In 1926, Ernest Crandall posited in the Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, “Has the motion picture a place in education? … We have yet far to travel in that direction.” Fast-forward 90 years, and it could be said that we have come far but yet still have far to go.
One of the priorities of Pennsylvania State University’s 2016-2020 Strategic Plan is “Driving Digital Innovation” with the objective to “make online education and personalized learning central to our 21st-century land-grant mission.” Coinciding with this dual focus on formal education (online classroom) and personalized learning (ex-curriculum), we have seen significant demand growth for streaming film with greater requests from faculty and patrons for teaching and research. In light of these factors, video-on-demand has emerged as a key focus of the library in planning for the next four years and beyond.
This development poses great opportunities - for integrating video further into the library and heightening learning outcomes – but also unique challenges, including:
• How do we create a model for best identifying content for acquisition? • How do we best acquire video and enable discovery? • How do we navigate licensing and rights in a complex industry? • How do we incorporate film into the traditional educational framework? • How do we deliver film where and how users need it with constantly changing technologies? • How do we provide a personalized learning experience in the context of film? • How do we address other challenges such as stricter accessibility standards? • How do we measure our effectiveness?
This session brings together two librarians heavily involved in designing and managing Penn State’s internal streaming program and an industry professional to discuss these questions and more, delving holistically and wholeheartedly into the areas most pertinent to the present and future of film in libraries.
Session co-authored by Matthew J. Wayman, Acting Acquisitions Librarian, Penn State University, and Head Librarian, Ciletti Memorial Library, Penn State Schuylkill, who was unable to attend the conference.
