The Robert Morris University library offers a variety of resources designed to help students succeed in their classes. One of the little-known resources offered is the streaming website Kanopy. The service, which is offered to students through the library website, provides a variety of movies and television shows that can be used for different courses offered here at RMU.

Emily Paladino, the electronic resources librarian, has all the answers that students need when it comes to this lesser-known resource. She explained that Kanopy is a licensed academic library resource that is available to all students regardless of major. RMU originally licensed the website as a way to enhance its curriculum.

“Providing access to media through Kanopy is no different than providing access to journal articles through ProQuest,” Paladino said. “We have provided access to online article databases and to media in DVD format for decades, but Kanopy was our first experience with merging the two — providing media access through an online database platform. You can also create playlists of specific video clips, so that there is no need to fast-forward or rewind during a presentation.”

Despite being used as a valuable academic resource, Kanopy can also be used for causally watching many independent, foreign or classic films. Some well-known movies that Kanopy provides include “Loving Vincent,” “Night Of The Living Dead” and “A Star Is Born.”

Another streaming website the school provides for students is Films On Demand; this service is also found on the library’s website. As electronic resources librarian, Paladino also has the details on this service, too.

“Films On Demand provides a greater breadth of subject content and is probably more closely aligned with specific majors such as History, Sociology, Psychology, Political Science and English,” Paladino said.

Both Kanopy and Films On Demand can be accessed anywhere as long as you are signed into your Sentry account. Once you are on the library website, they can be located through the library’s databases. Listed in alphabetical order, the database will link you to the websites where you can watch any movie you want for free. Once accessed, students can create playlists and archive the different movies, so they can return and watch any time they want.