Today, more than 90% of Americans are watching over 40 billion online videos each month. Netflix and YouTube alone account for 50% of all internet download traffic during peak hours. So why, if online video is consuming our personal lives, do we see such limited use or discussion of online video once we walk on campuses? Why do we see innovations such as Patron-Driven-Acquisition become the norm for eBooks acquisitions, yet remain uncharted territory for eVideos? This slide show explores the status of online video on campuses today – the growing and changing usage behavior of students and faculty, the opportunities for new acquisition models, and the Return on Investment for Libraries. The presentation is split into three sections: (1) User Behavior: combining usage statistics with the results of student, faculty and librarian surveys (2,000 responses) reported in a prior study as well as promotional campaigns to better understand how users are engaging with online video; (2) Acquisition models: presenting over 3 years of data from various models of acquisition – individual title selection, collection subscription, and PDA – to compare relative performance; (3) Return on Investment: using a ROI methodology to compare the value of different video resources (DVD and online) and acquisition models, and compare this to other library resources (eBooks, eJournals, etc).

1. Putting your Patrons
in the Driver’s Seat
Assessing the Value of On-
Demand Streaming Video
Presented by
Annie Erdmann, Simmons College, ann.erdmann@simmons.edu
Jennifer Ferguson, Simmons College, jennifer.ferguson@simmons.edu
Scott Stangroom, UMass Amherst, stangroom@library.umass.edu

2. Why Study Streaming Video?
• Distance learning
• Faculty demand and
the “flipped classroom”
• Non-DVD compatible
technology
• Staying relevant to our
patrons…

3. From Pilot to Practice
Previous Pilot Study Findings
• An 85% and 70% improvement in ROI vs.
outright collection purchases and DVDs
• Colleges with 26,000 and 30,000
students
• 40% of DVDs never used and ~9 views
on average over their lifetime
• 60% of academics use online video for
teaching yet 80% are unaware the library
offers it (same with students)
Would our experience
echo the pilot?
Would our FTE (4K vs.
28K) make a
difference?
Were we experiencing
the same issues and
what was driving it?
Could we find a way to
crack the “awareness
gap”?

4. Part I:
The Situation with DVD

5. Surprisingly Low Usage
% of DVD Collection by Lifetime Checkouts
35%
22%
13%
10%
8%
7%
5%
Simmons
0
1
2
3
4
5
5+
36%
24%
13%
8%
8%
6%
5%
UMass
0
1
2
3
4
5
5+

6. Losing Relevance Over Time…
DVDs Checked out by Timeframe Post Acquisition (cumul.)
Simmons only, by Year
Our DVDs lose their
value over time

7. … Consistently at Both Campuses
DVDs Checked out by Timeframe Post Acquisition (cumul.)
Simmons & UMass, 2004-2014

8. Damage & Loss is also a Concern
DVDs Lost, Damaged & Weeded by Year of Acquisition
Simmons only

9. These Issues Reduce the ROI on DVDs
$18.15
$20.15
$131.17
$119.83
UMass

10. Part II:
Launching Video PDA

11. Kanopy’s Streaming Video PDA
• Launched Kanopy’s PDA
model in late 2013
• Step 1: Set a manageable
upfront budget cap
• Step 2: Opened up broad
collections of over 20,000
films
• Step 3: Usage triggers
• Step 4: Quarterly invoicing,
live usage monitoring

12. We Didn’t Know You Wanted That!
Top 10 Films
Simmons
1. Mental Disorder / Illness Symptoms
(Symptom Media)
2. Here One Day (Indep.)
3. Appraisals in Action (TV Choice)
4. The Seventh Seal (Criterion)
5. Thin Ice: The Inside Story of Climate
Science (Green Planet)
6. The Legacy of Unresolved Loss
(Psychotherapy. net)
7. When Students Write (Stenhouse)
8. Writing with Mentors (Stenhouse)
9. Unnatural Causes (Cal. NR)
10. The Cabinet Of Dr. Caligari (Kino)
UMass
1. Race the Power of an Illusion (Cal.
NR)
2. The Revisionaries (Kino)
3. Frontline - Generation Like (PBS)
4. Animation Before Unification (DEFA)
5. Blood And Sand (Kino)
6. Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low
Price (TDC)
7. Rome Open City (Criterion)
8. For The Price of a Cup of Coffee
(Green Planet)
9. Miss Representation (Indep.)
10. First Contact (DER)

13. We Buy Only What We Use A Lot
54%
25%
6%
2%
2% 2%
9%
UMass
% of films accessed by
number of plays
46%
28%
8%
5%
2%
2%
9%
Simmons
0
1
2
3
4
5
5+

14. *Playback represents a single click on the playback button, irrespective of viewing time.
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
TotalPlaybacks*
Filmakers Library Online
Total Playbacks by Month
Simmons only
Total Playbacks =
223
Number of films with 5+
Playbacks = 3
% of total Playbacks
for one title = 11%
Let’s compare the purchase model...

15. … and how this translates into value.
Total Playbacks =
81
Total Cost to Date =
$21,400
Cost Per Playback =
$264.200
10
20
30
40
50
60
2011 2012 2013 2014
TotalPlaybacksPerYear
Counseling & Therapy in Video,
Volume I
UMass only

16. Plays Per Paid Film (ROI)
1 A play is defined as 30 seconds or more viewed
2 Checkout is a checkout from the library irrespective if played
3 Upfront payment with ongoing annual fees. Plays per film per year since available (declining year on year)
Kanopy PDA
DVD
Purchased
Coll.
UMass Simmons
Plays per Triggered Film 109 105
ROI ($/play)1 $1.38 $1.28
Lifetime Checkouts / DVD 7.2 5.9
ROI ($/checkout)2 $18.15 $20.15
Plays per film 0.01 0.10
ROI ($/play)3 $264.20 -

17. Part III:
Closing the Awareness Gap

18. 0
500
1000
1500
2000
2500
3000
3500
Oct-13
Nov-13
Dec-13
Jan-14
Feb-14
Mar-14
Apr-14
May-14
Jun-14
Jul-14
Aug-14
Sep-14
Oct-14
Nov-14
Dec-14
Jan-15
Feb-15
Mar-15
Apr-15
May-15
VideoClicks
UMass
Simmons
Awareness
campaign started
Total Video Clicks by Month
Increasing Awareness and Building Use

19. Our Promotional Project
1. LibGuide links
2. Faculty / Liaison emails
3. Email signature images
4. News blog
5. Posters
6. Social Media
7. Database list
Promotional Initiatives

20. What Were They Looking For?
Type of
search query % of Total
producer 9%
theme 67%
title 16%
person 5%
place 3%
DEFA, Criterion
Psychology,
gender
Miss
representation,
The Actress
Japan, Michael
white

21. Results By Channel
Sessions % New
Bounce
Rate
Pages /
Session
Avg.
Duration
Email 366 33% 39% 3.9 0:03:54
LibGuide 310 20% 17% 6.8 0:06:25
Email Signature 25 40% 80% 2.1 0:01:38
Social media 13 69% 62% 2.0 0:00:24
Search widget 87 36% 24% 4.6 0:06:31

22. Where Are Views Coming From Now?
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
UMass Simmons
Views Generated from Referring URL
Other
Library Catalog Link
Search Query
Homepage
Category Page
Moodle
Another Video

23. So What?
• PDA has been a highly effective & economical model
– Significantly greater ROI compared to DVD or purchased
collections of streaming video
– Solves problems of predicting demand & unused media
– Relevance is limited, especially in medical fields
– Success at both campuses despite size differences
• We were able to greatly impact awareness
– Faculty engagement has been important to success (esp.
email and LibGuides)
– Faculty drive use through assigned coursework

24. What Now?
• Using PDA to inform collection development and promotion
– Promoting targeted subjects and materials to faculty
– Are expired films triggered again?
• Talking with vendors about the PDA model
– Sharing our research on ROI across formats and delivery
models
• Weighing relevance versus permanence
– Rapidly changing content
– Evolving rights and licensing

25. What Next?
• The changing landscape for media in education
– Increasing number of courses teaching with film
• Engagement Analytics
– How are users interacting with media?
– What adds value for users?
• Playlists
• Personal Accounts
• Comments

26. thank you
Presented by
Annie Erdmann, Simmons College, ann.erdmann@simmons.edu
Jennifer Ferguson, Simmons College, jennifer.ferguson@simmons.edu
Scott Stangroom, UMass Amherst, stangroom@library.umass.edu

27. ACRL Program Evaluation:
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/ALA15ACRLeval
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