I.T. Times
Volume 2. No 1 Information Technology News of the University of California, Davis October 1993


New Ordering Procedures for 16mm Films and Off-campus Media Programs

by Doug Decker, Information Resources


Last year, when UCD faculty wanted to show a 16mm film to a class, they would call the Media Desk at the IT Campus Access Point (IT-CAP). The same held true if they wanted a program from an off-campus rental source, or information on the purchasing or licensing of new media programs.

During fall 1993, the IT-CAP is phasing out the Media Help Desk. An in-depth study of the service has revealed that IT can no longer provide this service in a cost-effective manner and that service changes are in order. New procedures have been developed, and though the campus still can access IT program resources, some tasks have been changed to "self-service."

The new procedures are:

  1. To schedule a 16mm film from the film library, call Equipment Loan at 752-3553. Their staff will arrange for the film and equipment to be delivered to your location and will provide an operator at your request.

  2. To have a videotape from the UCD collection played to your group, call the Video Playback Center at 752-9559, as before. Their staff will schedule your tape to be played over the campus cable system to your viewing room. If the room is not connected to the system, they will arrange to have the display equipment delivered.

  3. To rent film or videotape programs from an off-campus source, order and pay for the items from within your department. Then, depending on whether it's a 16mm film or a video tape, follow procedure 1 or 2.

New Media Location Self-Service Area in IT-CAP

Though IT staff no longer will find and order media items for campus customers, a new area has been set up in the IT-CAP for self-service. The Media Location area features an extensive collection of supplier catalogs and references to help you locate titles not in the UCD film/tape collection.

This area also provides access to a very user-friendly computer program called FOLIO. This program can be used to obtain a list of the offerings in the UCD film/tape library or to search by subject through the approximately 11,000 entries in the database.

IT-CAP plans to make the FOLIO database accessible on the Campus-wide Information System (CWIS) in the near future. Summaries of announcements that appear in vendor bulletins promoting educational and documentary releases on film, videotape, public TV, and satellite broadcast are also planned to be posted on the CWIS.

Ordering Procedures Handout

More information on the new procedures is at the IT-CAP in a handout titled "How to Order Media Programs from Off-campus Sources." Upon request, IT-CAP will also provide vendors' phone numbers to assist ordering of previously-ordered rental programs. IT-CAP will answer any question you may have about the service changes or other IT-related issues. Please call us at 752-2548, send electronic mail to ithelp@ucdavis.edu, or come in to 1400 Surge II.


ietpubs@ucdavis.edu