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Databases
Use the databases listed below to explore streaming video titles in our collection yourself.
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Film Platform Collection This link opens in a new window
(Alexander Street/PQ) Streaming video collection of 400+ titles, curated for academic audiences. Includes selections from prestigious film festivals plus many OSCAR®-nominated and OSCAR®-shortlisted documentaries. Click the red filter button to sort the catalog.
Captioning
All titles should be captioned. Please contact citylib@sdccd.edu if you find one that is not.
Public Performance Rights (to show outside the classroom)
"In the case of content that can potentially be publicly performed, Customer must secure permission from ProQuest’s Licensor and/or the copyright holder for any public performance other than reasonable classroom and educational uses." -
Films on Demand This link opens in a new window
(Infobase Learning) Streaming video collection of over 36,000 full-length videos and 275,000 video clips on a variety of subject areas. Includes documentaries and collections from BBC, California Newsreel, History Channel, HBO, Frontline, Ken Burns, Modern Marvels and many, many more. Find these three videos by title in the search box: California State of Mind, Paywall, and The Pushouts.
Captioning
Captioning available *except* for non-English-language videos and videos without dialogue; recently-added videos may take up to 3 weeks to get captioned.
Public Performance Rights (to show outside the classroom)
"Permitted Uses of the Web Platform: The Web Platform is licensed solely to Licensee and Authorized Users for classroom teaching, research, presentations, and educational non-commercial multimedia projects for use in educational institutions, provided no admission or other fees are charged for public viewing. Licensee and Authorized Users may stream, display, publicly perform, or exhibit the Video Titles asynchronously on a single computer or network, course management system, or password-protected Web Platform. Licensee and Authorized Users may electronically save, organize, and share Video Titles or parts thereof with other Authorized Users using tools provided with the Web Platform. Licensee may create and distribute transcripts." Click for Terms of Service -
Kanopy playlist This link opens in a new window
(Kanopy) This is a curated Kanopy playlist of streaming video documentary films requested by faculty to support their course content. Follow the red buttons to log Into SDCity with your school credentials. Then use the search box in Kanopy to find your video by title. Titles available:
- The 400 Blows
- Adjunct
- bell hooks
- The Codes of Gender
- Delano Manongs
- I Am Not Your Negro
- The Illusionists
- Jamaica and Tamarindo
- A Man Called Bee
- The Mask You Live In
- No Small Matter
- Precious Knowledge
- Seven Samurai
- Tough Guise 2
- Vincent Who?
- Visiones: Latino Art & Culture
- White Like Me
NOTE: New titles are added to this curated collection by faculty request only (contact citylib@sdccd.edu) when funds are available.
Captioning
All titles should be captioned. Please contact citylib@sdccd.edu if you find one that is not.
Public Performance Rights (to show outside the classroom) Public performance rights (PPR) are required for films shown shown outside the classroom environment. Not all Kanopy films have PPR, so please read this Kanopy page for more info: Does Kanopy Support Public Performance Rights? -
Swank Digital Campus This link opens in a new window
(Swank) Streaming video collection of 300 feature films from major Hollywood studios and other producers. Title list may change periodically due to licensing issues.
NOTE: The following films have restricted access and may not show up in a search of this database. If not, please send a request to your instructor or to citylib@sdccd.edu to get a link for student access:
- Barbie
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1
- The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes
- The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring
- The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
Captioning
All videos in this collection should be captioned. Please contact citylib@sdccd.edu if you find one that is not.
Public Performance Rights (to show outside the classroom)
Per our contract, "The Titles in this license do not include public performance." Campus events not tied to a credit-bearing class are considered public performance and would require purchase of public performance rights. Contact citylib@sdccd.edu to get information on licensing from the vendor (per day, per location, per title basis).
This page contains streaming media in the San Diego City College Library's streaming video databases. To access the videos below, you will need to authenticate into the database by using your Single Sign On login.
Documentaries
- Last Updated: Jul 14, 2025 3:38 PM
- URL: https://library.sdcity.edu/humanities
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