Streaming Media

The following questions are answered on this page:

• How can I create clips of films that have been licensed by UCI Libraries?

• Why do I get a message on Alexander Street saying I can only access a preview of the video when I know we have access to the entire film?

• Are there methods to better engage students with streaming video?

• Can I play an entire film over Zoom during a class?

• Can UCI Libraries convert physical media to a streaming file for my class?

• There's a film on Netflix that I want my students to watch for class. Can UCI Libraries provide access to this?

How can I create clips of films that have been licensed by UCI Libraries?

Many of our streaming media platforms allow faculty to create clips that they can share with others. This can be an effective way to get students to focus in on a specific part of a film.

**To create clips in any of the platforms provided by UCI Libraries, you will need to register for/create a personal account on that specific platform.**

Kanopy

1. Log in to your Kanopy account.
2. Go to the "Edit Clip" page for a film in a custom playlist (My Lists > Custom Playlists > Edit > Edit Clip).
3. Optionally, edit your clip title and add notes for your clip.
4. Use one of these methods to create your clip:
   • Press Play on the film at the bottom of the page. Drag the scrubbers (two gray rectangles on the film's timeline) to the start (left scrubber) and end (right scrubber) points for the clip.
   • Type timestamps for your clip in the "Start time" and "End time" fields.
5. Click Save Changes to save your clip.

Full Information from Kanopy on this page.

Alexander Street

1. Log in to your Alexander Street account.
2. On your chosen video, click the Clips menu, and then the Create a new clip button.
3. You will see the clip menu open. Grab the bullet points on either end of the video timeline, and move them to your desired clip section and length. Or, alternatively, you can enter in the Start and Finish times manually.
4. Enter your clip's Title and a description. 
5. Be sure to choose your Visibility. If you wish to Share the clip later, the clip cannot be Only visible to you.
6. Select Save changes
7. Once your changes are saved, your clip will appear in the Clips list
8. If you wish to Share, Edit, or Delete your clip, click the three vertical dots and make your selection

Full information from Alexander Street on this page.

Docuseek

Clips are created via the movie's title page. The Clips tab appears if you are logged in. Make a Clip button appears on the Clips tab. Click the Make a Clip button to launch the Clipmaker page.

Clips must have a start and stop time code. The stop time code must come after the start time code. There are two ways to specify the start and end time code:

• Play the film, and click the Start Clip or Stop Clip button. The button will capture the current time code and place it into the appropriate field.

• Enter the time code directly into the Start or Stop Clip field. Time codes are entered as hh:mm:ss, where hh represents the hours, mm represents the minutes, and ss represents seconds. If you omit the colons, Docuseek2 will interpret the entries as seconds.

You must give your clip a name and a description. The name and the description will appear in the list of clips.

Full information, including a video tutorial, from Docuseek is on this page.

Why do I get a message on Alexander Street saying I can only access a preview of the video when I know we have access to the entire film?

Alexander Street's user authentication partially relies on cookies that your internet browser stores as part of the standard browsing process. Sometimes, if you attempt to access Alexander Street and your VPN isn't working properly then you will get a cookie "saying" that you don't have access. This cookie will still be there even if you turn your VPN on.

To fix this, clear the cookies in your browser's cache; this is simple to do, and if you aren't sure how, a simple Google search for "clear cookies and [insert name of browser]" should help you move forward.

Are there methods to better engage students with streaming video?

Yes! AVON (an Alexander Street resource) now has a new video interaction functionality that helps connect streaming videos on their platform to the classroom. It allows faculty to embed pedagogical tools like discussion prompts, multiple choice and free form questions, and polling throughout videos. Want to see this in action? Check it out here. Find more information here.

Can I play an entire film over Zoom during a class?

No. The Zoom terms of service ban streaming institutionally licensed films using a Zoom room.

UCI Libraries owns a physical copy of a film, but doesn't have it streaming. Can UCI Libraries convert this physical media to a streaming file for my class?

Due to copyright, licensing, and other issues, the Libraries are unable to convert media--either owned by the Libraries or by individual faculty--such as VHS tapes and DVDs into streaming format.

There's a film on Netflix that I want my students to watch for class. Can UCI Libraries provide access to this?

Current mainstream/commercial films are usually offered for sale or rent through personal accounts from streaming vendors like Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, Apple, etc. The library cannot buy or rent for the UCI community from these vendors. They do not allow libraries to license any of their content. These commercial sites were designed for personal accounts; they do not grant rights for institutional or educational use. When you sign up for an account with one of these vendors, the license you agree to, which supersedes copyright and educational fair use, is for personal viewing only. The only legal option for films from Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, Apple, etc. is to have students rent the films themselves, similar to buying a textbook. The website "Just Watch" is a good place to discover which commercial vendor(s) might be offering streaming access to this type of media. Additionally, "Telescope Film" is a great website to discover international films which often link back to commercial vendors for streaming access.

While UCI Libraries cannot license from these vendors, there are library-specific streaming media vendors that we regularly work with that might provide access. If you would like us to look into specific titles you need for pedagogical purposes during the upcoming year, please reach out to your Subject Librarian with information about the film, class, and time frame when it's needed, and we will investigate to see if we're able to locally license it.