Hasta la vista, Molly

We have a bittersweet post to share today: after four years of service, Visual Media Collections Coordinator Molly Hubbs is leaving the AU Library. Molly has been an invaluable member of the Media Services team and a backbone of many of our ongoing projects, especially new acquisition processing and the push to digitize our VHS collection. Although we're sad to see her go, we're excited for her new and exciting opportunities. Best of luck, Molly!

Want to be a media librarian? Kino Lorber's here to help

Allow us to toot the horn of our own profession for a second. If you're interested in becoming a librarian who works with film, the American Library Association has a scholarship with your name on it.

ALA has partnered with classic and art house film distributor Kino Lorber to offer an annual $1000 award for a prospective library science Masters degree student interested in "work[ing] professionally as a media librarian in an academic institution." The scholarship includes a paid trip to New York City to learn about film distribution at a festival from the Kino Lorber folks – a great hands-on opportunity that uniquely fits the media librarian sub-profession.

We're glad to see Kino Lorber giving back to the library world. Richard Lorber himself shares in anecdote in ALA's press release about how librarians helped him find films to use for his teaching. We certainly hope the AU Library's collection and librarians have been so helpful, and this scholarship is a little boost to keep those sorts of services going in the future.

In the latest casuality of physical film, the Air and Space Museum goes digital

The transition from physical to digital projection has been a long time coming, even if Tarantino has tried his best to keep the format around. This Sunday, another stalwart – the IMAX theater at the National Air and Space Museum – retired their 70mm projector.

When Star Wars: The Force Awakens debuted last month, so many people insisted on seeing it at the Air and Space Museum because of the quality of the 70mm projection. But as The Washington Post points out, the aging equipment hasn't changed much from 1976 and requires intensive labor to setup. The projectionists and "hipsters" (not our words, see the article) might enjoy the feel of film stock, but for a theater that regularly shows so many different films, digital is simpler and faster for everyone involved.

Film projection will always have a place, even if just in specialty theaters. The Air and Space Museum's transition feels like a bigger change, though, because of how many people have gone through that theater.

(Also, look at how chunky that projector is! Holy moly!)

National Film Registry's 2015 picks include Top Gun and sneezing

Every year, the National Film Registry in the Library of Congress picks 25 notable films for permanent preservation, ensuring that everyone will have long-term access to these works. Every year includes a mixture of historical items and more current movies, like last year's selection of Ferris Bueller's Day Off and the first film with an all-black cast.

For 2015, the National Film Registry once again cast a wide net. Ghostbusters, L.A. Confidential, The Shawshank Redemption, and Top Gun are surely the most well-known, but as usual, the odder choices are probably the most exciting. Of great interest is the Spanish language version of Dracula, produced alongside the 1931 Bela Lugosi classic using the same scripts, sets, and costumes. Other highlights include the New Deal working-class ode Our Daily Bread and an early educational film about menstruation that still had to sanitize its contents.

And finally, at long last, the National Film Registry is preserving Edison Kinetoscopic Record of a Sneeze (above), the first copyrighted film and the subject of many running jokes about the subject matter of early video recordings. It may be the most famous sneeze in history – though it's not clear how you'd measure that.

The AU Library has copies of most every film in the Library of Congress's 2015 list, though several are included on compilation discs with other early cinema. Record of a Sneeze is a rare case where you might be better served with a GIF.

We're back next week

GIF via IWDRM

Hi everyone! We wanted to apologize for the radio silence in the past two weeks. We've been very busy preparing ourselves and our staff for the coming semester.

Look forward to regular posts returning next week. Welcome to all the university's incoming freshmen!

So long, farewell to our seniors!

Now comes the difficult part of every year when we say farewell to our departing senior staff. This year, we have five staff members graduating: Caitlin, Claire, Jasmine, Travis, and Trevor. We've gotten to know this crew over the past several years, and they've done a terrific job exceeding patron expectations of great library service.

We're sad to see them go, but we know they're moving onto exciting careers and future programs. We wish them the best of luck!

Too nice to stay indoors? Come to the Media pop-up library!

We're about halfway into April, and we know that it's gorgeous outside. (Well, except today, since it's raining.) Even with finals season approaching and forcing everyone into their study bunkers, we'd all rather be outside. We see you, Frisbee players! We envy you!

We want to go where our patrons are, so for one day only, we're taking Media Services outside!

On April 14th from 2pm to 5pm, we're setting up a table on the quad outside of the Mary Graydon Center and checking out movies to anyone passing by. We're still working out logistics, but we're going to bring up a decent selection of our newest titles for checkout. No strings attached to this: bring your AU ID, and you can check items out just like you're in the library.

This is the second pop-up stand the AU Library has hosted; the Music Library set the standard with their pop-up library in February last year.

We'll send out another update once we're closer to the event. See you on the quad!

Ferris Bueller and The Dude join this year's National Film Registry list

While everyone was out over break, the Library of Congress continued tradition by adding 25 new titles to its permanent archives in the National Film Registry. Each year, the National Film Preservation Board selects films that it deems "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" for preservation for future generations. It's an eclectic collection that spans decades and genres, and this year's additions are similarly well-rounded.

The highest-profile films in the NFR's latest wave include stoner-bowling-mystery-comedy The Big Lebowski, World War II drama Saving Private Ryan, 80s teen wish fulfillment vehicle Ferris Bueller's Day Off, and Pixar's first ever short, Luxo Jr. But there are also odder gems beyond that, like 13 Lakes, a long-take documentary about America's lakes, and the untitled Bert Williams Lime Kiln Club Field Day, the first film to feature an all-black cast.

You certainly can't fault the National Film Preservation Board for picking some interesting films. If you'd like to catch up on what the government now considers essential, the following recently selected films are also in our collection:

The Big Lebowski – HU DVD 25
Into the Arms of Strangers – DVD 305
Little Big Man – HU DVD 650
Saving Private Ryan – HU DVD 1313
Luxo Jr. – HU DVD 3411
Rosemary's Baby – HU DVD  5783
Down Argentine Way – HU DVD 6094
Ferris Bueller's Day Off – HU DVD 6126
Rio Bravo – HU DVD 7326
Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory – HU DVD 10240
The Gang's All Here – MUSIC LIBRARY DVD 300

ALA names Notable Videos of 2013

Every year, our friends/overlords at the American Library Association release a list of Notable Videos for Adults featuring some of the most significant and interesting videos recently released. The ALA has just released their picks from 2013, and they're good ones. Most of these are in our collection, but since we trust the ALA, we're in the process of ordering the ones we don't have.

Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry – HU DVD 10873
Brooklyn Castle – HU DVD 2826
The Central Park Five – HU DVD 6371
The Gatekeepers – HU DVD 2858
The House I Live In – HU DVD 5094
How to Survive a Plague – HU DVD 11006
The Imposter – HU DVD 10925
The Invisible War – HU DVD 10567
Jiro Dreams of Sushi – HU DVD 3005
Kumare – Coming soon!
Leviathan – Coming soon!
A Place at the Table – HU DVD 2859
Project Nim – HU DVD 9714
Soul Food Junkies – HU DVD 11017
Where Heaven Meets Hell – Coming soon!

AU Library OPEN today, but limited

Because of the inclement weather, American University is closed today. The library will operate at limited capacity, so there'll still be room to study, but service desks will be either closed or minimally staffed. The exact hours of Media Services and the New Media Center for the day are TBA.

This is perhaps the most inconvenient time for a snow day; the AU Library is committed to making sure you have a place to work!

We love our new equipment! (And it needs a name)

This might not be the most exciting news for people outside the library community, but it's big for us: we've officially upgraded our checkout equipment!

The guy pictured above is the Mediacheck Model 325. It's faster and more reliable than the equipment we've previously used. It won't make too much of a difference on the user's end, but it's a big step up for us.

If you can think of a great name for these things, please let us know! One member of our staff suggests Domokun, and that's a hard one to beat.

The last DVD checked out from a Blockbuster is appropriate, sad

Last week, home video mainstay Blockbuster announced the closure of its last remaining stores, effectively ending what was only a decade earlier a vertiable empire of film distribution. This is no surprise, especially for those in the DC area (the closest Blockbuster is nearly 30 miles away). Decades later, no one will likely lament the death of Blockbuster at the hands of Internet services, but it's nonetheless a little sad for old-timers to see this era coming to an end. Where else will we get the personal, possibly-substance-enhanced movie recommendations from the guy at the checkout?

As a fitting end to the Blockbuster retail dynasty, the company announced that their final DVD rental was a copy of This is the End. Hold back your tears, folks. After years of accidentally renting Transmorphers from the store shelves and kindly rewinding VHS tapes, this seems like an appropriate send-off.

This isn't to suggest that DVDs and Blu-rays are going anywhere in the long-term. In any event, take a moment to remember the first time you stepped foot in a rental store and how far technology has come since then

Reminder: Closing early today at 9pm

Because of scheduled campus-wide power outages, the library will close at 9pm tonight. Please keep this in mind if you're planning to watch movies in the library... or even watch movies on your own! Many of the residence halls will not have power for several hours.

Miyazaki retires! Celebrate the legendary director's work

A luminary of the film industry is throwing in the towel. With the release of The Wind Rises, his eleventh feature film, Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki has announced his retirement from filmmaking. The sudden announcement was perhaps inevitable given Miyazaki's age, but his absence from the world of animation will be felt immediately. Miyazaki's production house, Studio Ghibli, has often been called the Japanese equivalent of Disney; Ghibli is responsible for many critically acclaimed Japanese films, including 2010's The Secret World of Arrietty.

Miyazaki will probably still have a hand in the operations of Studio Ghibli and in producing more animated films, but his absence in the director's chair will be sorely missed. Miyazaki's My Neighbor Totoro and Spirited Away are among the most cherished and lauded animated films ever.

Luckily, Miyazaki leaves behind three decades of quality animated features. We have the director's entire filmography available for checkout in Media Services. Watch one or two and pay tribute to his enormous and acclaimed body of work.

Spirited Away – HU DVD 586
Princess Mononoke –  HU DVD 1206
Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind  – HU DVD 2977
Castle in the Sky – HU DVD 2978
Howl's Moving Castle – HU DVD 2979
My Neighbor Totoro – HU DVD 4709
Kiki's Delivery Service – HU DVD 6077
Ponyo – HU DVD 6937
Porco Rosso – HU DVD 10216
The Castle of Cagliostro – HU DVD 10694

Bradley Manning documentary streaming via library

Given the recent controversy surrounding the Bradley Manning trial verdict, it seems appropriate to link to The Forgotten Man, a streaming documentary about Manning's story and his role in the Wikileaks scandal. The 43-minute video is an excellent primer for those wishing to learn about the Manning case.

The video is viewable through the ALADIN catalog for AU students, staff, and faculty.

DC Digital Commons opens, offers powerful media resources

We're very proud of the services and equipment available at the New Media Center; our training sessions and studio spaces had great attendance last year, and users are walking away with finished projects and greater knowledge of multimedia software. We're always very happy when we see other universities and libraries offering these services too.

Color us excited that now DC Public Library is getting into the game! Today, the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library is opening the Digital Commons, a state-of-the-art multimedia lab available for all DC residents. The Digital Commons offers a plethora of services, including:

• Smart room meeting space for small businesses and independent groups
• Skype stations for videoconferencing
• Computers loaded with the Adobe Creative Suite
• A 3D printer and book printer for creative types (seriously!)
• Tutorial sessions on popular software and services
• A "Digital Bar" for test-driving the latest devices

We love to see these types of services available throughout the city. If you're a recent alumnus who wants to continue using cutting-edge multimedia resources, the Digital Commons is a great new resource.

AU Library closed tomorow; get Independence Day for Independence Day

Just a reminder: the American University Library will be CLOSED for Independence Day tomorrow, July 4th. We close at 6pm today in preparation for the holiday. If you're planning on taking out any movies for the holiday, please do so today.

Shockingly, we have two copies of Roland Emmerich's Independence Day still available (HU DVD 3111). Grab it while you can!

Salute to our senior staff

Today's the last day of the academic year, which is both exciting and sad for us. On the one hand, we're all looking forward to the summer. But it also means we have to say goodbye to our senior student staff members who are graduating.

Media Services, the New Media Center, and the AU Library are nothing without the staff, and our graduating seniors have provided the highest quality of service we could ask for. A big thanks to those leaving us this week:

Media Services

• Eliza Madden (3 1/2 years)
• Nameir Abbas (2 1/2 years)
• Anthony DeSalvatore (2 years)
• Anya Crittenton (1 year)

New Media Center

• Kady Buchanan (2 years)
• Yi Chen (2 years)
• Adam Curtis (1 year)

Our staff members are tremendously skilled, and based on their post-graduation plans, we have no doubt that they've got good things ahead. Good luck out there guys!

New resource: Films for Teaching School of Communications Topics

Our Media Librarian, Chris Lewis, has been hard at work on a new sources for faculty (and students!) in the School of Communication. His new subject guide, "Films/Videos for Teaching School of Communication Topics," compiles lists of useful films on over a dozen communication topics, including political communication, public speaking, and dissident media.

This is a valuable new resource for faculty looking to add films to their courses, but it's also useful for students who want to use films as a resource for their papers or projects. A number of SOC classes require students to watch documentaries of their choosing, and this as a great way to find a relevant movie.

If you aren't in SOC, don't fret: We also have a broader index of filmographies which go more in-depth about specific subjects other than communications

We're on Google+ now!

Hey everyone – we just opened shop over at Google+. Thanks to wonderful Google integration, our Google+ page will feature all of our wonderful blog content.

If you're subscribed to our RSS feed and will miss Google Reader once its gone, or if you're just looking for something new to spice up your feed, add us to your Circle!

(This is also a test to see how the Blogger cross-posting works. Hopefully this'll show up on Google+ too!)