Alexander Street Press
Project Description
The UCF Libraries is requesting $244,000.00 (list price of $249,000.00 less $5,000.00 cost sharing) for the purchase of streaming videos from Alexander Street Press. The collection consists of 12,743 videos across 10 subject areas that will support the humanities, sciences, and social sciences.
Alexander Street Press (ASP) is a respected academic publisher of award-winning, online collections and videos for scholarly research, teaching, and learning. They are notable for their excellent production, quality editorial standards, and commitment to comprehensive coverage of topics.
The agreement between UCF and Alexander Street Press will allow fair use of the content for educational purposes, including embedding links into Webcourses and Canvas. Access would be available to all UCF students and employees, with off campus access enabled by EZproxy.
The selected video collections are relevant and appropriate to university student course work and faculty research. The content will directly support student learning by providing material for course papers, projects, and study. Online streaming videos more readily support web-based instruction, and faculty often choose streaming video when the option is available.
Student Access to Project Resources
| ASP Streaming Videos Collections | Number of Videos | Selected UCF Colleges and Program | Students |
|---|---|---|---|
| American History in Video | 5,850 | College of Arts & Humanities | 5,002 |
| Art and Architecture in Video | 231 | College of Arts & Humanities | 5,002 |
| Counseling and Therapy in Video, Volume I | 350 | Psychology | 3,868 |
| Counseling and Therapy in Video, Volume II | 316 | Psychology | 3,868 |
| Education in Video | 3,775 | College of Education | 5,490 |
| Ethnographic Video | 801 | Anthropology | 460 |
| Filmakers Library | 1,015 | Film | 514 |
| LGBT Studies in Video | 68 | Interdisciplinary studies, Sociology, Gender studies | 2,282 |
| Nursing Education in Video | 276 | Nursing | 2,763 |
| The Video Journal of Counseling and Therapy | 61 | Psycology | 3,868 |
The streaming videos are all online and the content will be available to all UCF students, faculty and staff anywhere, anytime. The online videos will serve the UCF Regional Campuses, online courses, and distance education. The Libraries current video collection consists mostly of VHS and DVDs, and cannot be easily accessed by off-campus students. The UCF Libraries has purchased some streaming video, especially from FMG On Demand, and there is growing interest on campus for this format. The streaming videos are all online and the content will be available to all UCF students, faculty and staff anywhere, anytime. The online videos will serve the UCF Regional Campuses, online courses, and distance education. The Libraries current video collection consists mostly of VHS and DVDs, and cannot be easily accessed by off-campus students. The UCF Libraries has purchased some streaming video, especially from FMG On Demand, and there is growing interest on campus for this format. Students and faculty will be able to discover Alexander Street Press Streaming Videos in the catalog and with the UCF Libraries’ OneSearch. Alexander Street Press Videos are viewable on the web using a browser and standard plug-ins, and can be streamed to mobile devices. The videos are easily discovered on the Alexander Street Press website, which provides deep-searching of the liner notes, transcripts, and descriptive terms, as well as many options to browse by topic, year, production staff, and other aspects of the collections. The transcripts can be displayed in-sync with the video, and support the UCF policy that course materials must be ADA compliant.
Benefit to Student Learning
Provide evidence that the project will benefit student learning.
Alexander Street Press is a leading provider of educational media, streaming videos and music especially well-suited to university student course work. The content directly supports student learning by providing content for course papers, projects, and study.
Sample titles from this package hint at the breadth and depth of the content that will become available to the UCF community:
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The Alexander Street Press interface is ideal for classroom use and links to the videos can be embedded in online courses. These streaming videos will benefit groups currently not well served by the Libraries’ DVD and VHS collections, such as students in online courses and other distance learners. The titles from the Art & Architecture in Video collection are especially relevant to the new Architecture Program at UCF Valencia Regional Campus.
The videos and interface provide a suit of features and functionality that support learning:
- Convenient learning object video segments
- Searchable video transcripts and liner notes
- Synchronized, searchable transcripts run alongside each video.
- Visual tables of contents let users quickly scan each video.
- Permanent URLs let users cite and share video.
- Embeddable video player lets libraries and instructors deliver video content to other users on secure Web site pages or via course management systems.
- Rich playlist functionality lets users create, annotate, and organize clips and include links to other content.
- Permissions for in-class, on-campus, and remote-access viewing are all included in the license terms.
- On-the-go access using most handheld mobile devices makes it easy for students to watch assigned footage.
- Unlimited simultaneous access so any number of people can view any of the videos at the same time.
The UCF Libraries is committed to work directly with faculty and the Faculty Center for Teaching and Learning to publicize this streaming video package. The streaming videos will help faculty offer additional learning modalities to both on and off campus students. The Libraries will offer informational materials to distribute during various events, such as the Faculty Development Conferences. In addition, librarians will instruct students about Alexander Street Press Streaming Videos during Information Literacy sessions. The Alexander Street Press Streaming Videos will benefit faculty by providing content for faculty research, especially primary materials, and content for course assignments.
Project Success Metrics and Assessment Plan
The Libraries will measure the success of the Alexander Street Press Streaming Videos through usage data and surveys. Alexander Street Press will provide usage reports that track which videos were viewed and how many segments were watched.
The Libraries’ does not own a comparable collection of streaming videos, so estimating use involves more guess work than extrapolation. However, Florida International University used 2010 Technology Fee funds to purchase 10 ASP streaming video collections and reports 5,368 playbacks during 2011. UCF expects to see similar usage or higher. The ASP online videos target some of UCF’s most active disciplines with strong regional programs. High usage is expected.
The Libraries’ anticipates that once the video titles are entered into the catalog, usage will grow steadily for several years, with the following projected success metrics:
| Year | Unique Videos Used | Video Playbacks | Usage Increase |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | 500 | 3000 | First Year |
| 2014 | 600 | 4050 | 35% |
| 2015 | 650 | 5250 | 75% |
Project Sustainability
The requested funds will cover the entire cost to purchase perpetual access to the selected Alexander Street Press Streaming Videos collections. The Libraries will catalog the content, maintain links, and support access. Any recurring costs for maintenance of the collection will be paid for using library funds. Videos are hosted by ASP, so there is no impact on staff resources.
Technology Fee Proposal Budget Narrative
The requested $244,000.00 will be used to purchase selected streaming video collections from Alexander Street Press. There will be no additional charges. The purchase is for complete online access to the streaming video with perpetual rights to the content. This price represents a 43% discount from the list price of $430,000.00.
Space Administration
No space is needed for the project.