Please e-mail wmr@sunybroome.edu in advance if you wish to check out equipment as personnel may be away from the Help Desk to assist others. Please be aware that in order sign out any equipment from WMR (from laptops and camcorders to mp3 recorders and slide projectors) you will be required to present a valid BCC faculty/staff ID. Multimedia equipment will be treated in the same way as signing a book out from the library. Please consider this if you believe you will need to sign out anything in the future. The Media Services Inventory System requires an ID to be scanned in order to accurately track equipment. Additionally, there are time limits on loans since this equipment is a shared campus resource. Equipment Available for Sign Out - Handheld Camcorders
- Laptops
- Digital Cameras
- Boom Boxes
- Media Station Keys
- Data Projectors
- Projection Screens
| The Move from VHS to DVD/Digital Over the past few years it has become increasingly difficult to support VHS lecture materials on campus. A large number of our VCR’s have failed, many of the tapes themselves have degraded over time, and it has become nearly impossible to replace VCR’s with equipment that isn’t significantly substandard (Many units don’t have modern outputs to our current data projectors and audio systems - let alone the new HD systems we are moving towards). Nearly 3 years ago, the multimedia subcommittee began placing DVD players in all our new media rooms as opposed to VCRs. In old media rooms, when the VCR fails, we have been replacing them with DVD players (both hardware and software players). In “emergency situations” we have attempted to obtain permissions to digitize old VCR tapes and covert them to DVD for instructors. However, this is a process fraught with serious copyright issues. Many times publishers and copyright holders will not give permission for this type of transfer (as they are usually selling updated or enhanced copies re-packaged on DVD or as an online service). Most of you have already made the transition from VHS to DVD (or web video) for your lecture materials.
For those who are still relying heavily on VHS tapes… now is the time to locate alternatives, budget for updated copies of your media on DVD or digital media formats, and/or consider new materials altogether. If you need help with this process please contact us. We would happy to help test and preview any DVD or digital media formats you are considering for use in our media rooms (to be sure they work well before classes begin). In the case of CD-ROMs, DVD-Rs, online video services, and any other systems that might rely on software, this is always a very good idea. |
