Finding videos in the Libraries

We get a lot of questions about how to find videos and DVDs in the Libraries. We do have a lot of them -- we have classic films, recordings of plays and operas, documentaries, and films for use by classroom teachers. Lots of people don't realize how many movies we have, because they're not kept in any special place, like in a video store. Instead, they're on the shelves with the books, so that if you're looking for criticism of Hamlet, you'll also find the videos of productions of Hamlet on the same shelf, too. Or, if you're looking at books on classroom management skills, you'll find the videos on managing classrooms right next to them.

So how do you find videos in the Libraries?

One way is to do a search in BearCat, and if we have videos on the topic you searched, they'll show up in your search results. But if you're looking for just videos, we have a special catalog -- the Video Collection database -- that you can search. You can find it by clicking here, or by using the drop-down "Change Collection..." menu right above the search box on the main BearCat screen. The top of the screen turns pink to tell you you've changed catalogs, and now you can search for anything -- "special education", "detective films", "American history" -- and find just the videos. Once you find what you need, you can check them out at the circulation desk, and enjoy!