Streaming Video Resources
The Library licenses access to streaming videos from a number of vendors. This list provides links to and descriptions of video and film collections available to the Cornell community, as well as some resources available to the general public.
- BBC ArchiveOffers themed collections (art, literature, performing arts, and more) of radio and TV programmes, documents and photographs from as far back as the 1930s.
- Internet Archive Moving Image ArchiveContains over a million digital movies including classic full-length films, documentaries, news broadcasts, cartoons, concerts, industrial and government films, television shows, and commercials.
- KanopyKanopy is an on-demand streaming video service for educational institutions that provides students and faculty with access to more than 26,000 films each year. Kanopy works directly with filmmakers and film distribution companies to offer award-winning collections including titles from PBS, BBC, Criterion Collection, Media Education Foundation and more
- March of TimeProvides streaming access to Time Inc.'s unique and controversial film series, The March of Time, which was shown in movie theaters and on television from 1935-1967. The newsreels have been restored by HBO Archives, allowing viewers to experience these historic newsreels as audiences did in earlier decades.
- Vanderbilt Television News ArchiveCoverage: 1968 to date. Includes individual network evening news broadcasts from major U.S. national broadcast networks: ABC, CBS, NBC, and CNN, and more than 9,000 hours of special news-related programming including ABC’s Nightline. Includes commercials, searchable by brand name. Some broadcasts available via streaming video or transcripts.
- YouTubeThough its original intent was to "allow billions of people to discover, watch and share originally-created videos," YouTube has become a de facto repository for clips and full-length films of all kinds, including commercial releases. Some material has not been been posted legally, so content can disappear.
Television Reference Sources
Critical Dictionary of Film and Television Theory
Call Number: Olin Reference PN1993.45 C75x 2001 +Publication Date: 2001"Explains the major theoretical approaches and definitions now deployed in the study of screen media. Entries range from longer overview essays which summarise the central paradigms of film and television theory, to shorter definitions of key concepts and introductions to major influential figures." (jacket copy) Includes cross-references, bibliographies, and index.Encyclopedia of Television by
Call Number: Olin Reference PN1992.18 E53 2004 +Publication Date: 20044 vols. 2nd ed. "...includes more than 1,000 original essays from more than 250 contributors and examines specific programs and people, historic moments and trends, major policy disputes and such topics as violence, tabloid television and the quiz show scandal. It also includes histories of major television networks as well as broadcasting systems around the world and is complemented by resource materials, photos and bibliographical information." (publisher)Encyclopedia of Television, Cable, and Video by
Publication Date: Springer, 2012Covers the following areas in the context of TV, cable, and video: advertising, agencies, associations, companies, unions, broadcasting, cable-casting, engineering, events, general production and programming.Encyclopedia of Television Law Shows by
Call Number: Law Library stacks PN1992.8.J87 E53x 2009Publication Date: McFarland, 2009This book is an alphabetical examination of the nearly 200 shows telecast in the U.S. from 1948 through 2008 involving courtrooms, lawyers and judges, complete with cast and production credits, airdates, detailed synopses and background information. Includes an introductory overview of law-oriented radio and TV broadcasts from the 1920s to the present.Encyclopedia of Television News by
Publication Date: Phoenix, Ariz. : Oryx Press, 1999Contains more than 300 signed entries on the individuals, companies, organizations, programs, events, and issues related to TV news, both historical and contemporary.Encyclopedia of Television Shows, 1925 Through 2010 by
Call Number: Olin Library Reference PN1992.3.U5 T463 2011 +Publication Date: 20113 vols. This fully updated and expanded edition covers over 10,200 programmes. In addition to covering the standard network and cable entertainment genres, the book also covers programmes generally not covered elsewhere in print (or even online), including Internet series, aired and unaired pilot films, erotic series, gay and lesbian series, risque cartoons and experimental programmes from 1925 through 1945.Encyclopedia of Television Shows, a comprehensive supplement, 2011-2016 by
Call Number: Olin Reference PN1992.3.U5 T464 2018 +Publication Date: 2017Supplement to the author's Encyclopedia of Television Shows, 1925-2010. Covers 1,612 series broadcast between January 1, 2011, and December 31, 2016. Major networks are covered along with many cable channels. Alphabetical entries provide storylines, casts, networks and running dates. A performer index is included.- Film and Television : a Guide to the Reference Literature byCall Number: Olin Reference Z5784.M9 E47 2006Publication Date: 2006Beginning with general guides, dictionaries and encyclopedias, the book then turns to filmographies, filmmakers, and filmmaking respectively. Filmographies list films and television shows in the categories of national cinema and genre, made by studios or filmmakers, or featuring various groups of people. Filmmakers includes biographies and credits for filmmakers and actors.
The Hill and Beyond: children's television drama : an encyclopedia
Call Number: Olin stacks PN1992.8.C46 M39x 2003 +Publication Date: British Film Institute, 2003Lists entries on every British-made children's drama to have been shown on UK screens since 1950. Critical appraisals assess the kind of stories told for children, along with all the technical data and trivia.Queer Encyclopedia of Film and Television by
Call Number: Olin Reference PN1590 G39 Q44 2005 +Publication Date: 2005Drawn from the online encyclopaedia of queer arts and culture - www.glbtq.com. Alphabetically arranged entries cover topics, people, films, and television shows from an LGBTQ perspective. Each entry contains a bibliography.Television Cartoon Shows by
Call Number: Olin stacks PN1992.8.A59 E74x 1995Publication Date: McFarland, 1995Details animated cartoons made exclusively for television from 1949 through 1993. Each entry includes the show's title, network, studios and full production information when available. An essay blending plot description, critical commentary, and background information is also provided for each cartoon. A discussion of the voice artist concludes the work.Watching TV: Eight Decades of American Television by
Call Number: Olin Reference PN 1992.5 U5 C37 2016+Publication Date: Syracuse Univ. Press, 2016A detailed, season-by-season chronology of American television programming from the medium's inception to the present, including every prime time fall schedule since 1944. This third edition includes coverage up through the mid-2010s and looks ahead to the next waves of change. Illustrated, indexed.Written Out of Television: the encyclopedia of cast changes and character replacements, 1945-1994 by
Call Number: Olin Reference PN1992.8.C36 L24 1996+Publication Date: Scarecrow Press, 1996Examines cast changes in television programs in nearly 400 entries filled with fascinating television facts and trivia.
Television Schedules
- TV TangoProvides current and historical prime time television listings dating back to 1950, with selected programming outside of prime time. Includes episode lists with synopses and original air dates, awards, and ratings, along with links to Wikipedia, IMDB, TV Guide, BFI and video streaming sites.
Oxford Bibliographies
- Oxford Bibliographies. Cinema and Media StudiesOxford University Press.
Provides peer-reviewed annotated bibliographies on film history, television studies, media studies, critical theory, visual arts, cultural studies, digital culture, game studies, popular culture, and the study of the moving image. Bibliographies are browseable by subject area and keyword searchable. - Oxford Bibliographies. CommunicationOxford University Press.
Offers peer-reviewed annotated bibliographies on the study of communication as a multidisciplinary effort to understand the constant, varied, and complex transmission and exchange of information, knowledge, and ideas. Bibliographies are browseable by subject area and keyword searchable.