2019 Charleston Library Conference

Streaming video has revolutionized the use of film for teaching across the curriculum. Employing a flipped classroom model, faculty assign viewing as homework, and preserve valuable class time for discussion of content. Faculty and students prefer streaming. Exponential increase in demand for streaming video has precipitated a crisis for academic libraries. Users expect a comprehensive range of video content; faculty expect that most content will be available, and fast and cheap to acquire. Time-limited streaming licenses may appear less costly in the short term, but these licenses frequently conflict with libraries’ missions to build permanent collections. With repeated licensing, over a number of years the library will spend more than an outright purchase would have cost. More and more, libraries find the financial model of patron-driven acquisition for time-limited streaming is unsustainable. College and university libraries are accustomed to paying institutional pricing for video content. Niche film content vendors have long relied on institutional pricing models to support continued creation and distribution of high-quality video. Demand for streaming content has disrupted libraries’ budgets and workflows, and lowered many content producers’ revenue streams. It’s time to talk about the scholarly video ecosystem and how it fits with libraries’ budgets and institutional values . There is no one-size-fits-all model for video acquisitions. A library would not acquire all print materials from a single vendor, and cannot expect that for video. Excellent content resides across a wealth of platforms. Honest conversations between librarians, streaming platform representatives, and film distributors build common understandings and create positive outcomes for both. In this session, two librarians and a film distributor discuss how libraries can work with platforms and distributors to employ acquisition models that are in line with institutional values, that are sustainable for institutional budgets, and that provide a sustainable revenue stream for content creators and distributors. Audience participation is encouraged.