Collection Building

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the availability and features of Latin American and Spanish online videos available through video vendors and other providers to US academic libraries.

Design/methodology/approach – The paper examines US, Spanish, and Latin American video vendors that offer online videos about and/or are produced in Latin America and Spain. The study focuses on: content, technical aspects, and terms of purchase. For video vendors providing digital delivery systems, searching capabilities and special features are also analyzed. The paper also evaluates video providers interested in working with academic libraries. The availability of videos integrated in major multimedia databases is also explored.

Findings – The paper concludes that the Spanish and Latin American online video marketplace for academic libraries is still emerging, especially for those video vendors located abroad. The relatively small number of offerings are mostly documentaries. Streaming via internet protocol access is the most common way of delivery. Term licenses are standard and access is allowed both off-campus and on-campus.

Originality/value – Little research has been done on the availability of Latin American and Spanish online videos. This research would be especially useful for librarians responsible for collection development in these subject areas.