Media Task Force: Charge

Media materials are being used more extensively in teaching and research in such disperse areas as film studies, anthropology, environmental studies, history, and language learning. The majority of the types of material being used in classroom settings and research are commercially available and include feature/fiction films, TV dramas and sitcoms, news broadcasts, documentary films, educational videos, and sound recordings (music and voice). Within the Rutgers University Libraries, these resources are located in the Media Center and Music Library in New Brunswick and in Newark=s Media Center and Institute for Jazz Studies. There are also unique video and sound recordings in Special Collections and University Archives and in the Institute for Jazz Studies. In these two locations in particular, an important preservation effort related to moving image material is underway. Finally, Rutgers, like other universities, has begun to investigate if and how it should invest in and distribute entertainment media products for student use.

It is important for Libraries to determine what we think our involvement in media should be as we plan for the next five years. Before we can do this, we need to take an environmental scan of the media landscape: What=s happening now at Rutgers and within Libraries? What are the identifiable needs for media at Rutgers? What are the possibilities within and beyond Rutgers for the acquisition and delivery of media? How should the Libraries partner with other operations within and outside of Rutgers?

In order to investigate these areas, the Media Task Force is being formed with the following charge:

1.) Assess the needs for media.

2) Describe how the Libraries are currently delivering video and sound media and the Libraries= potential for delivering digital media.

3.) Investigate what discovery tools, access mechanism and level of integration of media resources are necessary.

4.) Define what the Libraries=s role should be in collecting and delivering media in relation to RUTV, TEC and OIT (Office of Information Technology, formerly RUCS).

5.) Identify the available commercial modes of delivering media, such as Napster, Cflix, and Sony, and recommend what role the Libraries might have in the delivery of these.

6.) Identify what commercial media collections, such as Films for the Humanities & Sciences, are available and recommend whether the Libraries should acquire them.

7.) Identify what national and international digital media projects, such as Project Gramophone, exist and recommend if the Libraries should be involved in them.

8.) Investigate NJEdge=s initiatives in media delivery and determine if the Libraries should partner with these initiatives.

URL: http://www.libraries.rutgers.edu/rul/staff/groups/media_task_force/charge.shtml
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