Media and Computer Services

We have recently added an Epson GT-20000 large format scanner to the Media Lab.  The GT-20000 is capable of scanning up to 11"x17" documents in high resolution.  Students, faculty, and staff are encouraged to make use of this wonderful piece of equipment.

There is a great new site called Movie Clips which provides legal access to a searchable database of movie clips. As of this writing, they have 12,000 clips available. The site allows sharing clips via a variety of social networking tools and and provides code to embed the clip into your own site.

The database is searchable, but it is also indexed by a variety of criteria. In addition to obvious categories like movie title and actor, the clips are also indexed by genre, occasion, mood and theme among others. One strange omission is production year. API access is available and the explanation shows that production year is part of the metadata, so I am not sure why this bit of information is not searchable.

Every year, Video Librarian releases a list of the best documentary films from the previous year. The University Libraries proudly owns many of these titles:

• Coal Country: Filmmaker Phylis Geller's thought-provoking documentary focuses on mountain top removal mining in Appalachia, while also examining various issues involving the economy of the region, national energy policy, and the environmental implications of coal on both the local and global levels.
• Crips and Bloods: Made in America: Director Stacy Peralta (Dogtown and Z-Boys, Riding Giants) turns his attention to another Southern California subculture, chronicling the origins of and feud between the titular gangs in this powerful documentary narrated by Oscar-winner Forest Whitaker.
• Dear Zachary: Kurt Kuenne's extraordinarily poignant child custody documentary tells a personal story full of surprising twists, beginning with the murder of a young Pennsylvania doctor by his mentally unstable pregnant ex-girlfriend, who then fled to her native Canada and bore their son.
• Food, Inc.: Emmy Award-winning director Robert Kenner's disturbing documentary focuses on the industrialization of North American food production/delivery, offering a compelling and alarming portrait of how this growing agricultural monolith affects our health, environment, and economy
• Frontrunners: Caroline Suh's wonderful documentary offers an endearing and at times howlingly funny study of the nature of democratic elections, covering a campaign for student union president at New York's prestigious Stuyvesant High School.
• The Garden: Scott Hamilton Kennedy's 2008 Oscar nominee for Best Documentary follows the battle for control of the largest community garden in the United States--14 acres in the middle of South Central Los Angeles that were transformed by a largely Latino population from a blighted lot into a flowering urban oasis of family-farmed plots. After 12 years, the city decided to sell the property for business development, issuing an eviction notice that set off an escalating chain of events.
• The Greening of Southie: Offering an exciting glimpse into the future of Earth-friendly major building construction, filmmakers Ian Cheney and Curt Ellis' (King Corn) globetrotting documentary follows the design and construction of the Macallen Building in South Boston, from the gathering of green materials to the winning over of a skeptical blue-collar work crew.
• A Lion in the House: Premiering at the Sundance Film Festival and later broadcast on PBS' acclaimed Independent Lens series, Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert's emotionally devastating but also occasionally uplifting marathon documentary follows the lives of five patients--ranging in age from seven to 19--from the pediatric cancer ward at the Cincinnati Children's Hospital over several years.
• Passion & Power: Based on the 1999 book by Dr. Rachel Maines (The Technology of Orgasm: "Hysteria," the Vibrator, and Women's Sexual Satisfaction), directors Wendy Slick and Emiko Omori's documentary offers an informative and playful profile of the vibrator that also includes insights into the sexual revolution of the 1960s and the post-feminist present.
• Pete Seeger: The Power of Song: Director Jim Brown combines archival stills and film (some shot by Seeger and his family), interviews (with Seeger, Bob Dylan, and dozens more), and extensive concert footage to create this inspiring portrait of folk music pioneer Pete Seeger that originally aired on PBS' American Masters series.
• The Rape of Europa: Exploring the interrelated stories of the Nazi plunder of priceless objets d'art from conquered territories during World War II and post-war attempts to restore stolen masterpieces to their rightful owners, filmmakers Bonni Cohen, Richard Berge, and Nicole Newnham's fascinating documentary is based on the bestselling book by Lynn H. Nicholas.
• Resolved: Greg Whiteley's HBO-aired documentary focusing on two disparate high school debate teams combines archival footage with clever animation to examine the transformation of debate over the last few decades--from a carefully reasoned rhetorical contest into an intense verbal battle known as "the Flow."
• Respect Yourself: The Stax Records Story: Aired on PBS' Great Performances series, this Samuel L. Jackson-narrated musical documentary recounts the story of the creation of Memphis' Stax Records and the evolution of its artists, including Otis Redding, Isaac Hayes, Sam & Dave, and Booker T. & the MG's.
• Second Skin: Filmmaker Juan Carlos Piñeiro Escoriaza's engaging documentary looks at the enormously popular world of online gaming, featuring a quartet of adult roommates whose lives revolve around World of Warcraft, as well as a couple who met in the game world and wound up marrying in real life.
• Secrecy: Harvard professors and filmmakers Robb Moss and Peter Galison's intriguing documentary offers a balanced look at the increasing trend towards classifying government information in the name of national security in the post-9/11 era.  
• The Union: The Business Behind Getting High: Canadian director Brett Harvey's documentary takes a compelling look at British Columbia's illegal marijuana trade industry, incorporating contemporary research, humorous clips from vintage educational films, and interviews of colorful characters such as Tommy Chong and cannabis culture personality Watermelon Girl
• Waltz with Bashir: Israeli director Ari Folman embarks on a gripping psychological journey into his own repressed memories of the horrors of the First Lebanon War in 1982--part of the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict--in this surreal animated documentary that was nominated for Best Foreign Film.

Media and Computer Services will be implementing two print only and scan only stations. Patrons often need to just print or scan quickly, so instead of their needing to log onto one of the computers, they will be able to work quickly from one of these two stations.

The current scan only station, located near the Media Resources area, will be converted into a combined print only and scan only station. The computer next to it will also be made into a print only and scan only station.

The University Libraries' Media Lab is featured in the most recent edition of The Rebel Yell: http://unlvrebelyell.com/2010/03/01/new-media-lab-offers-high-tech-equipment/

Every year, the American Library Association's Video Round Table selects a list of Notable Videos. The University Library proudly owns many of these titles:

American Outrage

Documents the Shoshone Nation and Dann Sisters 40 year fight against the U.S Bureau of Land Management and mining interests for land rights in Nevada. 

At The Death House Door

The case of inmate Carlos De Luna causes longtime death penalty supporter Carroll Pickett, a minister who accompanied De Luna and many others to their executions, to have a change of heart.

FLOW: For Love of Water

Documentary investigation into the world's water crisis, including the privatization of the fresh water supply.

I.O.U.S.A.

Two concerned citizens explore how the United States got itself into such staggering debt and how to stem the tide of mounting debt.

Operation Filmmaker

When a Hollywood film production invites an Iraqi film student to the set the documentary filmmaker observing the event becomes personally involved in the students' life.

Trouble the Water 

A harrowing but uplifting perspective of Hurricane Katrina through the eyes of a young Ninth Ward New Orleans couple. 

Unnatural Causes: Is Inequality Making Us Sick?

Seven-part series exploring the relationship between class, race, and health in the Unites States.

Walk to Beautiful

Five Ethiopian women reclaim their lives when they are treated at the Addis Abba Fistula Hospital.

Waltz with Bashir

An Israeli soldier explores his memory of the 1982 Lebanese War using a combination of animation and narrative.

Who Does She Think She Is?

A telling portrait of 5 talented women artists who refuse to choose between creativity and family responsibility, self-expression and mothering.

The University Libraries has added videos from the Ambrose Digital Video Collection, including all 37 of the BBC Shakespeare videos. The collection also includes the History of American Indian Achievement and When the Water Tap Runs Dry. You can keep up-to-date with our streaming collection by visiting this site or by searching the library catalog for streaming videos.

UNLV now provides wireless Internet access to campus guests who have their own laptops and Lied Library is one of the available hot spots.

To set up your account, connect to UNLV-Guest from your list of available networks. You will need to agree to the UNLV Guest Terms of Service.

Guest wireless is available:

Monday - Thursday 7:30am to Midnight
Friday -7:30am-7pm
Saturday 9am-6pm
Sunday 11am to Midnight

You can get more information about guest wireless at http://wireless.unlv.edu/guest-access.

A complete list of campus wireless hot spots can be found here: http://wireless.unlv.edu/access-locations

Help is available via the Office of Information Technology Help Desk: http://oit.unlv.edu/help/it-help-desk

Two new digital camcorders are now available for checkout at the Media Resources Desk.  The Canon FS200 camcorders feature a 41x zoom, 2.7" widescreen display, digital scene effects, and records directly to SD-HC card, making it easier to transfer to the computer.  Simply copy and paste the video files from the memory card and begin editing.  No more waiting for long movies to capture on the computer.

Also available for checkout is an accessory pack containing a 16GB SD-HC card and USB cable for transferring to the computer.  Up to three hours of high quality video can be stored using the 16GB card.

Stop by the Media Resources Desk to checkout these new cameras or any of our other multimedia equipment.  Video editing software and assistance is available at the Media Lab.

Media Resources is now offering three day checkout on a selection of our feature films to UNLV students and staff. Three ring binders containing information on all the titles are located at the Media Resources Desk and the Leisure Reading area. The titles may also be found by clicking here or by searching our Course Reserves list for Media Resources 3 day feature films checkout as the course name or the instructor name.

Patrons are limited to three titles per visit, a valid RebelCard is required for checkout, and the overdue charges are $2.00 per day.