VHS? What’s that? With the advent of Blu-ray, even the standard-definition DVD is about to become a thing of the past. What chance does a poor student have at knowing what a videocassette is, much less what to do with it? On top of that, try finding a machine that actually plays such media. And when’s the last time anyone’s bumped into a Betamax?
Sinclair Library at the University of Hawaii-Manoa understands this and has taken ambitious steps to bring its archives into the 21st century. A massive video reformatting project is underway. The library is converting its sizable catalog of filmstrips, U-Matic tapes, Beta tapes, laserdiscs, VHS tapes and even DVDs, to the Internet-friendly QuickTime format.
“The impetus for this project was what spurs any library reformatting project,” says Digital Media Specialist Emily Albarillo. “ Impending obsolescence of the media. Equipment and replacement parts for the equipment for these formats is no longer available generally, and the library wanted to transfer the recordings before its equipment became unusable.” The process entails connecting a Canopus analog to a digital converter to digitize the videos. These digital versions are then saved as archival digital copies, and from those, smaller versions of videos are created, which can be viewed over the Internet. Once a streaming version is available, a link is added in the online Voyager catalog.
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