by Rita Baladad
Quick Summary
As with ebooks, there are many options for obtaining (subscribing to/licensing) streaming video: access to every title; subject collections; single titles; pay-per-view; subscription; purchase; vendor-hosted; institution-hosted.
As with ebooks, there are many options for obtaining (subscribing to/licensing) streaming video: access to every title; subject collections; single titles; pay-per-view; subscription; purchase; vendor-hosted; institution-hosted. Also similar to ebooks are the attendant can-of-worms issues: pricing models; licenses; features; and implementation. Iowa State University libraries has identified seven licensing types for streaming video. The Council of Chief Librarians Electronic Access & Resources Committee compared streaming video options for community colleges. The University of Minnesota Libraries “Digital Video Collections Guide” lists licensed streaming video collections (access to collections are restricted as they are subscriptions) and open video collections. Somewhat newer additional options are streaming video options scoped for public libraries (Hoopla, Alexander Street Press) and K12s (Films on Demand).
At ALA Annual and other conferences, I’ve chatted with streaming video vendor such as Hoopla, Kanopy, NBC Learn, Docuseek. Some vendors don’t work with consortia; some have such complicated pricing models and/or offerings that it’s best that libraries work directly with the vendors; and some just don’t quite offer anything that libraries need or the platform/pricing/licensing presents barriers to subscription.
Minitex currently works with the following streaming video vendors:
Alexander Street Press: The most popular subscriptions are subject-based: American History in Video; Dance in Video; Theater in Video; Counseling and Therapy in Video. Somewhat recently, Alexander Street Press began offering an access-to-every title option aptly called VAST: Academic Video Online. Streaming video is available via subscription or purchase/DDA; preset collections or title-by title. Our rep is (MN) Marian Walberg and (SD, ND) Suzanne Barnes.
Ambrose Video: Ambrose offers individual titles or preset collections with unlimited users in yearly subscriptions and purchase models. Minitex works with Lyrasis, another library consortia, to obtain these eresources; consequently, not all collections/pricing models may be available. Our rep is Ann Jennings.
Films Media Group: Films Media Group offers preset subject collections; title-by-title; and DDA/PDA. Most collections are academic content but they started offering popular videos in 2017 with the Feature Films for Education Collection. The Curriculum Video Collection is Film Media Group’s latest offering; this collection’s target audience is 9-12. Our reps are (MN) Hayley Bloch and (SD, ND) Melinda Gallo.
Swank Motion Pictures: Swank offers title-by-title subscriptions to popular videos as well as pre-selected collections. K12s have found the pricing to be reasonable. Our reps are Stacie Taylor and John Hill.
Should you have questions about the vendor offerings or pricing models, it’s usually best to contact the vendor reps directly. And, as always, if you have questions or comments (and, even more welcomed: suggestions or advice), feel free to contact me.
