Video Content: Video databases
Video Databases
The best way to search for streaming video licensed by Miami is through the Miami library catalog (see below for instructions on searching for video with the Miami catalog). This page provides some more specific information about the databases that are included in the Miami library catalog, and also provide links to some video databases that are free and therefore accessible outside of the Miami Catalog.
Finding Video Content in the Miami Library Catalog
The Miami library catalog is the best place to start when searching for video at Miami. The catalog provides information about all videos currently accessible through the Miami Libraries, including both streaming video and video on physical media, such as DVDs. While Miami holds video in many formats and has access to many video databases, all videos purchased and currently available through the Miami Libraries can be found using the Miami library catalog. The Miami library catalog does not search free video, and does not provide search results from commercial website such as Youtube or Amazon.
The Miami University library catalog
Some videos leased by Miami have expiration dates. See the expandable sections below for information about searching for videos in the catalog, and checking for expiration dates on streaming video content.
Searches made from the Library's homepage, with the default "Books and More" tab selected will produce search results that include video content, such as film available on DVDs or video streams. Once you have searched using the "Books and More" tab, you can narrow your search results to video only by expanding the "Material Type" tab to the left of the screen, and checking the box for "Videos" (see below).
Because some video content is leased for fixed lengths of time (for example, videos leased from Kanopy are typically leased for one year), you may wish to use the library catalog to see whether a particular video has an expiration date. Some videos have been licensed to Miami in perpetuity and have no expiration date.
In the above example, you can see that the item's Notes field indicates that this video will expire on November 30, 2019. If the item record for a video does not have an expiration date in the notes field, this is likely because Miami had purchased this video permanently, or because Miami pays to renew this resource on a continuing basis.
Library Provided Streaming Video
- Kanopy This link opens in a new windowA streaming video platform with films from a variety of collections and producers, including the California Newsreel, Green Planet, PBS, BBC Active, and Stanford Executive Briefings collections. Search titles available for request and for titles currently licensed by the Libraries. Check the library catalog for licensed films' expiration dates.
- American History in VideoAmerican History in Video provides the largest and richest collection of video available online for the study of American history, with 2,000 hours and more than 5,000 titles on completion.
- Counseling and Therapy in VideoCounseling and Therapy in Video provides the largest and richest online collection of video available for the study of social work, psychotherapy, psychology, and psychiatric counseling.
- Education in VideoEducation in Video provides a large and rich online collection of video available for the study of teaching methods and education theory. Upon completion, the collection will contain more than 1,000 video titles totaling 750 hours of teaching demonstrations, lectures, documentaries, and primary-source footage of students and teachers in actual classrooms.
- Foreign Language VideosForeign language video clips in which native speakers elaborate on a wide variety of topics about their culture, family, and daily life.
- Theatre in VideoContains performances of the world's leading plays and film documentaries on the subject of theater in streaming video.
- Anatomy Videos (MedlinePlus)Topics covered by the videos include normal human anatomy and physiology (blinking, blood pressure), pathophysiology of diseases (glaucoma, Parkinson's disease), and clinical interventions (liposuction heart bypass surgery).
- Digital Video CollectionCurrently contains 2,000+ videos which cover a wide variety of subjects. This collection includes streaming videos from Films for the Humanities and Sciences and Ambrose video producers with additional producers potentially added in the near future.
More Online Videos
- The Archaeology ChannelThe Archaeology Channel provides free access to a large collection of streaming media covering archaeology worldwide. Among the contents are more than 100 topical videos from both nonprofit and commercial sources and several video interviews.
- ARKiveARKive is a freely accessible online repository of digital images, video, and sound clips of animal and plant species from around the globe.
- C-SPAN Video LibraryThe C-SPAN Archives records, indexes, and archives all C-SPAN programming for historical, educational, research, and archival uses.
- Entrepreneurship CornerEntrepreneurship Corner is a wonderful free collection of more than 1,600 videos and podcasts related to entrepreneurship, innovation, product development, and other business topics, including lectures from thought leaders in the field.
- Folkstreams.net: The Best of American Folklore Films.Folkstreams provides streaming video access to a significant and growing collection of documentary films about folk culture in the US. At the time of this review, 103 films were included, ranging from 1964 to the present.
- Lang Media: Resources for World Languages.Lang Media's mission is to provide "materials in languages less-commonly offered by colleges and universities in the United States" and "authentic materials depicting differences in regional dialects and language-usage among speakers of the most commonly taught languages worldwide."
- National Film Board of CanadaThe Web site of the National Film Board of Canada (NFB), Canada's public film producer and distributor, recently introduced a free online screening room with "over 700 full-length films, trailers and clips."
- Nature Online Video Streaming ArchiveThe Nature Online Video Streaming Archive is a treasure trove of well-made, informative, and educational videos that feature summaries of research as detailed by the scientists who conducted the work.
- The Periodic Table of Videos.From hydrogen to ununoctium, each element has its own short video, all recorded and assembled for the site by science journalist Brady Haran.
- Prelinger ArchivesPrelinger Archives was founded in 1983 by Rick Prelinger in New York City. Over the next twenty years, it grew into a collection of over 60,000 "ephemeral" (advertising, educational, industrial, and amateur) films. In 2002, the film collection was acquired by the Library of Congress, Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Recorded Sound Division.
- Snag FilmsSnagFilms.com is a website where you can watch full-length documentary films for free, but it's also a platform that lets you “snag” a film and put it anywhere on the web.