Kanopy Streaming

Kanopy Streaming, founded in 2008, markets itself as the “Netflix for education.” Kanopy aims to be a comprehensive streaming video solution for the education market by both distributing online video on their proprietary platform and providing a video hosting service. Kanopy distributes over 26,000 educational videos from leading producers including the Criterion Collection, PBS, California Newsreel, Media Education Foundation, BBC, First Run Features, and hundreds more. Libraries can purchase individual videos or collections with one- or three-year licenses. Institutions may also set up a Patron Driven Acquisitions (PDA) profile and light up almost all the films or just selected collections. Unlike Films on Demand and Alexander Street Press, libraries only pay for the content that they actually use. Titles, descriptions, and transcripts are keyword searchable. Videos can be played directly in Kanopy or embedded in a LMS or on a Web site. Users can also create custom playlists and clips. The administrator’s dashboard provides a comprehensive view of usage and purchases. In addition to distributing content, Kanopy’s video hosting service provides institutions with a secure location to easily host locally produced or owned video content with streaming rights. Kanopy’s free Search & Find Service tracks down rights to any requested videos they do not currently offer.