The Jim Henson Video Collection at the Michelle Smith Performing Arts Library at the University of Maryland consists of over 70 videos ranging from classics such as Sesame Street, the Muppets and Fraggle Rock to early experimental films. These videos were donated by The Jane Henson Foundation and The Jim Henson Legacy along with funds to create this online collection.
Collection Principles
The University of Maryland hopes to provide a variety of research opportunities with this collection by providing access to Henson's work. This collection as stated previously is housed in the Performing Arts Library at UMD which is a part of the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center which focuses on "training future performance professionals and scholars."
"Each resident department of the Center will find its own use for such a collection: the Theatre Department now hosts a Jim Henson Artist in Residence and offers courses in puppetry, the School of Music offers various classes in popular music and culture, and the Dance Department is known for its cutting edge performance program where multidisciplinary projects are encouraged. Yet, elsewhere on campus, this collection will also be of use to UM’s American Studies program where studies in popular culture and humor are offered."
There is no information offered as to why these are the 70 plus videos placed online. One can only view these videos if they visit one of three different libraries on campus. This is extremely frustrating because what is the point of placing these videos online for the public to search if you are only going to provide access at the library. I was incredibly disappointed to discover this after I had searched the site for a video I wanted to watch. I really love the Muppets and thought this was a great project until I couldn't view the videos.
Object Characteristics
The 70 plus videos are searchable through a basic search and an advanced search which allows you to search by title, subject, series, and name. A patron of the library can also search through an online index which divides the videos into six sections: Celebrations, Compilations and Documentaries, Feature and Experimental Films, Fraggle Rock, The Jim Henson Shows, The Muppet Show, and Sesame Street.
Metadata
When selecting the video you would like to view, you are taken to a page with the video screen along with credits for what you are about to watch and a short summary. There are also links to related videos and subject headings. Along with the title of the video, the year and running are also provided in the box that shows the video.
To obtain the full catalog records for each video you can click on the link to UMD's Library catalog that has a full MARC record of each video. The MARC record states that access is restricted to patrons of the University of Maryland.
Intended Audience
Obviously, the intended audience is people who visit the libraries with computers that play the videos. The site says these are on public computers so you don't have to be a student, faculty or staff at UMD to view these videos. UMD hopes these will be educational for students studying the performing arts but never discuss the excitement the general public might receive from seeing videos from their childhood. Therefore, by not placing these online for the public to view I do not believe UMD had this in mind when planning the digitization project. With funds coming from The Jane Henson Foundation to create this project, there might have been some sort of agreement to this nature.
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