Database of the Week

 

Films on Demand Streaming Media Collection

(Last database in our long list)

This database plays host to over 3,000 full length instruction videos covering a wide variety of fields such as “Area Studies”, “Engineering”, “Guidance and Counseling”, “Nursing”, “ Archival Films and Newsreels”, “World Cinema”, and “World Languages”.

You can search this database by keywords within film segments, titles, or transcripts.  If this doesn’t work try the advanced search.  This allows you to add more information to the search and provides optional advanced filters such as “Show only closed-captioned programs”.  Another way to search for material is to browse by subject.  Click on the heading “Collections” and you’ll bring up a list of 31 broad subject areas.  Selecting one of these provides you with citations for all the titles in that collection as well as a list of ways to narrow down your search.  These may include a more specific breakdown of subjects within the category, types of films, producers, and copyright dates.   By continuing to click on the sub categories listed you can drill down to a much more specific topic.

Using the latter method I found several interesting films.   For instance, I started in the “Sociology Collection” collection (with 3,307 titles), opened the drop-down menu under “Social Institutions”, and narrowed that to “Economy and Work” which held 180 titles.   My favorite of these was “The Moneyless Man: Mark Boyle”.  It’s the fascinating story of a man who claimed he felt “healthier and happier at the end of a year living without money.”

Beginning  my second  search with  the 1,051 titles in the “Technical and Trade Education Collection” I narrowed them down until I reached  the 33 titles in the “Haircutting and Styling” category.  One of these films demonstrated how to cut and thin children’s hair so clearly that I might even try it myself!

Some films are listed under several categories so if you’re browsing it’s easier to find them.  For example, The Case of ESP is filed under “Human Anatomy & Physiology”, “Applied Psychology”, and “Biological Psychology” while Do Your Fruits and Veggies Know What Time It Is? can be found under the headings of “General Biology” and “Plant Biology”.

Once at the desired film you’ll find three tabs on the right side.  One lists the titles of the film segments and summarizes each while the second provides a transcript.  The third displays a list of related titles.

Icons under the screen provide citation information and allow you create a playlist , email the film, etc.

If you have further questions about using this database you’ll find a tutorial created by SWC at the following  address: http://www.swccd.edu/modules/showdocument.aspx?documentid=11678 .

The SUNY Empire State College has a great tutorial, “How to Use Films on Demand”  (http://subjectguides.esc.edu/filmsondemand ).  It covers how to do a simple search and an advanced search, how to browse by subject, and what various words and symbols mean on the results pages.

Access this database and other SWC Library databases from home by using the link on our Articles & Databases page, then entering your username (WebAdvisor ID) and password (birthdate).