Video for Classroom Use
The information below is for streaming video for use in the classroom only. If you wish to show a film to a student group on campus as a co- or extra-curricular events, please consult Non-Classroom Use of Streaming Video on Campus.
The Ames Library's streaming video collections can be searched via , by entering your keywords into the search box and limiting by "Format" to "Videos" on the left-hand side of the page. The results list will include licensed videos from Kanopy and Swank, videos from our subscriptions, and DVD's owned by the Ames Library. Watch our video on "" for more information.
Information about finding and watching streaming videos from Kanopy and Swank is below.
Streaming Videos by Request
: Streaming video database that offers a broad selection of over 25,000 films and documentaries, featuring such producers as Media Education Foundation, Criterion Collection, PBS, California Newsreel, HBO, Kino Lorber, and more.
- To request access to a film
- To request a film for your course, please visit and search for your film.
- If we already own a license, you will be able to play the film immediately on the Kanopy site.
- If we do not already own a license, you will see an option to "request" the film. Fill out the request form, including the relevant course number, and we will approve your request. You will receive an email once the request has been approved.
- Please note that the Ames Library Catalog only includes streaming videos we have licensed. The site is the best place to search the entire Kanopy collection.
- Other links
- has instructions on how to , and online (e.g., into Canvas).
- Please consult Kanopy's list of before viewing films.
- A free is required to create and share playlists.
Swank Digital Campus provides colleges and universities with the largest academic streaming collection of its kind. With over 25,000 films, documentaries and TV shows, Swank Digital Campus simplifies film distribution by providing faculty and students a legal streaming resource both on and off campus.
- To request a film for your course, please visit the site and click Login/Register to set up an account.
- Choose "Instructor" then "Create an Account or Log In" to set up an instructor account.
- From off-campus, choose "Sign in Another Way," then create your account.
- Login and search for the film you need, then click on the "request" button and fill out the form. ()
- A library staff member will approve your request and you will receive the link to the film via email.
- All videos licensed through Swank can be found in the Ames Library Catalog.
- Please note that Google Chrome or Firefox are for viewing Swank films. Safari is not supported.
- Please contact Stephanie Davis-Kahl with any questions, or see "" for help.
: provides streaming access to essential independent, social-issue and environmental films from renowned leaders in documentary film distribution.
- To request a film, contact eresources@iwu.edu. Please include the title of the film and the relevant course number. A library staff member will follow up with you via email.
- To see a list of films we have licensed, please click on .
Streaming Video Collections
- Delivers more than 66,000 titles spanning the widest range of subject areas including anthropology, business, counseling, film, health, history, music, and more. for viewing films; learn more about how to integrate with AVON videos.
(cross search all collections) - these streaming collections include subject specific content developed by the BBC, Creative Arts Television, ArtHaus Musik, Pennebaker, Hegedus Films, Insight Media, and many more. For more information about how to create film clips, please watch this . You can also integrate in Alexander Street Press videos.
- Hundreds of full-length feature films for educational instructional purposes. Brought to you in partnership with Global Eagle, this outstanding collection focuses on both current and hard-to-find titles, including dramas, literary adaptations, blockbusters, classics, science fiction, environmental titles, foreign films, social issues, animation studies, Academy Award winners, and more.
- Provides access to streaming documentatries of over 900 titles in the humanities and social sciences (1978-present).
- Check our Film Resources Research Guide for a listing of freely available streaming videos.
- This collection of more than 1,200 streaming videos provides an exceptional range of content with the most valuable video documentaries and series from PBS. From science to history, art to Shakespeare, diversity to business & economics, and more, the PBS Video Collection: Fourth Edition provides access to one of television鈥檚 most trusted networks.
- This collection has a wide range of streaming video, written ethnographies, field notes, seminal texts, memoirs, and contemporary studies, covering human behavior the world over.
- Teaching Channel is a thriving online community where teachers can watch, share, and learn diverse techniques to help every student grow.
- Contain five hundred hours of dance productions and documentaries by the most influential performers and companies of the 20th century. Selections cover ballet, tap, jazz, contemporary, experimental, and improvisational dance, as well as forerunners of the forms and the pioneers of modern concert dance.
- If prompted to Sign In, please enter your IWU email address. Digital Theatre+ is the world鈥檚 leading educational platform for the performing arts, providing access to performances and educational materials. "We want the range of content to reflect the diversity and excitement of contemporary theatre and performance around the world and to serve the needs of all our audiences."
- Includes interviews with leading performers and practitioners and as well as filmed performances, documentaries, rehearsal footage, and training videos from Butoh to Bollywood, Bunraku to Topeng.
- The world's leading classical music channel. More than 100 live events are broadcast each year, in partnership with the world's most prestigious venues, opera houses, festivals and competitions: Berliner Philharmoniker, London Symphony Orchestra, Mariinsky Theatre Symphony Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Carnegie Hall, Bolshoi Theater, Op茅ra national de Paris, NCPA, Glyndebourne Festival, Lucerne Festival, Verbier Festival, Salzburg Festival, International Tchaikovsky Competition, International Chopin Piano Competition, Pl谩cido Domingo's Operalia Competition.
- Combines audio and video that spans all time periods, hundreds of thousands of seminal artists, composers, choreographers, and ensembles to provide an unparalleled learning environment for the teaching of music.
- This collection contains performances of all forms of classical music, including major orchestral performances by leading orchestras, chamber music, oratorio, & solo performances, along with masterclasses & interviews with master teachers from around the world.
- Provides demonstrations and step-by-step instructions for performing physical assessments of patients.
- This collection of videos was created specifically for the education and training of nurses, nursing assistants, and other healthcare workers. All of the videos in the collection have been created with the guidance of the Medcom-Trainex advisory board, and are regularly reviewed for accuracy, currency, and compliance with US Federal regulations from agencies such as OSHA and CMS.
Netflix has provided access to selected documentaries for educational use in two ways:
- On their for educational use ()
- On the ; .
Occasionally faculty will request access to films, documentaries, and original series that are only available as streamed content in Netflix, Amazon, or other subscription services. Unfortunately, these streaming video services generally do not provide a legal way for libraries to acquire and re-distribute their proprietary content, even for classroom use (exception above). Faculty should contact their library liaison to find alternative format or content.
These programs are designed for instructional purposes only and not intended for recreational or home use.