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ARL Film Festival 2019—The “ARLIES”

The Association of Research Libraries (ARL) Member Engagement and Outreach Committee hosted the fourth annual ARL Film Festival (the ARLIES) on Tuesday, May 7, 2019, at the Spring Association of Research Libraries Meeting in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The ARLIES film festival highlights and shares multimedia products developed by member institutions to increase knowledge and use of libraries, their spaces, services, collections, and expertise.

ARL members were invited to submit films of less than three minutes in the following categories: How-To/Instruction, Development/Fund-Raising, Collections-Focused, Publicity/Marketing, and Free-Form. Out of 26 entries, the committee chose 21 submissions, which were viewed by member representatives and guests in the afternoon of May 7. Association member representatives voted following the film viewing and the 10 award winners (see below) were announced during the Association Meeting on Thursday, May 9.

View all the 2019 ARLIES submissions and descriptions of the 21 featured films.

2019 ARLIES Winners

Best of How-To Instruction Films: Southern Illinois University Carbondale

This video is one of a series of five planned copyright videos being produced for our 3-credit online information and media literacy course, MCMA 200. This course is a collaboration between the College of Mass Communication and Media Arts and Morris Library, and is co-taught by a library faculty member and an MCMA faculty member.

Copyright is a complex and often-misunderstood legal concept that many students don’t find intrinsically interesting, despite its relevance to their daily lives. We hope this series of videos will help introduce students to its intricacies in a way that captures their attention and illustrates critical concepts more succinctly and clearly than a lecture or essay might be able to. However, these videos are meant as an introduction, not as the main course. We have used this video in two sections of MCMA 200 so far, and our analytics suggest that all or nearly all of our students viewed the video as assigned. A video intended for internal use only, view counts are low (~150 as of March 2019), but we are satisfied with its impact in the classroom as an introduction to this difficult concept.

 

Best of Development/Fundraising Films: University of Delaware

The video showcases the impact of library resources on student success by sharing the story of Mike Pfeifer, a University of Delaware alumnus of the Class of 2011. Through his use of the technology and resources in the library’s Student Multimedia Design Center, along with the mentorship of expert staff, Mike was inspired to follow a creative career path as a commercial and documentary film director.

The goal of the video is to bring in potential donors and create advocates for the library, museums, and press who are dedicated to fostering future student successes. It is targeted towards current faculty, staff, and alumni, with a focus on current and potential donors.

To reach this broad audience, the video will be disseminated through multiple channels. It will be embedded on the library’s giving web page (https://library.udel.edu/giving), shared through social media, included in an electronic annual appeal, and featured on the web page for the library’s “Giving Day” crowdsourcing project on May 15.

To see the video, click here.

Best of Collections-Focused Films: University of Rochester

In 1847, Frederick Douglass was getting ready to leave England where he had lived to avoid being recaptured after his escape from enslavement in Maryland. To commemorate Douglass’s departure from Britain, his close companion and fellow abolitionist, the Englishwoman Julia Griffiths, wrote the “Farewell Song of Frederick Douglass.” Only two copies of the sheet music are known to exist—and one of them was acquired earlier this year by the University of Rochester’s Department of Rare Books, Special Collections, and Preservation, River Campus Libraries. The only other known copy resides at the British Library in London. Subtitled “On Quitting England for America—the Land of His Birth,” the song decries the United States as a brutish country. England is styled as the “land of the free, the land of the brave” while the lyrics lament “Alas! that my country should be America! land of the slave.” This video depicts the song being performed by Eastman School of Music students Jonathan Rhodes ’20E (tenor), and Lee Wright ’03E, ’18E (DMA) (piano) on December 3, 2018, at a Rochester community event to mark the end-of-the-year celebrations of the 200th anniversary of Frederick Douglass’s birth.

 

Best of Publicity/Marketing Films: University of Michigan

Our previous library orientation videos named a long list of specific services in the very brief time allotted. In this new video, we switched the focus to the results that students could expect by taking advantage of University of Michigan Library services, spaces, and collections.

The target audience is 6,000 incoming freshman attending their required two-day campus orientation the summer before their enrollment. Most will not be familiar with the resources and services available at an academic research library, and their library orientation session is brief. The student who says, “So it’s not just books?” is delivering one of our key messages—the library has a lot to offer, far beyond what they might expect.

Our goal was to welcome new students and convey the library’s limitless possibilities to facilitate just about any interest and to serve as their campus community, without overwhelming them with details and lists. At the very least, we know they were entertained—the groups watching laughed in all the right places.

 

Best of Free-Form Films: Georgia Tech

This film was created to do multiple duties—help with development, explain the nature of our Library Next project to both internal (on-campus) and external audiences as more than just renovations of the buildings, and serve as an inspiring piece to spark conversations about what the future holds for research libraries. The film is recently completed, and, as such, we do not have impact metrics.

 

Best Production: Georgia Tech

This film was created to do multiple duties—help with development, explain the nature of our Library Next project to both internal (on-campus) and external audiences as more than just renovations of the buildings, and serve as an inspiring piece to spark conversations about what the future holds for research libraries. The film is recently completed, and, as such, we do not have impact metrics.

 

Best Humor: University of Utah

The J. Willard Marriott Library at the University of Utah partnered with the U of U Athletic Department to raise awareness of the library’s 50th anniversary and all that the library has to offer. A video was made honoring two U of U basketball players—now in their 90s—who have contributed their papers to Special Collections. Both gentlemen were eventually drafted by the NBA and hold a special place in the memory and heart of the University of Utah. Incidentally, one of the players, Wat Misaka, became the first person of color to play in the NBA—the same year that Jesse Owens became the first person of color to play professional basketball.

 

Best Performance: University of Minnesota

To celebrate and promote the opening of the University of Minnesota Libraries’ exhibit, “The ABC of It: Why Children’s Books Matter,” several prominent Minnesotans read excerpts from the iconic children’s book, Goodnight Moon.

They include: Josie Johnson, University of Minnesota Regent Emeritus and civil rights leader; soprano Maria Jette; Chan Poling, musician and composer; Alan Page, retired Minnesota Supreme Court justice and NFL Hall-of-Famer; actor Bradley Greenwald; Dudley Riggs, improvisational comedian and founder of the Brave New Workshop; RT Rybak, former Minneapolis mayor and CEO/president of the Minneapolis Foundation; Karen Kaler, University of Minnesota First Lady; Tony Ross, principal cellist, Minnesota Orchestra; and Simran Mishra, president of the Minnesota Student Association at the University of Minnesota.

Tony Ross also performed “Schumann Lullaby” on cello.

The primary purpose was to promote the exhibit and several related events to friends of the libraries and to anyone interested in children’s literature. The events included an open house on Saturday, March 2, and the exhibit open house, attended by more than 300 people. As of March 7, 2019, we’ve had more than 2,000 views on YouTube, and on Facebook, we’ve had more than 12,000 views, 4,588 engagements, and 228 shares of the video.

 

Best Reflection of Diversity: Penn State University

On November 27, 2018, Penn State participated in Giving Tuesday, a day to encourage philanthropic support for nonprofit organizations.

The university libraries’ focus was to raise funds for the student-centered University Libraries’ Textbook Fund, an endowment for the acquisition of textbooks and course materials for students’ use. While it eases non-tuition costs for students with financial need, the textbook fund benefits all students by providing enhanced access to required course materials.

With the support of our donors, the university libraries raised more funds in 2018 than any of the more than 70 groups across the university that participated! Our “thank you” reflects the diversity of Penn State’s student population, offered in their own words.

 

Best of Show (tie): University of Michigan and Georgia Tech

University of Michigan

Our previous library orientation videos named a long list of specific services in the very brief time allotted. In this new video, we switched the focus to the results that students could expect by taking advantage of University of Michigan Library services, spaces, and collections.

The target audience is 6,000 incoming freshman attending their required two-day campus orientation the summer before their enrollment. Most will not be familiar with the resources and services available at an academic research library, and their library orientation session is brief. The student who says, “So it’s not just books?” is delivering one of our key messages—the library has a lot to offer, far beyond what they might expect.

Our goal was to welcome new students and convey the library’s limitless possibilities to facilitate just about any interest and to serve as their campus community, without overwhelming them with details and lists. At the very least, we know they were entertained—the groups watching laughed in all the right places.

 

Georgia Tech

This film was created to do multiple duties—help with development, explain the nature of our Library Next project to both internal (on-campus) and external audiences as more than just renovations of the buildings, and serve as an inspiring piece to spark conversations about what the future holds for research libraries. The film is recently completed, and, as such, we do not have impact metrics.

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