Faculty and Staff Information: How to get Streaming Video

The library has access to the Films on Demand - Social Sciences & Humanities streaming video collection. If a film is not available in Films on Demand, you can request a film.  Library staff will then check to see if the library is able to license the film. 

We license most films through two sources, Swank and Kanopy.  Sometimes we can get an individual license through Alexander Street. Sometimes we can license a title which is not included in the larger package through Films on Demand.  If a title is available, we generally license content for six months or a year, depending on the need expressed by faculty. 

When you have streaming content that you need for a specific semester, it is good practice to check with Kevin Johnson or someone in the library to be sure that we will have it for the time period that you need.  Kanopy and Swank titles are usually available for one year from the date of order, so if a title was obtained on October 10, 2024, it would be available until October 9, 2025. We can generally obtain Kanopy titles in 2 working days and Swank titles in 10 working days.

The cost of a streaming title is $210-$350 per year depending on the service.  Currently, with the exception of the Films on Demand package, we only offer streaming films individually at the request of faculty due to the costs.  Demand driven options, in which you add all titles to your catalog and pay for what gets used, can quickly balloon to take over a majority of the total library budget.  If you know a donor who would like to support this option annually, we would love to talk with them!

Many streaming services that are available to individuals do not make their content available to libraries. For instance, we cannot license Amazon originals and Netflix originals. 

If you are teaching a class that is film focused, you might treat a streaming service (Netflix or Hulu, for instance) in the same way that you would treat a textbook and ask students to acquire a service for a month or two.  If you do this, please remind them to drop the service so that they do not incur ongoing charges.

The library does have DVDs in its collection and we can put DVDs on reserve for a class.  The library has DVD drives that students, faculty & staff can check out from the main desk so that they can watch films on their computers or TVs.  We also have TVs with DVD players attached for use in the library. 

Checking the catalog is the most up-to-date way to see what streaming video titles we have.  You can also check this list for a hopefully current list of individually licensed films available from the library.

From the main library page -

Enter your search (for this demo it will be Othello)

Limit to eVideo in the left column.  If you don't see eVideo as an option, click on "show more."  If you still don't see it, then there is no eVideo format for your title.

Click on the "View now" button.

When off campus, you will be prompted to type in your transy id and password.  Once you do this, you will be taken to the video you chose.

A second way to find streaming video is to browse or search directly from their databases. From the main library page, click on "Databases A-Z."

Then click on the drop down menu titled "All Database Types."  Choose "Audio and/or visual."

Browse the databases of streaming video and audio available.  Films on Demand may be the database that you are most familiar with.