South Asia Cinema
Collection Development Policy
I. Purpose
The purpose of the videocassette/DVD/film collection is to support the instructional and research needs of Penn faculty, students and staff. The collection consists of ½" videocassettes and digital video discs (DVDs). The collection is presently housed in the Van Pelt video collection located at the main circulation desk.
II. Scope of coverage
a. The collection can be divided into two separate categories: popular Indian cinema and documentaries.
- Popular Indian cinema . The South Asia section collects popular Indian cinema that fits within certain selection criteria: themes such as partition, notable historical events, specific cultural and social issues, important classical films, and films which have a diasporic connection are primarily acquired.
- A much smaller collection of films from the other South Asian countries are also acquired as they become available. A number of Pakistani tv dramas and some films have been acquired.
- Documentary films are purchased that cover a wide range of topics and readers are encouraged to make use of Franklin to locate possible titles of interest (see section III below on searching Franklin for films). Documentaries also include instructional videorecordings, performances, and performance art.
III. Language
- For popular South Asian cinema, a film in any language that meets the selection criteria will be obtained. For documentary films, English will be the preferred language. Effort will be made to acquire only titles with English subtitles and only films of particular importance will be acquired without English subtitles.
IV. Finding Film Titles
a. Because the film collection is a dynamic one and is constantly being enriched and all titles are cataloged for Franklin , maintaining separate film lists is not feasible. Instead, readers are encouraged make use of the search capabilities of Franklin in order to locate films of interest. The catalog records of individual titles invariably have summary notes and subject headings which allow for the construction of complex searches on Franklin . Readers should make use of the keyword search facility, and select the videorecordings in the quick limits option. If one is simply interested in what Hindi films there is in the collection in dvd, a simple search of ‘hindi and dvd’ and limited to videorecordings will pull up a list of our current holdings matching that criteria.
V. Circulation Policies
a. The South Asia film collection is a circulating collection and following the general circulation guidelines for the Van Pelt video collection, that is, up to five titles can be charged out and circulate for one week with no renewals. The films are also available for interlibrary loan.
VI. South Asia Outreach
- A substantial portion of our current documentary collection was formerly housed with the South Asia Studies Department (www.southasia.upenn.edu). These materials were transferred to the Van Pelt Library for custody. They have all been cataloged are all available through our interlibrary loan system. However, individuals should request specific titles through their respective library’s interlibrary loan office. For those not affiliated with an institution of higher learning, they should make use of their local public library to place the loan request.
VII. Responsibility
a. Teaching faculty are encouraged to suggest appropriate titles for classroom use. Please contact the South Asia Bibliographer David Nelson, (nelsond@pobox.upenn.edu) for suggestions. Other non-instructional titles that are suggested should be accompanied with a short statement regarding the value of the film vis-à-vis our selection criteria (II.1 and VIII.b.1-8).
VIII. General selection criteria
a. Video/DVDs considered for acquisition should follow all current collecting guidelines presented above (II.1)
b. In addition, the following criteria may be considered:
1. accuracy/authoritativeness
2. timeliness of information
3. level of treatment (analytical vs. descriptive)
4. technical quality
5. aesthetic appeal
6. relative cost
7. intended audience (age or grade level)
8. reputation of producer/distributor
c. Previewing of videos/DVDs to determine if they meet intended curricular needs is strongly encouraged, particularly when items are costly or when purchase may be problematic..
d. Video/DVD resources that are costly and infrequently used may be rented instead of purchased at the discretion of the South Asia bibliographer.
e. Format. Although the collection includes materials produced throughout the world, most are obtained through United States distributors due to compatibility issues. Programs will be purchased in the NTSC standard if available. Furthermore, the DVD format will be preferred to that of VHS.
IX. Replacements
a. Items will be considered for replacement when they are in poor physical condition, damaged, or missing, if their content is still deemed useful.
b. An item may be replaced in a different format if there is value added in either the quality of the resource, the convenience of using one format over another, or instructional appropriateness.
X. Preservation
Videos and films may be repaired if that is feasible and if the item has continuing value.
Send mail concerning this page to: David Nelson
South Asia Bibliographer
Van Pelt-Dietrich Library Center / 6206
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia , PA 19104-6206
215/898-7460
nelsond@pobox.upenn.edu
