Now you can see (and track and manage) it: Incorporating streaming video content into ProQuest’s 360 KB

Abstract

Consumers today can easily discover, access and view streaming video through subscription products. While the experience for the individual consumer can be relatively seamless, this is less often the case for library patrons using library platforms in educational settings, due to access restrictions, an apparent absence of content, or difficulties finding the material. Web-scale discovery tools have helped to change the landscape with respect to making streaming video more discoverable in the library context, but many of the issues associated with apparent access restrictions or absence of content can be traced to the absence of important metadata, including universal standard identifiers (eg International Standard Serial Numbers or International Standard Book Numbers), or the design choices of library service platforms (eg catalogues, discovery layers and knowledge bases). This paper argues that vendors of video content and vendors of library platforms have not adequately enhanced streaming content access through improved metadata. This enhancement is particularly relevant for streaming video used in two major growth areas: research and teaching. The paper provides a case study of streaming video in ProQuest’s access and discovery products — especially the 360 KnowledgeBase Suite (360 KB) — and demonstrates that streaming video content discovery designed for learning settings is enhanced through consistent and controlled metadata.