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

Why Study Streaming Video?

• Distance learning

• Faculty demand and

the “flipped classroom”

• Non-DVD compatible

technology

• Staying relevant to our

patrons…

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”?

Part I:

The Situation with DVD

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+

Losing Relevance Over Time…

DVDs Checked out by Timeframe Post Acquisition (cumul.)

Simmons only, by Year

Our DVDs lose their value over time

… Consistently at Both Campuses

DVDs Checked out by Timeframe Post Acquisition (cumul.)

Simmons & UMass, 2004-2014

Damage & Loss is also a Concern

DVDs Lost, Damaged & Weeded by Year of Acquisition

Simmons only

These Issues Reduce the ROI on DVDs

$18.15

$20.15

$131.17

$119.83

UMass

Part II:

Launching Video PDA

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

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)

UMass1. 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)

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+

*Playback represents a single click on the playback button, irrespective of viewing time.

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

To

tal P

layb

acks*

Filmakers Library OnlineTotal 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...

… 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

To

tal P

layb

acks P

er

Year

Counseling & Therapy in Video, Volume IUMass only

Plays Per Paid Film (ROI)

1 A play is defined as 30 seconds or more viewed2 Checkout is a checkout from the library irrespective if played3 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 -

Part III:

Closing the Awareness Gap

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

3500

Oct-

13

No

v-1

3

De

c-1

3

Ja

n-1

4

Fe

b-1

4

Mar-

14

Ap

r-1

4

May-1

4

Ju

n-1

4

Jul-14

Au

g-1

4

Se

p-1

4

Oct-

14

No

v-1

4

De

c-1

4

Ja

n-1

5

Fe

b-1

5

Ma

r-1

5

Ap

r-1

5

Ma

y-1

5

Vid

eo

Clicks

UMass

Simmons

Awareness

campaign started

Total Video Clicks by Month

Increasing Awareness and Building Use

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

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

Results By Channel

Sessions % NewBounce

RatePages / 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

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

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

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

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

thank you

Presented byAnnie Erdmann, Simmons College, ann.erdmann@simmons.edu

Jennifer Ferguson, Simmons College, jennifer.ferguson@simmons.edu

Scott Stangroom, UMass Amherst, stangroom@library.umass.edu

ACRL Program Evaluation:

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/ALA15ACRLeval

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