Films on Demand and Streaming Videos
Films on Demand is an online database of streaming videos that you can use in the classroom or through
a Distance Education platform like Blackboard. These educational videos are produced by the Films
Media Group and mainstream media organizations like the History Channel and PBS.
Other streaming videos are available through the Library’s databases:
American History in Video: Archival newsreel footage, historical documentaries, and more
Gale In Context databases (e.g., Global Issues in Context): News and talk show footage relating
to current events and other topics
Films on Demand is the largest streaming video database that Montgomery College has access to, with
videos relating to most subject areas.
Access Films on Demand
To access the Films on Demand database:
Go to the Libraries’ website: http://cms.montgomerycollege.edu/libraries
Click on the Articles & Databases tab.
Go to the A to Z List of Databases: http://cms.montgomerycollege.edu/libraries/atoz.html
Go to the “F” section of the alphabet and click on Films on Demand.
If you are off-campus, you will need to log in with your MC ID number – that is the letter M
followed by the numbers on your Montgomery College ID card (no spaces).
6. If you have problems logging in, visit the Library’s Remote Login & Troubleshooting page:
http://cms.montgomerycollege.edu/edu/sub1.aspx?id=24643
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Films on Demand Home Page
New videos are added continuously, so you may want to check for available films more than once a
semester. From the database home page, you can browse and search for videos. Some videos from
various subject areas are shown on the home page; you can also browse by the company that has
produced the video.
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Searching For and Viewing Films
Use the Basic search box to search for video segments or full videos.
o Each Films on Demand video has been broken into segments, or clips. These segments
range in length from under a minute to several minutes, but do not add up to equal the
full length of the video.
Use the Advanced search options (linked near the top of the screen) to have more control over
your search. You can choose to retrieve only videos that have Closed Captioning, or limit your
search to specific subject areas.
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Viewing Films
Once you have found a full video or segment, click on the image of the video or the title to watch it. From
either the full video or segment of a video, you can choose different segments to watch.
Interactive transcripts are now available for many videos in Films On Demand, and allow you to view the
full text of the video, search within the full text, or click on any word in the transcript to jump to that exact
point in the video.
Personal Films on Demand Account
All Montgomery College faculty, staff, and students have access to Films on Demand through the
College’s subscription to the database. In addition, you can choose to create a personal account.
Benefits of Creating an Account
Create playlists of videos in order to share one or more video segments with your students
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If you create a playlist of videos to share with your students in this manner, they will need
to log in if they are off-campus. They will not need a personal Films on Demand account
to view the playlists, but they will need to know their MC ID number.
Add videos and video segments to My Favorites folders, which can consist of videos that you
have used or would like to use. You can share your favorites via email.
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Set options for video streaming rate, results list views, etc.
Using My Playlists
Think of the playlist feature as similar to making an audio playlist of your favorite songs on iTunes, where
you can combine and shuffle individual songs or list all of the songs on an album. You can do the same
with the video segments in Films on Demand.
Playlists can be especially useful if you want your students to watch a few segments that are on the same
topic but from different videos. You can share playlists with students in many ways, as we will see later.
Although you will need a personal Films on Demand account to create a playlist, students will not need a
personal account to view the playlist.
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Manage My Playlists:
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Using My Favorites
Favorites folders can be useful when you are collecting materials or planning which videos to use for a
certain class. You can also use favorites folders to organize videos that you’ve used before.
While favorites can be shared via email, it is probably more convenient to plan to share videos in
Playlists.
Manage My Favorites:
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Setting My Preferences
You can change the default settings so that every time you log in to your personal Films on Demand
Account, certain things will be the way you want them. For example, if you have a slower internet
connection at home, you can set your preferences to use a lower video streaming rate. You can also
search for videos that meet the criteria for various educational standards.
If you do set up preferences, make sure to log in to your personal Films on Demand account after you
enter the database.
Sharing Links with Students
The videos in Films on Demand are available to Montgomery College students, faculty, and staff because
the Library has a subscription to the database. This limits off-campus viewing to the MC community.
When sharing links with students, you will need to make sure of two things:
1. You provide a persistent link that will not change. Do not copy and paste the link from the
address bar in your browser – often, the link that shows in the browser will include code that is
specific to the search terms you entered or even the date and time that you searched. (See below
for more information.)
2. You include a proxy prefix at the beginning of any link to a video or article from a database,
which allows students to log in to the Library’s electronic resources. Films on Demand is set up to
automatically include the proxy prefix in all persistent links, but it’s always good to double-check.
a. The proxy prefix: http://mchoudini.montgomerycollege.edu:2048/login?url=
Once you have a properly-formatted link, you can share it with students in many ways:
Email
As a link in My MC or Blackboard (see Special Instructions below)
In a Word document that you post online or email to students, along with an exercise or
assignment (See Creating Links in Microsoft Word: http://lgdata.s3-website-us-east1.amazonaws.com/docs/231/295279/Linking_Word.pdf)
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Persistent Links in Films on Demand
Copy the link from below the video player or from your Playlist page.
More information on creating and sharing links from Library databases can be found here:
How to Create a Persistent Link: http://lgdata.s3-website-us-east1.amazonaws.com/docs/231/123424/005_creating_persistent_links_handout_08.09.2011.pdf
Proxy Prefix
Special Instructions for Films on Demand links in Blackboard
If you are sharing Films on Demand links with students through Blackboard, you will need to manually
edit the link. (This is unique to Films on Demand links in Blackboard; all other database links would
use the standard proxy prefix as explained above.)
1. Copy the persistent link from Films on Demand, as shown above.
2. Paste it into a text editor such as Microsoft Word or Notepad.
3. Delete the Montgomery College proxy prefix
(http://mchoudini.montgomerycollege.edu:2048/login?url=) from the beginning of the link.
4. Add the following prefix to the beginning of the link instead:
http://www.montgomerycollege.edu/webtools/fodhelper.php?url=
5. Copy the new link to use in your Blackboard course.
Example
Original Films on Demand Link:
http://mchoudini.montgomerycollege.edu:2048/login?url=http://digital.films.com/PortalPlaylists.as
px?aid=2022&xtid=43055&loid=99870
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Delete the Proxy Prefix, so you are left with:
http://digital.films.com/PortalPlaylists.aspx?aid=2022&xtid=43055&loid=99870
Add the new prefix:
http://www.montgomerycollege.edu/webtools/fodhelper.php?url=http://digital.films.com/PortalPlayl
ists.aspx?aid=2022&xtid=43055&loid=99870
Need assistance? Contact Jenny Hatleberg, Distance Education Librarian at 240-567-1685 or
[email protected]
Effective Usage of Videos
For Classroom and Online Activities
Develop a clear sense of what you want students to learn.
Provide an effective introduction to the video.
Create a study guide to focus student attention.
Give a link to the Films on Demand Video or playlist.
After watching the video, have students complete an activity.
Additional Support
Films on Demand: Best Practices for Faculty: http://lgdata.s3-website-us-east1.amazonaws.com/docs/231/296468/FOD_BestPractices.pdf
Library Services For Faculty: http://libguides.montgomerycollege.edu/facultyhandouts
Library support for Distance Education courses: Jenny Hatleberg
240-567-1685 or [email protected]
General Library Support for Faculty: Faculty Services Librarians
o Diane Cockrell, Germantown
240-567-7849 or [email protected]
o Kathy Swanson, Takoma Park/Silver Spring
240-567-1537 or [email protected]
o Christine Tracey, Rockville
240-567-7252 or [email protected]
Need more help? Call or ask at the Reference Desk!
Montgomery College Libraries
Germantown Campus
Rockville Campus
Takoma Park/Silver Spring Campus
(240) 567-7853
(240) 567-7130
(240) 567-1536
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