Acquiring and Managing Streaming Film Services: e-Forum Summary Theresa Arndt and Ronalee Ciocco
On July 12 and 13, 2016, the ALCTS e-Forum "Acquiring and Managing Streaming Film Services" discussed various issues regarding the complexities of offering films in streaming format. Participants discussed many challenges in finding desired content for institutional streaming. Increasingly films are streamed only on services for individuals (NetFlix, Amazon, iTunes, etc.), and sometimes are not available to libraries in any format. Acquiring streamed contemporary foreign films is particularly difficult. Aggregators offer limited content, and working with multiple vendors can result in duplicate acquisitions. User demand and withdrawal of IT support for "obsolete" VHS and DVD equipment is putting pressure on libraries to shift to streaming. But moving entirely away from DVD raises concerns about service to users who lack streaming capability (e.g, some public library patrons) and long-term access and preservation, since library access is often by subscription or term-limited license. Participants mentioned various strategies for meeting the challenges: focus on providing content not readily available on services such as NetFlix, require students in film-intensive courses to have individual streaming accounts as they would a textbook, provide a library study lounge where students can view streamed content, negotiate an institutional license with a telecom provider to allow faculty to record TV shows for classroom and library viewing, encourage producers to make their films available through aggregators (e.g., Kanopy), and advocate for options that ensure educational access and long-term preservation. It was also proposed that librarians use the collective power of associations and consortia to address film provision and preservation concerns. Participants discussed considerations in working with vendors which are specific to streaming: How often are films titles removed from an aggregator platform? Is closed captioning in appropriate languages provided? Are quality MARC records available? What special features are available (transcripts, clipping tools, playlists)? Is the platform compatible with various operating systems, browsers and mobile devices? Does the vendor respect patron privacy? Is the pricing model practical and affordable? Is vendor technical support good? Licensing issues mentioned were: availability of public performance rights, purchase vs. term license, vendor-hosting vs. local hosting, timing of payment vs. start-of-license (to accommodate fiscal constraints), and concern about vague licenses which fail to address educational use. One library mentioned success in negotiating changes to licenses to meet specific institutional requirements. Budgeting is a challenge as both patron demand and cost increase, but budgets remain flat or decline. Participants described shifting funds from book or e-resources funds to cope. Concern about long-term reliability of streaming access leads some to purchase duplicate content on DVD. One hundred to two hundred dollars was mentioned as the typical cost for a one-year streaming license, although prices encountered ranged from free to $2,000 for a single streaming license. Participants spoke highly of Kanopy's demand-driven acquisitions (DDA) model, although some find DDA's unpredictability challenges budget management. The complexity of managing streaming services was apparent in libraries' descriptions of the staff involved: e-resources librarian, acquisitions staff, collections manager, subject liaisons/selectors, cataloging/metadata librarian, scholarly communication librarian, access services staff. Tasks include selection of titles, license negotiation, decision about temporary or perpetual purchase, acquisitions, loading of MARC records, navigating copyright concerns, and technical support. Staff involved from outside the library come from IT, media services, web services, and legal offices. When films cannot be acquired by the library in streaming format, many consider local digitization. Participants mentioned relying on fair use and digitizing if: the library owns a legal DVD copy, the film is listed on the syllabus or the professor documents course requirement, no streaming license can be acquired by the library from a vendor after a reasonable search, and the streamed version is made available via a course management system only to enrolled students and only for the duration of the course. Use of the TEACH Act was also mentioned. One participant mentioned digitizing VHS tapes under copyright section 108 if another new copy (digital or analog) is not available for purchase after a reasonable search, with access to the digitized copy restricted. Seeking advice from an attorney on copyright and license issues was mentioned by two libraries. Participants shared various strategies to market and facilitate discovery of streamed content: create a LibGuide, develop a film request form, include links in your email signature, have liaison librarians spread the word, add MARC records to the catalog and discovery service, advertise in orientation materials, put posters throughout campus, created a format-neutral catalog "film search" box, market via library newsletter and website. Finally a few assessment strategies were mentioned: analyze usage data, analyze DDA expenditures, and survey patrons on their use of films, viewing habits, and preferences. Specific vendors mentioned: . Kanopy ( <https://www.kanopystreaming.com/about-us/platform> https://www.kanopystreaming.com/about-us/platform) offers a demand-driven acquisitions model for streaming films. . Films on Demand: <http://www.films.com/ecStreamingLanding.aspx> http://www.films.com/ecStreamingLanding.aspx offers content and hosting services. . Alexander Street Press (ProQuest): <http://alexanderstreet.com/page/streaming-video> http://alexanderstreet.com/page/streaming-video . Swank: <http://www.swank.com/> http://www.swank.com/ emphasis on feature film licensing. . Digitialia Film Library <http://www.digitaliafilmlibrary.com/> http://www.digitaliafilmlibrary.com/ offers some films in Spanish. . Ambrose Video <http://www.ambrosevideo.com/> http://www.ambrosevideo.com/ offers Shakespeare plays collection. . Documentary.net <https://documentary.net/> https://documentary.net/ free documentaries (see the FAQ:"is it legal"). . Facing History <https://www.facinghistory.org/> https://www.facinghistory.org/ . Insight Media <https://www.insight-media.com/> https://www.insight-media.com/ . Other content vendors mentioned: CyberCinema, JoVE, Psycotherapy.net, AVON, Docuseek2, NBC Learn, New Day Films, Newsday. . Ensemble, Kaltura, and MediaSite were mentioned as local streaming systems. . Wistia <https://wistia.com/> https://wistia.com/ is a remote hosting service for locally produced content. Examples of library guides, forms, policies, etc.: . Patron video recommendation form: <http://library.csun.edu/Services/VideoRecommendation> http://library.csun.edu/Services/VideoRecommendation . Online Video Reserve policy and request form: <http://www.gettysburg.edu/library/services/faculty/online-video-reserves.do t#7> http://www.gettysburg.edu/library/services/faculty/online-video-reserves.dot #7 . Media/Streaming Reserves Info: <http://guides.library.manoa.hawaii.edu/sinclair/coursereserves/mediastreami ngreserves> http://guides.library.manoa.hawaii.edu/sinclair/coursereserves/mediastreamin greserves . Films online LibGuide: <http://libguides.gettysburg.edu/filmsonline> http://libguides.gettysburg.edu/filmsonline . Streaming video LibGuide: <http://libraryguides.msmc.edu/stream> http://libraryguides.msmc.edu/stream . Format neutral catalog film search box: <http://www.dickinson.edu/library> http://www.dickinson.edu/library Additional information sources: . Academic Library Streaming Video Revisited; Presentation made at ALA Annual Conference, Sunday, June 26, 2016, reporting on the 2015 survey by farrelly and Sardi <https://repository.asu.edu/collections/175> https://repository.asu.edu/collections/175 . Kenneth D. Crews book "Copyright Law for Librarians and Educators" 3rd ed. ALA. 2012, has helpful appendices and checklists, including one for the TEACH Act. . Coursera course on Copyright and Media <https://www.coursera.org/learn/copyright-for-multimedia> https://www.coursera.org/learn/copyright-for-multimedia ### Theresa Arndt Associate Director for Library Resources & Administration Waidner-Spahr Library Dickinson College Carlisle, PA <mailto:[email protected]> [email protected] Ronalee Ciocco Director of User Services Musselman Library Gettysburg College Gettysburg, PA <mailto:[email protected]> [email protected] *** To unsubscribe from the ALCTS e-Forum, visit http://lists.ala.org/sympa/info/alcts-eforum. *** -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "[email protected]" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected].
