Video NewBriefs, September 1, 2010
By Raya Kuzyk Sep 1, 2010Alexander Street Press, whose publishing partners include PBS, the BBC, and the History Channel, will launch three new annotated streaming video collections for the library and education markets this year: World History in Video: English-Language Documentaries, Counseling and Therapy in Video: Volume 2, and Education in Video. The collections, each to include between 1000 and 5000 video titles, will add to Alexander Street's existing suite of streaming resources in subject areas ranging from U.S. history and anthropology to dance, opera, and theater. A single interface for cross-searching all of Alexander Street's video products is planned for 2011. More at alexanderstreet.com.
The Library of Congress recently announced six exceptions to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act allowing users to bypass technology restricting access to certain film clips and ebooks. With regard to the former, now faculty in any discipline (vs. strictly faculty teaching film or media studies) as well as higher-ed film and media students can bypass copy protection on DVDs in order to use film clips for educational purposes, or for the purposes of criticism or commentary. More at www.libraryjournal.com.
Americans borrow more DVDs from libraries (some 2.1 million per day) than from Netflix, which ships an average of slightly more than two million rentals daily—this, according to results from the 2010 Online Computer Library Center (OCLC) survey "How Libraries Stack Up," released earlier this year. (Redbox and Blockbuster daily rental figures come in at 1.4 million and 1.2 million, respectively.) That's no accident. As per the Institute of Museum and Library Services, U.S. public libraries have doubled their movie collections between 1999 and 2008, from 73.5 to 166.7 video materials per 1000 people. Download the complete OCLC report at bit.ly/dghO4f.
Sky Merchants has acquired exclusive North American distribution rights to select Octapixx Worldwide titles to libraries, educators, regional retailers, and various education-oriented subdistributors. The broadcast and feature-length titles will be available for purchase individually or as a package and will be released on a quarterly basis under the rubric "Best Documentaries from Around the World." More at www.sky-merchants.com and www.octapixx.com.
