Help
Help
Content
What content is available on Bloomsbury Video Library?
Bloomsbury Video Library is home to over 2000* films from top artists and independent filmmakers, aimed at arts education and arts practitioners. The unique Arts and Humanities collection (formerly available via Artfilms), available from launch of the platform, showcases the global diversity and breadth of the arts in its truly international content, with films originating from Australia, the UK, the USA, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Ghana, Hungary, Indonesia, Japan, Pakistan, Rwanda, and Switzerland. Featuring various films types, such as masterclasses, documentaries, and interviews, Bloomsbury Video Library includes films across the arts, humanities, and social sciences.
* Please note that territory restrictions apply. For more information, please contact your account manager.
The main subject areas are:
- Dance: Performances, documentaries, interviews and instructional videos covering a range of dance styles, including ballet, jazz, tap, and hip-hop, and coverage of dance traditions from around the world.
- Film & Media: Feature films, experimental films, documentaries and interviews with practitioners as well as documentaries on sound and lighting, editing, radio copywriting, TV lighting and more.
- Visual & Applied Arts: Interviews, documentaries, instructional videos and consumer TV covering fine art, performance art, new media art, architecture, fashion, design, craft, and decorative arts.
- Music: featuring films on Arvo Pärt, Pierre Boulez, Stephen Sondheim, and a number of contemporary jazz and classical performances.
- History & Culture: Documentaries and features covering Asian, Australasian, Latin American and African Studies, as well as Literature, Anthropology of Art, Politics, History, Gender & Sexuality, and Environment & Sustainability.
What content is suitable for schools?
Bloomsbury Video Library also offers five school-friendly purchasing options for the Arts and Humanities Collections. Explore over 1000* school-friendly films across Dance Collection, Film and Media Collection, History and Culture Collection, Music Collection and Visual and Applied Arts Collection, all curated for a school audience. School Collections are available on a Subscription and Perpetual Access basis. Please contact your account manager for more information or to start a free trial.
* Please note that territory restrictions apply. For more information, please contact your account manager.
As an Artfilms customer, will I be able to access all the same content now on Bloomsbury Video Library?
The majority of the former Artfilms content set is now available on Bloomsbury Video Library. Drama/theatre content will be available via Bloomsbury’s Drama Online platform. The Artfilms site will redirect users automatically once a film has moved to the relevant Bloomsbury platform.
Is the content included in Bloomsbury Video Library available online anywhere else?
There are 292 titles that are exclusive to Bloomsbury Video Library worldwide, and 1102 titles that are exclusive in certain territories or for specific purposes. Please contact your account manager for more information about title exclusivity in your region:
Does the resource cover video content across countries?
Yes! Bloomsbury Video Library houses content that originates from Australia, the UK, the USA, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Ghana, Hungary, Indonesia, Japan, Pakistan, Rwanda, and Switzerland.
What time period is covered?
The majority of content on Bloomsbury Video Library was created from 1970 onwards, and spans right up to 2021, however some of the films on the site are documentaries about historical events, so in terms of the subject matter those documentaries cover a time period as far back as the ancient world.
Will the resource be updated?
Yes, new content will be added to Bloomsbury Video Library twice a year from 2023.
Who is the resource for?
Bloomsbury Video Library is an invaluable resource for students, scholars and researchers in a wide range of arts and humanities subjects.
Previous title lists
If you are a perpetual access customer whose institution bought the History and Culture Collection or the Arts and Humanities Collection before October 2023, please download this History and Culture Collection title list. A small number of contents in the History and Culture Collection changed as of October 2023 due to changes in a supplier's licensing terms.
Using Bloomsbury Video Library
How do I find the information I need?
There are multiple ways of navigating the content:
- The main Search box in the header
- Advanced Search: search by title, author and year of release
- Explore options: browse lists by Subject, Theme, Period Featured, Period Made, Place Featured, Creator's Place of Origin, and Language
How do I use the video player?
Use the play and pause buttons to start and stop the video, or skip to a section of the video by hovering over the bar at the bottom of the video.
Where captions are available, click the CC button and select which language you would like captions to appear in.
Click on the Picture-in-Picture button to move your video to a small screen in the corner of your screen. You can then navigate to other pages on Bloomsbury Video Library.
Increase and decrease the volume of audio using the audio slider.
Click on the CLIP button to create a short clip of the video. Sign in to your Personal Account or sign up for one. Use the sliders to select the start and end time, then press "General URL". Copy the URL and paste it in an email or document, or find the clip in the "My Clips" section of your Personal Account.
Are transcripts available?
All videos in the Arts & Humanities Collection, Dance Collection, Film & Media Collection, History & Culture Collection, Music Collection, and Visual & Applied Arts Collection have captions where applicable. Additionally, transcripts are being added on a rolling basis, and all English language videos will have transcripts by January 2024.
All videos in the Opera collections have captions/subtitles and transcripts in English that are accessible to screen readers.
If a transcript is available, you can access it by clicking on the "Show Transcript" button underneath the video player. Search within the transcript to find a particular line within the video. Click on a word in the transcript to skip to the section of the video where that word is spoken.
Can I save items for reading later?
Yes! It's quick and easy for any authenticated user to set up a personal account to save videos to view later, organize saved items into folders, email and export citations, save searches and set up search alerts.
Follow the link in the header to 'Sign in to your personal account': you then have the option to select 'Sign up now' and enter a few personal details (name, occupation, country, email address and password) to create a Personal Account.
Please note you can use the same Personal Account details to sign in on multiple Bloomsbury platforms, including Screen Studies, Bloomsbury Popular Music, Drama Online, and other resources.
How do I cite videos from Bloomsbury Video Library?
From the content page, click on the 'cite' icon to view formatted citations in APA, MLA, and Chicago citation styles. You can also download a file in RIS format for importing into reference manager software.
Can I follow links to other online resources?
In future, we will be adding functionality that will allow you to see search results from Bloomsbury Video Library on your other Bloomsbury platforms. Check back soon for more details.
Access to Content
How do I subscribe to Bloomsbury Video Library?
Collections on Bloomsbury Video Library are available by annual subscription or perpetual access to institutions, including universities, colleges, schools and public libraries.
For librarians: visit the Librarians page to organise a 30-day free trial and to discuss pricing options.
Faculty members: recommend this product to your librarians! The full title list is posted on this page.
Once subscribed, visit Subscriber Services to:
- Download COUNTER usage statistics
- Check details of all your subscribed products from Bloomsbury
- Add or change details of your OpenURL resolver and Shibboleth credentials
- Add your institution's logo to the footer of Bloomsbury resources you subscribe to
- Edit your contact details
Do I need to log in to access the site?
Most institutions will set up their access via IP-authentication, which means that users are automatically 'logged in' when accessing through their institution. If you have been recognised as a user from a subscribing institution, this will be signalled by the 'Access provided by…' message in the site header. Some institutions require username and password access. If you are in doubt as to how to access the site, please contact your library.
Does the site support access via Shibboleth?
Yes. If your institution uses authentication via Shibboleth, select this option from the Log In page.
Is there a limit on the number of users that can use the site at the same time?
No, access is available on an unlimited simultaneous user basis.
Can I access Bloomsbury Video Library on a mobile device?
Yes, the site is responsive, and fully optimized for displaying on a range of tablet and smartphone interfaces. The site has been tested using recent versions of the iPad, iPhone, and Android smartphones and tablets. No web-enabled devices are specifically excluded, and there is no separate mobile site: the site layout adapts automatically depending on the size of the screen.
What browsers are supported?
Most browsers are supported including Chrome, Safari, Firefox, Edge, Chrome Mobile, and Safari Mobile. Please note that Internet Explorer was retired by Microsoft as of June 2022 so we are no longer able to guarantee support for this browser.
Does Bloomsbury Video Library conform to accessibility standards?
Bloomsbury Digital Resources is committed to ensuring equal access for all users of our resources, regardless of technology or ability. Like all our resources, we aim for compliance with Level AA of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.1 on Bloomsbury Video Library.
Please note that we are updating all videos with English transcripts and Closed Captions on a rolling basis. All videos in the Arts & Humanities Collection, Dance Collection, Film & Media Collection, History & Culture Collection, Music Collection, and Visual & Applied Arts Collection have captions where applicable and all English language videos will have transcripts by January 2024.
For more information, view our accessibility statement.
Subscriber Services
How can I view or update my subscription record?
Please visit Subscriber Services. Your administrative login will be required. If you have lost or forgotten your administrative login, please Contact Us.
Are usage statistics available?
Bloomsbury Digital Resources platforms provide usage statistics to customers in accordance with the COUNTER Code of Practice.
View the Usage Statistics page for more information
How do I access MARC records?
Visit this page to download MARC records for all collections.
