INSIDE DOUGLAS COLLEGE / MAY 14, 1991

 

 

Library Video Collection Worth A Look

AE the traffic dies down in the
College over the summer, it’s a
good time to see what's available
in the Library’s video collection.

The library boasts 2,500 videos, »

many of them instructional tapes
for departments such as Nursing,
Business, Psychology and Physical
Education. Tucked in beside
material such as “Surgical Treat-
ment of Kidney Stones” and “Solv-
ing Problems in Calculus: Implicit
Differentiation”, there is an eclec-
tic collection of documentaries,
operas, Shakespearean produc-
tions and movies based on litera-
ture or history. Videos are
available to library card holders
for overnight use, or they may be
screened in the library.

“The collection is really instruc-
tor-driven,” said Librarian Helen
Rowan. “We get a request from an
instructor who has seen a video or
read a blurb about it, we view the
tape and then make a decision
about ordering it.”

When deciding whether to pur-
chase a video, Rowan says staff
consider its usefulness to courses

 

Gordon Acting Dean

(continued from page 3)

The broad education base and
accessibility of community col-
leges are reasons why she has
turned down opportunities else-
where to stay in the community
college system.

“I’m a real believer in com-
munity colleges. When I look at
educational systems, I think that
the community college system is
the most exciting, and in this new
position I'll have a chance to have
some impact,” says Gordon.

Still, says Gordon, she will ap-
proach the job carefully. “I have a
sense of respect for the new posi-
tion and all that it will call on me
to do. Seven months is a short
time, and it’s going to be a steep
learning curve for me, but I like
that.”

and its potential for multi-course
or multi-department use. Other
important factors include cost,
length, quality, timeliness and
availability through Canadian dis-
tributors.

Rowan says the largest
category of tape borrowers
remains people using video for
specific course application, fol-
lowed by ESL students seeking
spoken English media, but she ac-
knowledges that more users are
utilizing tapes not directly related
to their fields.

“T would say the borrowing has
changed a lot in the last three or
four years. It’s continually
broadening,” said Rowan. “1
would like to see a little more
available in general video, such as
the best in literature, especially
since we can increasingly acquire
them without a great deal of ex-
penditure.”

To give you a taste of what’s
down there, here’s a sampling of
some of the titles you can borrow.

ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN
FRONT. Lured by glory and
patriotism, young men enter the
meatgrinder known as World War
I. This straightforward adaptation
of Erich Maria Remarque’s novel
is a poignant anti-war statement
often banned by nations
mobilizing for war. The College
collection features the restored
130-minute version of the 1930
Best Picture Winner.

CLOCKWORK ORANGE. Based
on the novel by Anthony Burgess,
director Stanley Kubrick’s 1971
chiller looks at a future in which
violent youth gangs rule the night,
police beat suspects with clubs,
and society is powerless to stop it.

DEALING WITH STRESS.
Self-help video offers techniques
for coping with stress and for
using it as a motivational tool.

HOW TO REALLY START YOUR
OWN BUSINESS. Step-by-step
guide examines everything from
the basics of market research to
cash flow and funding.

EINSTEIN. Documentary about
the famous scientist by the PBS
series Nova features rare
interviews as it aims to shed some
light on the man behind the mind.

JUD SUSS. Offensive,
heavy-handed but historically
significant, the 1940 film offers a
rare “first-hand” glimpse at the
naked hatred in anti-Semitic
propaganda used during the Third
Reich. The “true story” chronicles
the moral and political evil that
befalls an 18th century German
state when a Jewish financier rises
to a position of power. Very
difficult to find due to its subject
matter.

RICHARD III. Shakespeare's play
about the deformed monarch who
butchered his way to the throne
chronicles some of his crimes and,
according to some scholars,
perhaps some he didn’t actually
commit. Director/star Laurence
Olivier plays the king with gleeful
villainy.

TOSCA. Puccini’s melodrama
packed with torture of political
prisoners, sexual blackmail,
suicide and murder — and one of
the most popular operas ever
written. The College collection
boasts the 1985 presentation at
New York’s Metropolitan Opera
featuring Placido Domingo and
directed by Franco Zeffirelli.

WHO’S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA
WOOLF? Edward Albee’s
drama/black comedy about an
evening with George and Martha,
a couple constantly either at the
bottle or at each other’s throats.
Widely acknowledged as the best
film starring Elizabeth Taylor and
Richard Burton, with Sandy
Dennis and George Segal as the
couple which gets tangled in their
web.

YUKON PASSAGE. Jimmy
Stewart narrates this National
Geographic special centering on
four men bound for the 19th
century Gold Rush. @

 

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