Monday, September 17, 2012

Library's Support of ACC Classroom Faculty

Since August, 2011, The Library Services Information Literacy Team has been busy improving faculty’s experience of the ways in which the Library continues to support the learning outcomes YOU have identified for your students. As a part of that work, we have developed a new Library Instruction Request Form.

With two weeks notice, a librarian on your campus can work with you to plan an instruction session covering the student learning outcomes (SLOs) you specify, and can join you in the classroom to instruct your students in those SLOs.

Have questions or need help with the Library Instruction Request Form? Contact Terry Barksdale, tbarksda at austincc.edu or Ashley Carr, acarr at austincc.edu, for assistance.

Monday, September 3, 2012

Films on Demand

 (used with permission from Films Media Group)

Films on Demand is a web-based digital video delivery service that allows you to view any of the thousands of streaming videos that are available from the Films Media Group, 24/7, from any location. ACC subscribes to the whole collection. About 600 titles are added annually. You can get to this collection by going to the Library Home page  and search for "Films on Demand" in the “Quickly Find Books, Videos and More” search box in the middle of the library home page. If you are off campus or on campus using your own computer, tablet or smart phone, you will have to sign in using your eID and password to view the videos.

Are you a visual learner?

You may be able to find a video in this collection that will enhance the material covered in your class.  If so watching it could improve your learning retention on the topic.

If you need to document the video as a source in a paper, you can view the citation in MLA or APA format (also Chicago Manual of Style)

These videos are in various subject-areas including: Anthropology, Area Studies, Art & Architecture, Biology, Business & Economics, Careers & Job Search, Communication, Computers & Technology, Criminal Justice, Earth Science, Education, English & Language Arts, Environmental Science, Family & Consumer Sciences, Geography, Guidance & Counseling, Health & Medicine, History, Mathematics, Music & Dance, Philosophy & Religion, Physical Science, Political Science, Psychology, Sociology, and World Languages.

There is a Technical Education subject area also that includes videos on Automotive Technology, Building Construction, Heating, Ventilating and Air Conditioning, Welding, Electronics, Photography, Engineering Technology and Technical Communication.

You can search for videos by title, by keywords in segments, by browsing the subject areas listed above, or look through the titles alphabetically.  Most of the titles in this collection have records in the ACC Library Catalog and can be located through it as well.  You will find that each video is broken into segments, and you can watch the segment(s) of most interest to you, without having to watch the whole video.
About half of the titles in the collection have closed-captioning. Toggle on/off closed captioning in the upper right corner of the video player window. Use the Advanced Search function to limit search results to titles with closed-captioning.  Many have transcripts available too on the right side of the screen, where you can follow along as the video plays.

Faculty may link these videos or individual segments of videos in their Blackboard class, their online syllabi or other web pages.  Use the title url (or segment url) located below the video to create the link.  The url that shows up in the address window at the top of the page does not have the proxy string in front of it and will not link back to the video.  You must use the url below the video player window.

Suppose you are taking Western Civilization here at ACC.  Here is an example of a useful film you can find in the History subject section:



Because ACC has purchased the content in Films On Demand, as an ACC student, faculty or staff member, you can create a free User Account to take advantage of the powerful tools that the service has to offer. Once you setup your User Account, you will be able to create and share customized playlists, save your favorite videos for quick access, and set your default preferences. To experience the full benefit of Films On Demand, simply click on 'Create Account'. If you already have a User Account, log in now to get started.