Video and Audio Resources

 At any time during the process of finding a particular video/s, feel free to ask for help directly from your Subject Librarian. If during your search, you find a video not held by the University Libraries that you want to use in a class, contact your Subject Librarian about your request or use the library's Purchase Request form.

Check Online Catalog for Documentaries and Feature Films
Begin by checking the Online Catalog to see if the University Libraries already has a streaming video and/or a DVD of the video. (See instructions in the box on the left.) The Online Catalog provides records on all videos currently accessible through the University Libraries, including both stream video and video on physical media, such as DVDs. All videos available through streaming databases such as Academic Video Online and Films on Demand or purchased individually and available on the Kanopy and Swank platforms can be found using the Online Catalog.

Check Academic Video Online and Films on Demand for Documentaries
Although all licensed videos should be in the Online Catalog, it is recommended that you check the two largest video databases, Academic Video Online and Films on Demand, for documentaries in case there is a glitch in online catalog access. If a video is found in one of these databases, you can easily embed or link to the video in Blackboard

Check Kanopy for Documentaries
If you do not find a streaming version of a documentary in the Online Catalog or in the larger video databases, you can check to see if the video is available for lease on the Kanopy:

• Check the complete Kanopy catalog to see if the title is available for lease. If available, instructors may submit a request through Kanopy. Click on the video you are interested in. Click on "Watch Now" and then follow the prompts to the red Request Access button, clicking on the SKIP button when prompted to login or create an account. Once you click on the request button, library staff will be alerted to the request and will respond within 48 hours. 

Check Swank Digital Campus for Feature Films
If you do not find a streaming version of a feature film in the Online Catalog, you can check to see if the video is available via Swank Digital Campus:

• Create an instructor account in Swank Digital Campus. Check to see if Swank has the title available for lease.  If available, an instructor may submit a request through Swank by selecting the non-licensed title from the list of films and clicking on the blue request button. You can either create a required instructor account and then login before submitting a request or you will be prompted to login when you submit the request. Library staff will be alerted to the request and will respond within 48 hours. Because of the costs and limited duration of Swank rental agreements, the University Libraries will only consider requests for films that will be used for classroom and other instructional purposes.

Check YouTube for Documentaries
Before giving up on finding a video, check to see if the video is freely available on YouTube. Several  faculty video requests have been fulfilled in the past by YouTube. Captions in YouTube are of relatively poor quality so issues of accessibility should be considered when using YouTube videos. Make sure the video is available through a legitimate source. Other potential free sources are Tubi and Dailymotion. Tubi includes free, premium, on demand video streaming with ads, and Dailymotion is a French video-sharing platform much like YouTube.

Check Pay-Per-View Services for Feature Films
In cases where access to streaming video is desired and no copy is available though other sources, it may be possible to access a video through a commercial streaming video Pay-Per-View services such as Amazon Prime, Hulu, iTunes, etc. Faculty and students can often rent or purchase films through one of these services for a low cost. Faculty sometimes require that students pay for a film in this manner as they would a textbook. There are a number of websites that identify streaming options for videos and provide price comparisons, including:  Justwatch  and Reelgood.

Check Google
Another option for finding a video not held by the University Libraries is to simply search Google and check the results list for references to a website or vendor that might provide access to the video. Again, contact your Subject Librarian if you are unable to find a freely available copy of the video.