News Briefs
By Raya Kuzyk -- Library Journal, 02/15/2010
E-publisher Alexander Street Press (ASP) expects to release a free iPhone app this spring that will make its complete line of online streaming music collections—including Classical Music Library, Jazz Music Library, and Smithsonian Global Sound for Libraries—accessible via the iPhone and iPod Touch. With subsequent releases, subscriber libraries also will be able to connect to all of ASP's video collections, among them American History in Video, Theatre in Video, and the recently added Ethnographic Video Online. More info at alexanderstreetpress.com.
NBC Learn, NBC Olympics, and the National Science Foundation have collaboratively produced a 16-part video series illustrating the scientific principles—physics, biology, chemistry, materials engineering—behind competitive sports. Science of the Olympic Winter Games, starring top U.S. athletes and narrated by Lester Holt of NBC News, can be viewed for free on digital platforms including www.nbclearn.com.
Leading classical music label Naxos this month launched a new streaming subscription service offering more than 250 full-length videos of concerts, operas, ballets, and documentaries, which it expects to grow to 500 titles by May. Through Naxos Video Library, subscriber libraries can stream videos at either 700 kbps (standard quality) or 2 mbps (high quality); the service is compatible with both PC and Mac computers. Features include subtitles in up to five languages, advanced search functionality, and the ability to create custom clips and follow along with scrolling libretto text. More info at www.naxosvideolibrary.com.
Films Media Group (FMG) has added some 200 PBS programs in multiple subject areas to its web-based Films On Demand (FOD) streaming video platform, through which educators, students, and librarians can access, organize, and share full-length videos or individual segments. To learn more about the PBS titles available through FOD, contact an FMG media consultant at 800-257-5126 and press 3. View FOD's complete library of 6000 educational titles at ffh.films.com/digitallanding.aspx.







