This summer the Network for Continuing Medical Education (NCME) will no longer offer its programs in DVD or VHS form to institutions. Programs will only be available online via streaming video. This information is not on their website. Some librarians have received letters notifying them of the change, while other subscribing librarians had yet to receive the letter and first learned of the change on MEDLIB-L. Many librarians rightfully expressed concern about this format change. Some hospital librarians indicated that their institution blocks all incoming streaming video making it impossible for physicians to view the video on campus. Other librarians indicated that the majority of the people using their NCME videos are looking for videos of specific procedures for teaching purposes, not CME, and online videos are not as conducive to a classroom or lecture hall environment. Finally some librarians indicated that much of the NCME usage is from physicians browsing the stacks or checking the library's online catalog on various medical procedures and online only access would limit the serendipitous discovery.

I called and spoke with our heavy NCME video users and all of them indicated they would not use the product nor be interested in it if it was only available online. So, my library will be canceling our subscription to NCME when it goes online only. Based on my users' reactions and the stories on MEDLIB-L, I wonder if NCME even took a survey to determine if this was a move their users wanted and accepted.

All of this has me thinking.... Even though we are in a digital age with video/audio podcasts available, streaming video, online full text journals, RSS feeds, etc. people are not quite yet ready to give up some things. Soon after the Internet burst on to the scene pundits claimed that the book (as we know it) would be extinct, everything would be online and everybody would be reading things online. Well books are not extinct and depending on the genre, many are seeing explosive sales. Could it be that video is another one of those things that we are not willing to let go of yet? This applies not only to medical videos but popular videos as well. You can now download and watch episodes of Lost and other TV shows to your computer or iPod. Is there a specific intangible difference between popping a DVD in and watching it on the TV vs. watching it online from the computer? Is there something that makes us prefer the one to the other? Are DVDs like books in which the Internet is not going to replace them entirely? If this is the case, then why would a company like NCME appear to shoot themselves in the foot and only offer videos online? Do they know something we don't, or did they make a bold but flawed decision. Time will tell.