Provides access to over 30,000 streaming films, including award-winning documentaries, training films and theatrical releases from PBS, BBC, Criterion Collection, Media Education Foundation and more.
Tools and Features:
Effective June 1, 2025, the Library has transitioned to a mediated access model for Kanopy. Access is now limited primarily to academic and instructional use. This change is mainly a result of a 10% reduction to the Library's collection budget for fiscal year 2025-26.
Kanopy is a very popular online streaming service at Sewanee. The Library began offering Kanopy in 2016, making films available to students, faculty, and staff through what is known as a patron-driven acquisition program (PDA). A PDA program allows users to decide what films the library licenses. In the PDA program, four views of a film triggers a one-year lease of the title. Kanopy defines a view as a single viewing of a film for more than 30 seconds. On the fourth viewing, the film is “triggered” and a purchase is made by the Library. The purchased film is licensed for unlimited campus wide use for one year. The trigger happens behind the scenes and the viewer is unaware when a film is triggered. This limited window of 30 seconds means that films can be triggered even if they are not watched to completion. In an effort to eliminate purchases triggered by casual users and to focus on course-related use of the rich academic material included in Kanopy, Sewanee is moving to a mediated leasing model beginning June 1, 2025.
To place mediated access in perspective, the Library spends either $122.50 or $150 (depending on the title) for every film licensed through Kanopy. Last year alone, the Libraries spent nearly $20,000 on Kanopy titles. This cost is in addition to the many other streaming video platforms to which the Libraries pays for access, including Academic Video Online, Films on Demand, and Swank Digital Campus, to name only a few. This mediated approach will allow the Library to retain Kanopy as a resource to support the academic programs at Sewanee.
Current Sewanee students, faculty, and staff will continue to have unlimited access to films that are already licensed (until their expiration date). However, any unlicensed films must be requested via the online Kanopy form. Requests are limited to faculty. Students who need access to a film for classwork should discuss the need for the film with their instructor, who would then need to decide if a request should be made.
You will see this form appear for any films you select that the library is not currently licensing. In the message field, specify the use, including whether it is for an in-class screening or for individual viewing outside of class, and a need by date. Once received, we may email you for additional information before the library licenses the film. Please note that all currently licensed films will still be available for instantaneous viewing; the form will only be presented when clicking on unlicensed films.
Requests are received by library staff, who determine if the title is available in any existing collection. If a title is not already available, we will forward a request to Kanopy to license the film. We can typically fulfill the request within one business day.
Unsure whether we have a license for a specific film? Worried that a license you requested for a previous course is about to expire? You can always double check access and license expiration dates by looking at the following document:
Remember, because licenses are for one year, your film license may expire before you teach a course a second time. If this happens please request your film license again. The library will happily renew our license.
When we purchase a license from Kanopy or any other streaming video provider, we are licensing the content, but do not own the content. Licenses permit access for a defined period of time, in the case of Kanopy, we primarily purchase 1-year licenses but have the option to purchase a 3-year license. If you have a film that you anticipate using over several semesters, let us know so that we can consider a multi-year license, which will save us money.
Creating a Kanopy account is not required to access the Sewanee Kanopy library, but it does grant access to additional platform features. You can read more here: https://help.kanopy.com/en-us/4212.htm
Who can request a Kanopy film license?
The library will only purchase a film license at the request of a faculty member or an instructor of a course. Due to budget constraints the library cannot accommodate student requests at this time and any student purchase requests will be denied. If you are a student requesting a film license because viewing is required for a course you're taking, please contact your instructor and ask that they submit a Kanopy request on behalf of your class.
Can I show a film at an extracurricular event, outside of the classroom?
Though, as an instructor, you can show any Kanopy film as part of a course, not every film can be shown at a public extracurricular event. If you are interested in showing a film outside of the classroom, your film needs a specific Public Performance Rights license. To learn more about PPR and Kanopy read further on this page: https://help.kanopy.com/en-us/4141.htm
What do I do if I want to assign a film for next semester?
Submit your request. The earlier the better so that we can budget for it and make sure it's ready.
What can I request from Kanopy?
The University Libraries will only lease films for course use. We will not lease films for recreational or general viewing. Our limited budget only allows us to support academic use of streaming video. You are welcome to view any already licensed content but requests for personal use will not be approved.
How do I request a license for a Kanopy film?
If you click on a film title in Kanopy and see the Kanopy request form, it means we don’t currently have access. Complete this form and it will be sent to a library staff member for processing.
What happens after I make the request? How long will it take to get the film?
Library staff will first determine whether the title is available in any other library collection before approving in Kanopy, and will let you know if this is the case. We can typically fulfill the request within one business day. Requests made over the weekend or after hours may be processed the next working day. Once the film is available, we'll send you an email.
More questions?
Please contact the Electronic Resources Librarian, Pat Dover, (prdover@sewanee.edu) if you have any questions or problems using the site.
NOTE: Kanopy overview and FAQ text adapted with permission from Kutztown University.
Facebook