Streaming Video and DVDs

People in a small theater watching a projected screen at the front of the room.

Streaming Video and DVDs

Streaming Video

PC Library patrons can browse and stream thousands of online films, documentaries, new clips and more via the providers below. To have us search for you, or to request a specific film, submit this form:

Streaming Video Request Form

Streaming Providers

Academic Video Online

Academic Video Online delivers over 70,000 titles spanning the widest range of subject areas including anthropology, business, counseling, film, health, history, music, and more.

Alexander Street Press

Alexander Street Press is a multidisciplinary platform of video collections on various topics.  To locate Alexander Street Press content, you need to look under the specific video collection name.  Phillips Memorial Library currently has access to the following collections:

  • American History in Video: Largest collection of video available online for the study of American history, with 2,000 hours and more than 5,000 titles.
  • Dance in Video: Contains 500 hours of dance productions and documentaries by the most influential performers and companies of the 20th century. Covers ballet, tap, jazz, contemporary, experimental, improvisational dance, and many other forms.
  • Education in Video: A collection of streaming video developed specifically for training and developing teachers. Includes teaching demonstrations, lectures, documentaries, and primary-source footage of students and teachers in actual classrooms.
  • Ethnographic Video Online: An extensive video resource for the study of human culture and behavior. Includes interviews, previously unreleased raw footage, field notes, study guides, and more.
  • Filmakers Library Online: Offers documentaries on numerous topics, such as race, gender studies, human rights, global studies, criminal justice, the environment, bioethics, health, political science, psychology, arts, literature, and many others.
  • LGBT Studies in Video: Documentaries, interviews, archival footage, and select feature films exploring LGBT history, civil rights, marriage equality, LGBT families, AIDS, transgender issues, religious perspectives on homosexuality, and other topics.
  • Opera in Video: Offers hundreds of hours of streaming video of and about the most important opera performances, including full staged productions, interviews, and documentaries. Coverage from 1933 to 2011.
  • Silent Film: Streaming video resource presenting numerous films released from 1890 through the 1930s. Includes features, serials, and shorts, many of which demonstrate the foundations of modern cinematic technique and film theory.
  • Theatre in Video: Features streaming video of full theatre performances and behind-the-scenes documentary content. Coverage from 1936 to present.
  • World History in Video: World History in Video is a wide-ranging collection of critically acclaimed documentaries that allows researchers to explore human history from the earliest civilizations to the late twentieth century. The collection contains 1,000 hours of streaming video in more than 1,750 documentaries.

Alexander Street Press makes it easy to share videos with faculty and students. You can even make your own custom clips of films and embed them into your syllabus or course management system.

Here are some tutorials:

Drama Online

Drama Online: Globe Onscreen Collections 1&2.

Globe Onscreen Collection 2: Shakespeare’s Globe on Screen 2 (2016-2018) includes landmark productions from the theatre’s 2016, 2017 and 2018 seasons, including the first production from the indoor Jacobean theatre, the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse. These films showcase the Globe’s two unique playing spaces on Bankside and how different artists respond to them. Each performance transports viewers directly into the standing yard of the world famous Globe or the magical candlelit interior of the captivating new Sam Wanamaker Playhouse.

Films on Demand

Films On Demand is a state-of-the-art streaming video platform that makes it easier than ever to incorporate outstanding educational video content into your curriculum by providing easy integration with learning management systems, online lesson plans, distance learning courseware, or electronic card catalog systems. Most titles are available for individual lease or purchase, or through subscriptions to our robust, curriculum-focused subjects.

Here are tutorials available for educators using the platform.

Filmaker’s Library Online

Filmakers Library Online offers documentaries on numerous topics, such as race, gender studies, human rights, global studies, criminal justice, the environment, bioethics, health, political science, psychology, arts, literature, and many others.

Kanopy

Kanopy has a large collection including PBS, Criterion Collection, California Newsreel, Media Education Foundation, and hundreds of other leading producers. Thousands of streaming films, documentaries, and training videos.

PLEASE NOTE: When searching Kanopy for a specific title, the film may not appear  at the top of your results list, but instead may be listed further down the page under a section called “Videos you can request for your library”.

You will need to submit the request form before the film can be viewed. Unlike our other streaming film collections, which are subscription services,  each Kanopy film requires the Library to purchase a license.

Kanopy requires you to download their free app if you are viewing films on a mobile device

Kanopy Support and Tutorial Page

Swank Digital Campus

Each Swank film requires the Library to purchase a license.

To see if Swank has the film you need, and to request a title, please follow these steps:

  • Access PC’s Swank Digital Campus site.
  • At the landing page, you can search or browse titles for which we already have licenses.
  • If the title you want does not appear, click LOGIN at upper right.
  • Create an INSTRUCTOR account.
  • Once logged in as an instructor, you can search Swank’s complete collection.
  • If you find a film you need, click the REQUEST box, and fill out the form.
  • We will receive your request and submit it promptly. If we have questions, we’ll contact you.
  • You will receive notification when the film is available.

For any questions please contact Collections Services (collections.services@providence.edu).

Swank Digital Campus provides you with access to course-related films, providing students the opportunity to legally view relevant and engaging films online via Sakai.  Students can view assigned films 24/7 outside of the classroom, freeing up valuable class time and eliminating the time constraints of sharing physical copies!

Digital Campus also allows you to:

  • Create lesson plans around your movie
  • Time-stamp different parts of the movie to highlight important segments
  • Create custom clips

Borrow DVDs

A shelf filled with various DVDs ready to be borrowed at the library.

The Library maintains a collection of feature films, documentaries and art films on DVD and Blu-Ray that are available for borrowing for up to 7 days. The collection is located on the first floor, adjacent to the stairwell. Search below and check out titles via the Library online catalog:

View DVDs available to borrow

Public Performance Policy

Keep in mind that showing films/movies outside of a formal PC course may require you to obtain (often purchase) Public Performance Rights. Library staff can provide information to assist you with this process, but you, your department, club, or organization will be responsible for the costs of obtaining the Public Performance Rights.

To request assistance in obtaining performance rights, please email collections.services@providence.edu.