Finding Films: Streaming Video and DVDs

Films from both Alexander Street Press and Films on Demand should be linked rather than embedded in Canvas. Embedding films from these platforms will cause an error in Canvas.  There are 2 ways to link to these videos:

1. Search for the video in the library catalog and copy the permalink to the record.  Use this URL in Canvas.
2. Or on the publisher's site, click "Share" and copy the Record URL to Canvas.

• To add videos to your course, you need the permalink, Title URL or Segment URL identifying the entire video or a specific segment or track.
• Using the page editor in Canvas: add the title of the video on your page, highlight that text, and then click the "link icon" in the toolbar.
• A window will appear with a space to paste the permalink you copied, click "Insert Link".
• The title will now change color to blue. Click "Save Page" to save your changes.
• If the video does not appear right away, you might need to refresh the page.
• See the CTE's instructions on how to Add Media in Canvas. 

• Identify a movie in Kanopy and then click Share.  Scroll down to find the url to the movie.  
• To create clips, click the More button and then Create Clips/Playlist.  You will need to add a movie to the existing playlist or create a new one and then click Edit Playlist.  After that you will be able to create specific clips.
• Once you save a playlist with newly created clips, click Share/Embedded button.  You will see a url to the playlist that you can add to Canvas.

If a video is not included in one of our streaming collections and we own the DVD, we may be able to create a fair use clip that can be put into Canvas.  Canvas provides a password-protected environment to allow posting of video materials for enrolled students, as long as Fair Use practices are followed (typically this means posting excerpts rather than whole videos).

If the film not found in the library catalog or on movies.bc.edu, there are several options for faculty to request streaming video for teaching.

1. To request that we investigate the availability of streaming rights, faculty should email O'Neill Reserves at oneill.reserves@bc.edu and we will do a search. There is a minimum of one month turn-around time.
2. For commercial feature films, search the Residence Life Cinema part of Swank Motion Pictures. Residence Life movies are available online, by request, for 1-3 months and allow students to legally view course-assigned films outside the classroom.
   • To request that a film listed in the Residence Life Swank index be added to Movies.bc.edu or streamed in Canvas, BC faculty should fill out the BC Movie Stream Request Form.
   • To see currently streaming films, visit movies.bc.edu. This link will only work on campus. To stream these films in Canvas for off-campus access, specify this on the BC Movie Stream Request Form. For questions about this service, contact Video Services at video@bc.edu.