October 3, 2016

Over the past several years, the Drexel University Libraries has seen more and more requests for video and film material. To address this growing demand, the Libraries has initiated a site license for Academic Video Online: Premium (AVON), the largest and most comprehensive video subscription collection available to libraries. Containing over 57,000 videos, AVON is a service of Alexander Street Press, which produces a number of video collections to which the Libraries has long subscribed. These include collections like American History in Video, Dance in Video and Education in Video. AVON includes these resources along with video offerings for a wide array of disciplines. Of particular note for Drexel are the offerings in counseling & therapy, criminal justice, environmental science, media studies and nursing. Video content comes from publishers and producers such as BBC, PBS, Filmmakers Library, British Film Institute and Medcom.

Aside from the diverse and high-quality content, the Libraries chose to license AVON because of the tool set it provides for students and faculty. Videos can be embedded in course shells and shown freely in class. Synchronized transcripts are available for every video, and subtitles are available for non-English content. Playlists and clips are easy to create and share. Drexel's current subscription runs through June 2017, so content won't disappear mid-quarter.

Drexel faculty and students are invited to take a dive into AVON and contact your liaison librarian if you have questions. Others may view the content on site at one of the campus libraries. Let us know what you think of this new resource!