The Film & Video Collection (located on the Lower Level of Morris Library) has long been the place to go for information on DVD and VHS titles to use in support of course instruction. Did you know that Film & Video also provides access to collections of streaming resources as well?
The largest of these is Academic Video Online, or AVON for short. It is an omnibus collection of over 60,000 videos made up of 30+ smaller collections in a wide variety of subjects. These collections include titles that will be of interest across disciplines as varied as business education, race and gender studies, dance, psychology, and cinema studies (among others). You can find individual AVON titles using DELCAT Discovery. [Tip: if you are searching for videos in DELCAT, use the format limiters on the left-hand side of the search screen.]
Many also find it useful to browse streaming media databases directly to benefit from the teaching tools they offer. AVON is one of several Alexander Street Press (ASP) databases to which the Library subscribes. ASP databases allow users to create playlists of videos within the database, or clips from videos, which can be shared with others. Playlists can be annotated, edited, copied, shared, and incorporated into course management systems, such as Sakai. ASP provides how-to videos to help instructors learn how to quickly and easily make use of these tools.
Searching the AVON database directly also allows you to explore a curated collection of learning segments between 1 and 10 minutes in length for times when you are looking for a short clip to illustrate a concept in class.
Due to limitations with streaming images on a large screen and potential bandwidth issues, it is recommended that instructors preview materials in their classroom environment before planning to utilize them during instruction. The Library has many of the titles represented in these streaming collections in DVD format, which often provides the best reliability when DVD players are available. Users accessing AVON (and other streaming resources) from off-campus will be required to log in with their UD net id and passwords.
For information about other streaming media resources, visit the Library’s Media LibGuide (http://guides.lib.udel.edu/media). This guide showcases all streaming media databases to which the Library subscribes, which together contain over 70,000 titles that can be accessed at a distance and incorporated into your syllabi. It also contains recommendations for freely-available streaming media resources.
If you have any questions about streaming media or other Film & Video Collection resources and services, please contact Film & Video Librarian Meghann Matwichuk at mtwchk@udel.edu .
