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Streaming Video & Multimedia Online

FAQ: Can I stream a video in class from my personal Netflix account?

If you have a personal subscription to Netflix, you may be able to stream educational content in class. This must be done synchronously, either in an in-class session or synchronous Zoom sessions. Do not record the session for future use.

FAQ: Where can students rent low-cost titles online?

Decider is a website that lists all the streaming platforms a video is available, including rental options. Sometimes students can use a free trial of a streaming service to view a video for free.

FAQ: Can I use this YouTube video?

Before using a video on YouTube, identify whether the channel was created by the person or company that created the content. For example, a clip of a tv show on the YouTube channel from the TV network that airs the show. Check whether the video is marked Creative Commons Licensed. Look for a website link in the Channel’s description. Check the website’s terms of use (usually linked on the bottom of all pages).  If the website’s terms of use allow educational/academic use, then you can use the video. If not, request permission from the video creator (via their website). Recorded lectures by faculty are often work-for-hire and owned by the university employing the instructor (regardless of who owns the YouTube Channel).

There are many “orphaned works” on YouTube (older videos and channels with no clear creator or owner information). Avoid using orphaned works and content clearly uploaded without the owner’s permission.

Free Creative Commons Images & GIFs

News Clips in Databases

  • 60 Minutes (CBS) some episodes from 1993-2015 are available through ProQuest Central
  • New York Times Videos (2018-present) covers up-to-date popular news and culture and is available through ProQuest

Streaming Video & Audio Online

  • Academic Earth
  • Academic Film Archive of North America
    Academic films made between 1900-1985 about art, history, science, literature, and social science.
  • adViews
    Duke University Digital Collection of 1000s of television commercials made between the 1950s to 1980s by D’Arcy Masius Benton & Bowles (DMB&B) advertising agency.
  • American Rhetoric
  • Annenberg Learn
    Streaming videos from the Annenberg educational collection covering a range of topics such as art, history, math, science, government, and literature.
  • Archaeology Channel
    Streaming media website from the Archaeological Legacy Institute (ALI)
  • BBC Online Archive
  • BioInteractive
  • British Council Film Collection
    120 short documentary films made by the British Council during the 1940s designed to “show the world how Britain lived, worked and played” -website
  • Cornellcast
    Large video library of educational topics and faculty lectures.
  • CSPAN Digital Library
    Federal Government sessions, speeches, and events dating back to 1987
  • Digital Public Library of America
    History and social sciences videos from libraries and museums. Choose “moving image” resource type in results.
  • EthicsUnwrapped
    Videos and case studies about business and professional ethics from the McCombs School of Business at UT-Austin.
  • Folkstreams
    Called a “national preserve of hard-to-find documentary films about American folk or roots cultures”

  • Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies
    Yale University’s collection of video interviews with witnesses and survivors of the Holocaust and the related aspects of World War II.

  • Harvard Business Review Videos
    YouTube channel for Harvard Business Review.
  • HippoCampus
  • Internet Archive
    Collection of video including news broadcasts, television programs, television commercials,  films, cartoons & animation, concerts, and short films.
  • Khan Academy
    Free instructional videos on math, science, computer science, economics, and test preparation.
  • Living Room Candidate
    US television commercials from Presidential Campaigns from 1952–2016.

  • NARIC Multimedia Collection
    Videos related to rehabilitation and disability created by the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR).

  • National Film Board of Canada
    Archive of short- and feature-length Canadian films from 1939-present.
  • Oyez Project
    Multimedia archive of audio and video from the US Supreme Court starting in 1955.
  • PBS Learning Media
    K-12 videos on a variety of subjects.
  • Radio Days
    A searchable database of audio clips from radio shows (1940s-1960s) including the genres drama, comedy, mystery, and news.
  • Sloan Science & Film
    Short narrative films on science and technology funded by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation
  • Smithsonian Open Access
    Images, 3D images, sound recordings, data sets, and illustrated books from Smithsonian institutions and the National Zoo.
  • Sociological Cinema
    Collection of videos organized by sociological themes and theory for educators and students.
  • TedEd Lessons Worth Sharing
    Create lessons, talks, and quizzes from YouTube videos or Ted Talks.
  • Ted Talks
    18-minute max presentations about a wide variety of topics by experts
  • UbuWeb
    Repository of avant-garde film, visual arts, creative writing, and poetry

  • WGBH Boston (Public Television)
    Videos and transcripts of WGBH programming for Public Television (1960s-1990s). Excellent coverage of politics, the Vietnam War, and the Civil Rights movement.

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