Fluid collections: a disincentive to resource-based instruction?
Thursday, April 13, 2006 at 09:48AM Libraries want to ensure that they have copies of the works that can be incorporated in permanent collections for continued access, as opposed to pay-per-view or expiring versions of the works. The Battle to Define the Future of the Book in the Digital World. Clifford Lynch, 2001.
Our local Internet consortium is considering switching digital video providers - moving from United Streaming to PowerMedia - primarily as a cost savings measure. Problem is, there is little content overlap between the two products. In other words, any digital videos or other resources a teacher may have linked in lesson plans, webquests, or curriculum guides are unlikely to be available should we switch content providers. Even if we stay with one provider, that provider may, I assume, drop titles at will as well. And of course if the district finds itself in a budget cutting situation, leased resources like these may very well go away all together.
This problem has surfaced once before when the state of Minnesota switched its full-text magazine database provider. Access to the back issues of some magazines and journals just went away. What happens when we start "subscribing" to books as well?
Will "fluid" rather than "static" collections of resources be a disincentive for teachers to use materials beyond the textbook? Will the lease vs buy model creep into the book world as texts become digital? How (or can) schools and libraries respond?
Legitimate questions, folks. I hope you have some answers.
Reader Comments (2)
Call up both companies and ask them two simple questions:
1) How many librarians do you have selecting videos?
2) What is your deselection policy? (i.e. how do videos about cancer from the early 1990s get removed from the system?)