Video: Remote Collections: Digital Video
People are drawn
to video communications. Whether it's a football game on television,
a streaming news webcast, or a video recording of the moon landing,
video can provide motion pictures, animation, text and spoken words,
music, sound effects, and other visual and auditory elements.
The term "digital video" refers to a combination of sounds and/or images that are represented in the form of numbers that can be read by an electronic device. Digital video can be shared through media such as CDs and DVDs, but it can also be shared over networks such as the Internet. Many formats are used to store the files and they are viewed using a player such as Flash Player, QuickTime Player, Real Media Player, and Windows Media Player.
Accessing Remote Collections
We all grew up watching broadcast, cable, or satellite television. Today, there are a number of variations on these options such as on-demand video. All of these systems brought video into the home, school, and library.
The Internet has brought a new option for transmitting video. There are two ways to access remote digital video collections. They can be downloaded or streamed. In some cases, the end user can choose which method they prefer. In others, only one option is available.
Downloaded video is copied from a remote web server onto a computer hard drive, CD, DVD, or other storage device. Many types of files can be downloaded including QuickTime. Adobe Flash movies are another option. Downloaded video files can be placed on portable devices or played on the computer.
The major disadvantage of downloading video is speed. It can take hours to download high-quality video using a slow Internet connection. In addition, video takes up storage space. The major advantage of downloading is availability. Once the video is on your hard drive it can be viewed over and over again. It can also be inserted into Word or PowerPoint documents and shared off-line.
Streamed video is also downloaded from a remote web server, but the files are only temporarily stored while they are being played. Most of the popular video services such as YouTube and Hulu stream their videos.
Websites such as Zamzar and SaveYouTube can be used to download videos from some services. However it's important to check with each service to see if downloading is permitted under the Terms of Use.
For information
about downloading the plug-ins and player, check our 
Multimedia
Seeds: Drivers, Plugins, and Other Tools page.
Read more about streaming video by skimming the following articles:
- Streaming Video FAQs from Distance Learning Video Production Center, University of Massachusetts Boston
- VideoMaker: Video Streaming FAQ
Using Remote
The use of remote video collections is evolving. Until the 1990s, television was the major way to bring programming into your school, home, or library from the outside world. When the web was introduced in the early 1990s, few people had fast enough connections to download video. As a result most downloadable videos are very small video clips rather than full-length programs. With the introduction of faster connections and streaming video, viewing longer programs is now possible. Many people are even purchasing or renting full-length motion pictures and television shows online.
Go to the following sections and read about different kinds of remote collections: