Looking for vintage video? We’ve got you covered.
The VITA Digital Toolkit offers multimedia hosting for streaming in users’ browsers as well as download. See, for example, this wonderful video of the 1962 Wilfrid Laurier University Winter Carnival! Or this footage of a munitions factory shift change in World War Two. You can add GIFs too!
If you want to see province-wide video from VITA and other heritage organizations, just run a search on OurOntario.ca.
You can upload multiple file formats to allow users their choice of download. You can also choose to embed and link to Youtube videos right in the item record, for greater options – especially if your library already has a social presence on Youtube. We especially love the Kawartha Lakes Public Library’s video footage of a 1920s barn-raising:
We recently spent some time checking out all the great ways our member organizations are using Youtube to connect with their communities. Among our favourites are the Oakville Public Library’s “Oakville Heritage Moments” – check them out:
We also found a few wonderful videos introducing users to their digital collections, as well as slideshows and other ways to bring history to a new medium:
First and foremost is the definitive how-to video, from the West Vancouver Memorial Library.
The County of Brant Public Library has created a three-minute slideshow introducing their community to their VITA collections, showcasing a wide variety of materials.
St Marys Public Library uploaded a festive slideshow of wintery images from their joint collection with the St Marys Museum.
And the Schreiber Public Library produced a video essay about the materials in their collection documenting Japanese internment camps in World War Two, with audio from an interview with Yon Shimizu.
If you’re working with video and want to talk to us about how VITA can work for you, drop us a line. Or if you’re a VITA partner doing great things with Youtube or VITA-uploaded video and want to be featured on our blog, let us know!