Training materials

Marty Hartford <mjh [at] lib__ksu__edu> writes:

>Does anyone have any suggestions on an up-to-date training video that would
>be appropriate to use in training student workers at a university library?

I am a graduate assistant in a library science program.  Recently
one of my projects was to view and evaluate about 15 videos on
various preservation subjects.  There are two videos I saw which
might be of use to you.  Hopefully these are not among your present
collection.

Murder in the Stacks (15 minutes)

This video covers such subjects as proper shelving techniques,
proper cart loading, general handling of books, the need for
prohibiting food in the library, etc.  It must be warned that the
material is presented to the viewer by two actors playing the parts
of Sherlock Holmes and Watson, whom investigate misdeeds in a
library.  This Sherlock Holmes silliness is over the top but from
what I understand that has the effect of making the video quite
memorable.  It certainly had that effect on me.  From what I have
also heard, student workers are frequently shown this video in other
institutions.  The fact that it is short and to the point likely
makes this a useful instructional tool.  The video is from the late
1980s, but the issues discussed are always current.

How to Operate a Book (28 minutes)

An informative overview of the history of early binding techniques
and the development of the binding industry which also mentions some
ground rules for book handling.  This video covers more topics than
what the average student worker might appreciate/need.  The
narrator, while certainly well-versed in his knowledge and
informative in the subjects he covers, speaks in a monotone which
can be tedious at times.  I fear these two characteristics might
make this video not as suitable as the other for instructional
purposes, but I mentioned it anyway just in case.  I also do not
think this production was made recently.

I unfortunately did not take note of who made these videos and where
they could be acquired.  However, the titles are correct so perhaps
with a little searching you could find them.  If I find out about
anything more current I will certainly write again.  In the
meantime, I hope that this was of some help.

Gretchen Kriner
Clarion University of Pennsylvania

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                  Conservation DistList Instance 11:85
                 Distributed: Wednesday, April 22, 1998
                       Message Id: cdl-11-85-006
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