University Libraries

By Tina Beis and Katy Kelly

The 1990s are merely 10 … wait, 30 … years ago (You’re killin' me, Smalls!), and we’re excited to rewatch some of our favorite films not on VHS, but streaming for free from UD's new subscription database, Feature Films for Education, a service of University Libraries made possible by OhioLINK and Governor's Emergency Education Relief (GEER) funds. 

Feature Films for Education offers hundreds of full-length feature films for instructional purposes. You’ll find streaming films from 20th Century Studios and Searchlight Pictures, including dramas, literary adaptations, blockbusters, classics, science fiction, environmental titles, foreign films, social issues, animation studies, Academy Award winners and more. 

UD faculty, staff and students will have access to this resource until May 31, 2022, so you can plan the next academic year with a wider selection of streaming video than ever before. 

Our curated list of favorites include:

Tina

• The Sandlot: This feel-good film about a group of young baseball players during the summer of 1962 will have you quoting the movie For-Ev-Er.
• FernGully: The Last Rainforest: This 1992 animated musical fantasy film shares a powerful message about conservation, with the late Robin Williams voicing one of the main characters, the fruit bat Batty Koda.
• Rookie of the Year: Before he starred in the American Pie films, Thomas Ian Nicholas played Little Leaguer Harry Rowengartner, who pitched for the Chicago Cubs after an injury made him able to throw a 100+ mph fastball.
• Great Expectations: Pre-Goop Gwyneth Paltrow and ‘90s heartthrob Ethan Hawke star in this adaptation of the Dickens classic.

Katy

• Empire Records: Experience one day amongst a group of tight-knit record store employees trying to save their store from going corporate. Save the Empire!
• Drive Me Crazy: A high school romantic comedy where two neighbors from different social circles pretend to date each other. A makeover results in the actor Adrian Grenier (Chase) wearing a leather jacket and khakis from the Gap.
• The Pagemaster: This literary adventure story proves that libraries — and the stories within them — are magical.
• Edward Scissorhands: The title character, an artificial man with scissor blades as hands, is used to life in solitude. Edward moves to the suburbs. Dark comedy ensues. 

Browse Feature Films for Education for a huge selection of films that aren’t available anywhere else. You can also search the Libraries catalog for a specific film title. We’re hopeful this new resource brings more joy than Rex Manning Day. 

What else is new?

OhioLINK was awarded GEER funds to purchase new library resources to support faculty and students in the hybrid learning environment. These new digital resources include no-cost textbooks and streaming video, e-labs and e-books that can be used as instructional support. 

The digital resources and the University of Dayton-specific links also include:

• Films on Demand offers a large variety of curriculum-focused streaming video titles from producers such as Films for the Humanities and Sciences, PBS, A&E, History, ABC News, BBC, NBC News, Biography and National Geographic. This resource offers thousands of streaming videos in a broad range of subjects, from health and medicine to humanities and social sciences — and even feature films. It's easy to share videos, segments and your own curated playlists via permanent links or embedded in Isidore.
• JoVE Core Science Videos + Lab Manuals includes biology, chemistry and social psychology content.
• MIT Press Direct features more than 3,000 e-books from MIT Press.
• SAGE Business Cases spans a wide range of business and management disciplines from leadership and entrepreneurship to family business and women in leadership.

These can all be accessed from the University Libraries' database listing. Contact your department's library liaison for more information about what is most relevant for you and how you can use it in your courses. Please see OhioLINK's GEER Resources for Faculty website for more information, including webinar and training opportunities.

— Tina Beis is associate professor and the new director of collections strategies and services. Katy Kelly is an associate professor and coordinator of marketing and engagement. Both were born in the 1980s but credit the '90s for building their character.