Libraries Moving to Mediated Service Model for Kanopy Streaming Videos

kanopy home screen
Kanopy, the University of Cincinnati Libraries’ on-demand streaming video service available at http://uc.kanopystreaming.com, is a content-rich, much-used resource. However, the Libraries’ materials budget cannot sustain the current level of spending for Kanopy. It is important to note that films obtained in Kanopy are not owned, but leased for one year at $135 per lease. When the lease has expired, the film can then be triggered for another one-year lease.

In the past, Kanopy films were automatically leased after 30 seconds of viewing by any user with access to the library, including walk-in visitors. In an effort to eliminate purchases triggered by casual users and to focus on course-related use of the rich academic material included in Kanopy, UC Libraries is moving to a mediated leasing model beginning the 2019 fall semester.

University of Cincinnati students, faculty, and staff will continue to have immediate access to films currently leased by UC (approximately 645 titles as of June 2019) until they expire. People will still be able to search in Kanopy for films the Libraries does not already lease, however, when attempting to access such a film, users will have the option to select the “request” button next to the film, fill out the form, and the Libraries will work to fulfill the request, typically obtaining a new lease within one business day.

For additional streaming video sources, or for further information on the mediation of Kanopy films, please visit the Libraries’ Kanopy LibGuide at https://guides.libraries.uc.edu/Kanopy/FAQ.

For more information regarding Kanopy’s streaming service please read the following article from the May 2019 issue of Film Quarterly at https://filmquarterly.org/2019/05/03/kanopy-not-just-like-netflix-and-not-free/.

Announcing the Redesigned UC Libraries Website

redesigned libraries homepage

Check out the redesigned Libraries website scheduled to launch Thursday, Aug. 15.

Some of the new features and upgrades of the UC Libraries website redesign include:

  • updated look and feel and an uncluttered homepage
  • refreshed, user-centric content under the categories of: “Find, Request, Borrow,” “Special Collections,” “Research and Teaching Support,” “Spaces and Technology,” “About” and “My Accounts”
  • tabbed search box located prominently front and center at the top of the homepage, allowing users to search for articles, books, journals and databases much more quickly and easily
  • ability to search Research Guides by subject via the homepage
  • call-outs for Special Collections, Digital Technologies & Innovation and Library as Place
  • library news and links to information such as the Strategic Plan, Progress Report, Staff Directory and more.

Included in the redesign are all college and departmental (C&D) library web pages from the Archives to Rare Books Library to the Henry R. Winkler Center for the History of the Health Professions, as well as the Clermont College Library and UC Blue Ash College Library web pages.

While the starting web address of the site remains the same – www.libraries.uc.edu, the navigation and content within the site has changed, so update any links or bookmarks you may have to the site. And while great care was taken to be accurate, if broken links or missing content are discovered, contact Team Dynamix.