our already diverse portfolio of formats – has meant tremendous benefits for budget, workflow and user experience. As the unofficial "coordinator" of media collections for a decade (one of many hats!), I offer a quick review of our many collections and service points, including: a "media center" that is now integrated into the library's main circulation desk, an open-shelf circulating DVD collection, video game collections, and a vast and growing collection of online films (both vendor- and library-hosted, and many of which are not owned anywhere else in streaming format). Our media collections and approaches to providing them are equally forward-thinking.