Category: library news

The Myth of Kanopy

We here at Media Services recently changed our Kanopy subscription. Before this semester, library users could watch any Kanopy film at any time, no questions asked. Though Kanopy looks (and markets itself) as the educational equivalent of Netflix or Amazon Prime, instead of paying a flat fee of x dollars/month, the library paid $150 per … Continue reading “The Myth of Kanopy”

We here at Media Services recently changed our Kanopy subscription. Before this semester, library users could watch any Kanopy film at any time, no questions asked. Though Kanopy looks (and markets itself) as the educational equivalent of Netflix or Amazon Prime, instead of paying a flat fee of x dollars/month, the library paid $150 per title.

The cost of Kanopy ate up most of our budget, which is why we switched to a request-only model for two Kanopy collections– Criterion and Kino Lorber. Now, when you want to watch a film from these collections, it has to be approved by our media librarian.

This article from Film Quarterly sums up the Kanopy conundrum quite nicely, and shows that the AU Library isn’t alone in our current predicament.

https://filmquarterly.org/2019/05/03/kanopy-not-just-like-netflix-and-not-free/

Correction 5/15/19- Updated to reflect that only two AU Kanopy collections are request-only. All other Kanopy collections we subscribe to are available for instant viewing.

Come learn about Boyz n the Hood, “a film that changed America”

The AU Library’s ongoing Books that Shaped America series has highlighted some critical pieces of literature from American history. And now, finally, movies are getting their turn, too! Tomorrow, communication librarian Derrick Jefferson will host a discussion of Boyz n the Hood, John Singleton’s 1991 film about youth life in South Central LA. We’re excited … Continue reading “Come learn about Boyz n the Hood, “a film that changed America””

The AU Library’s ongoing Books that Shaped America series has highlighted some critical pieces of literature from American history. And now, finally, movies are getting their turn, too!

Tomorrow, communication librarian Derrick Jefferson will host a discussion of Boyz n the Hood, John Singleton’s 1991 film about youth life in South Central LA. We’re excited to see what Derrick has to say about this “film that changed America.” Event information is available here; the discussion runs 12-1pm tomorrow in the library’s Training and Events room.

It’d probably help if you’ve seen the movie in advance, so come to the Media Services desk to check out our copy! (Call number HU DVD 327*)

Watch AU commencement addresses from years past

AU’s commencement ceremonies this year featured addresses from notable speakers like CNN’s John King and US Attorney General Loretta Lynch. Luckily, since we live in the era of free high-quality web video, you can watch all those on AU’s official YouTube channel. We’ve had a lot of exciting commencement speeches in the years before that, … Continue reading “Watch AU commencement addresses from years past”

AU’s commencement ceremonies this year featured addresses from notable speakers like CNN’s John King and US Attorney General Loretta Lynch. Luckily, since we live in the era of free high-quality web video, you can watch all those on AU’s official YouTube channel.

We’ve had a lot of exciting commencement speeches in the years before that, so what happened to those? AU has taped the ceremonies for years, and now the AU Library is stepping up to make them available.

Our collection coordinator Molly Hubbs has been hard at work digitizing old commencement tapes and putting videos of the big speeches online for anyone to view for free. The collection is still a work in progress (there’s 16 video right now), but you can watch commencement addresses from David Gregory, Diane Rehm, Tim Russert, and others. We expect over 50 videos in the collection when it’s complete.

These videos are a cool piece of AU history that you previously couldn’t see, now available to the whole AU community with the help of the library. Go ahead, spend a lazy summer afternoon diving back through the school’s history.

See local film shorts, featuring the AU Library’s Christina Floriza!

We have a special film screening recommendation today: the AU Library’s own Christina Floriza is starring in Rendezvous, a new independent short film playing at the NOVA Film Festival tomorrow in Fairfax, VA. The film looks like a small-scale dinner date dramedy, filmed on location at a restaurant in Tysons Corner. We haven’t seen it … Continue reading “See local film shorts, featuring the AU Library’s Christina Floriza!”

We have a special film screening recommendation today: the AU Library’s own Christina Floriza is starring in Rendezvous, a new independent short film playing at the NOVA Film Festival tomorrow in Fairfax, VA.

The film looks like a small-scale dinner date dramedy, filmed on location at a restaurant in Tysons Corner. We haven’t seen it and can’t much it or its merits, but we’ll gladly encourage you to go see it to support Christina!

The NOVA Film Festival continues tomorrow, April 25th at 7pm at the Angelika Film Center in Fairfax. Tickets for the two-hour block featuring Rendezvous cost $11 – not a bad price for a bunch of local shorts. Purchase them through the NOVA Film Festival website.

Congratulations to Christina for her theatrical debut!

Learn a language, then watch a movie

You may have noticed that the AU Library recently subscribed to Pronunciator, a Rosetta Stone-style language learning service that is now available free for AU students. The service includes a huge range of languages, everything from the popular ones offered in classes (Arabic, Spanish, etc.) to the lesser-learned (like Macedonian or Xhosa). Pronunciator’s two-month courses … Continue reading “Learn a language, then watch a movie”

You may have noticed that the AU Library recently subscribed to Pronunciator, a Rosetta Stone-style language learning service that is now available free for AU students. The service includes a huge range of languages, everything from the popular ones offered in classes (Arabic, Spanish, etc.) to the lesser-learned (like Macedonian or Xhosa). Pronunciator’s two-month courses focus on learning practical language skills for travel, a boon for AU’s typically world-hopping student body. No Esperanto sadly, but you’re not likely to travel somewhere that speaks Esperanto natively.

The promote this new service, we have a little display in the front lobby of some of the library’s foreign language collections. We curated some of our favorite non-English-language films and televisions hows and added them to the showcase, as shown in the picture above.

In case you wanted to check any of these out, we included the full list below. If you learn Japanese, getting to watch The Calamari Wrestler is your ultimate reward.

City of God (Portuguese) – HU DVD 849
In the Mood for Love (Cantonese) – HU DVD 1520
Man Push Cart (Urdu) – HU DVD 2762
Offside (Farsi) – HU DVD 3759
Night Watch (Russian) – HU DVD 4211
A Matter of Size (Hebrew) – HU DVD 4515
Chico & Rita (Spanish) – HU DVD 5477
Satin Rouge (Arabic) – HU DVD 6175
Gomorrah (Italian) – HU DVD 6687
Free Men (French) – HU DVD 7775 
Night of Truth (French, Dioula, Moore) – HU DVD 8046
Macho Dancer (Tagalog) – HU DVD 8178
Soul Kitchen (German) – HU DVD 8390
The Calamari Wrestler (Japanese) – HU DVD 8851
Tokyo Drifter (Japanese) – HU DVD 9060
Ali Zaoua (Arabic) – HU DVD 9095
Chak De! (Hindi) – HU DVD 10273
Touki Bouki (Wolof) – DVD 11202
Secret Garden (Korean) – HU DVD 11459
Trollhunter (Norwegian) – HU DVD 11619

We’re green-certified!

As we decompress from the end of the spring semester and gear up for summer sessions, we want to take a second to celebrate one of our little accomplishments. Last month, the AU Library Green Team held an internal green certification program for our service desks and employees. We’re very happy that the Media Services … Continue reading “We’re green-certified!”

As we decompress from the end of the spring semester and gear up for summer sessions, we want to take a second to celebrate one of our little accomplishments.

Last month, the AU Library Green Team held an internal green certification program for our service desks and employees. We’re very happy that the Media Services desk has been awarded silver-level certification! We have made a point of implementing sustainable practices, such as reusing scrap paper, reducing printing, using eco-friendly office supplies, and putting rechargeable batteries in our remotes.

(And best of all, we got brownies!)

Bon voyage to Todd Chappell

We wanted to take a break from our normal programming to wish a fond farewell to our colleague Todd Chappell. Todd has been with the AU Library and Media Services since 2010, and his tenure as New Media Center Coordinator led to a customer service boom. Todd is departing the AU Library to further his … Continue reading “Bon voyage to Todd Chappell”

We wanted to take a break from our normal programming to wish a fond farewell to our colleague Todd Chappell. Todd has been with the AU Library and Media Services since 2010, and his tenure as New Media Center Coordinator led to a customer service boom. Todd is departing the AU Library to further his career in web development, and we wish the best of luck on his new adventures.

In deference to Todd’s sensibilities, we present a 23-minute montage of 80s cartoon intros. Godspeed, Mr. Chappell!

AU Library OPEN today, but limited

Because of the inclement weather, American University is closed today. The library will operate at limited capacity, so there’ll still be room to study, but service desks will be either closed or minimally staffed. The exact hours of Media Services and the New Media Center for the day are TBA. This is perhaps the most … Continue reading “AU Library OPEN today, but limited”

Because of the inclement weather, American University is closed today. The library will operate at limited capacity, so there’ll still be room to study, but service desks will be either closed or minimally staffed. The exact hours of Media Services and the New Media Center for the day are TBA.

This is perhaps the most inconvenient time for a snow day; the AU Library is committed to making sure you have a place to work!

Reminder: Closing early today at 9pm

Because of scheduled campus-wide power outages, the library will close at 9pm tonight. Please keep this in mind if you’re planning to watch movies in the library… or even watch movies on your own! Many of the residence halls will not have power for several hours.

Because of scheduled campus-wide power outages, the library will close at 9pm tonight. Please keep this in mind if you’re planning to watch movies in the library… or even watch movies on your own! Many of the residence halls will not have power for several hours.

We need your input! Shape the future of the library TOMORROW

Over the summer, the AU Library has been working with the Brightspot consulting group to formulate new ideas for using our library’s space. After months of brainstorming sessions with the library staff, the folks at Brightspot are ready to propose their ideas and seek opinions from AU Library community. Now is your chance to get … Continue reading “We need your input! Shape the future of the library TOMORROW”

Over the summer, the AU Library has been working with the Brightspot consulting group to formulate new ideas for using our library’s space. After months of brainstorming sessions with the library staff, the folks at Brightspot are ready to propose their ideas and seek opinions from AU Library community.

Now is your chance to get a say in the future of the AU Library. This will be the public’s first look at the ideas we have worked with Brightspot to develop. You are strongly encouraged to attend; your input is greatly valued in this process.

The presentation and discussion will be held Thursday, September 12th, at 3:30pm in the Mud Box. RSVP for the event on Facebook. There will be food!