Libraries Media Center

Online Media

On this page you will find a selection of online audio and video media resources. While some are restricted to UW community members (look for the UW restricted link), many are openly available to all. Do you know of others that should be included on this list? If so, let us know!

If you are looking for streaming audio or video reserves for a class given on the UW Seattle campus, go here and search for your class or instructor.

African American Song African American Song is the first online resource to document the history of African American music in an online music listening service. The collection contains a diverse range of genres such as jazz, blues, gospel, ragtime, folk songs, and narratives, among others (UW restricted).

American Memory - Audio Online audio collections from the Library of Congress' American Memory project. From Thomas Alva Edison's first cylinder recordings to oral histories about September 11, 2001, these recordings document the American experience.

American Song Includes historical songs by and about American Indians, miners, immigrants, slaves, children, pioneers, and cowboys. Included in the database are the songs of Civil Rights, political campaigns, Prohibition, the Revolutionary War, the Civil War, anti-war protests and more (UW restricted).

AP Audio - Includes downloadable clips of audio in categories of US domestic news, international news, and sports. The Associated Press is the backbone of the world's information system serving thousands of daily newspaper, radio, television and online customers with coverage in all media and news in all formats. It is the largest and oldest news organization in the world, serving as a source of news, photos, graphics, audio and video.This resource is NOT UW restricted.

ccMixter A community music site featuring remixes licensed under Creative Commons where you can listen to, sample, mash-up, or interact with music in whatever way you want. This resource is NOT UW restricted.

Classical Music Library The Classic Music Library is a streaming audio server that hosts over 10,000 recordings from the collections of more than 20 independent classical music labels. These recordings range from operas to symphonies to chamber music as well as many contemporary composers (UW restricted).

Contemporary World Music Will contain 50,000 tracks that deliver the sounds of all regions from every continent. The database will contain important genres such as reggae, worldbeat, neo-traditional, world fusion, Balkanic jazz, African film, Bollywood, Arab swing and jazz, and other genres such as traditional music - Indian classical, fado, flamenco, klezmer, zydeco, gospel, gagaku, and more. This release includes 1,082 albums, equalling 14,235 tracks (UW restricted).

Database of Recorded American Music Labels currently represented on the Database include CRI, Albany, innova, Cedille, XI, Pogus, Deep Listening and Mutable (UW restricted).

Freesound Project The Freesound Project is a collaborative database of downloadable Creative Commons licensed sounds. Freesound focuses only on sound, not songs. This resource is NOT UW restricted.

Internet Archive - Music This site contains over a hundred thousand free digital recordings ranging from alternative news programming, to Grateful Dead concerts, to Old Time Radio shows, to book and poetry readings, to original music uploaded by our users. Many of these files are available for free download. This resource is NOT UW restricted.

Librivox LibriVox provides free audiobooks from the public domain. There are several options for listening. The first step is to get the mp3 or ogg files into your own computer. This resource is NOT UW restricted.

Naxos Music Library This resource provides access to over 165000 tracks (11000 CDs) - the entire Naxos and Marco Polo catalogues, plus other licensed independent labels such as Cedille, Chandos, Klavier, New Albion, and Opera Rara (UW restricted).

Naxos Music Library Jazz Naxos Music Library Jazz is a comprehensive collection of Jazz music available online. It offers close to 20,000 tracks of jazz from over 1,850 albums. Over 500 jazz artists are represented. Naxos Music Library Jazz comprises Naxos Jazz and the 22 labels of Fantasy Jazz. Naxos Jazz, along with Prophone and Proprius (UW restricted).

Smithsonian Global Sound Smithsonian Global Sound is the largest collection of traditional, folk and world music available for streaming on the Internet. It also contains a large selection of sound effects and spoken word recordings. Global Sound draws from the Smithsonian Folkways collection as well as the International Library of African Music and the Archive Research Center for Ethnomusicology (UW restricted).

UCSB Cylinder Preservation and Digitization Project Wax cylinder recordings are the first commercially produced sound recordings, and UC Santa Barbara has digitized nearly 8,000 of them for your free listening pleasure. This resource is NOT UW restricted.

Annenberg Media - Multimedia resources aimed at helping teachers increase their expertise in their fields and assisting them in improving their teaching methods. Many programs are also intended for students in the classroom and viewers at home. All Annenberg Media videos exemplify excellent teaching. This resource is NOT UW restricted.

Dance in Video - Searchable database containing streaming video files of dance productions and documentaries by influential performers and companies of the 20th century. Selections cover ballet, tap, jazz, contemporary, experimental, and improvisational dance, as well as forerunners of the forms and the pioneers of modern concert dance. Videos can be browsed by people, role, ensemble, genre, and venue. Material types include documentaries, editorials, instructional, interviews, and performances. Database users may create their own custom playlists and video clips (UW restricted).

Europa Film Treasures 80 historic films from 15 European countries. Funded with substantial support the European Union, this online film archive hosts films held by such institutions as the British Film Institute, Filmoteca Española, Cineteca di Bologna, La Cinémathèque Française, and Filmarchiv Austria. This resource is NOT UW restricted.

FORA.tv - Delivers discourse, discussions and debates on the world's political, social and cultural issues, and enables viewers to join the conversation. It provides tools for self-expression and a place for the interactive community to gather online. This resource is NOT UW restricted.

JoVE Journal of Visualized Experiments (JoVE) is a peer reviewed, open access, online journal devoted to the publication of biological research in a video format. This resource is NOT UW restricted.

Google Video "Millions of videos" indexed and available for viewing." Particularly worthwhile Google Video channels include one from NARA and UC Berkeley. This resource is NOT UW restricted.

Internet Archive - Moving Images This library contains thousands of free, digital movies that range from classic full-length films, to daily alternative news broadcasts, to videos of every genre uploaded by Internet Archive users. Many of these movies are available for download. This resource is NOT UW restricted.

Library of Congress YouTube channel - Timeless treasures and contemporary presentations from the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. As the world's preeminent reservoir of knowledge, the Library of Congress is the steward of millions of recordings dating from the earliest Edison films to the present. This resource is NOT UW restricted.

Newfilm Online - A growing online resource of invaluable news footage drawn from various collections managed by ITN/Reuters. This resource is NOT UW restricted.

Opera in Video - A streaming video database that will contain approximately 250 important opera performances, captured on video through staged productions, interviews, and documentaries. Selections represent the world's leading performers, conductors, and opera houses and are based on a work's importance to the operatic canon (UW restricted).

PBS Video - PBS offers online viewing of many of its popular programs inclusing FRONTLINE, Antiques Roadshow, American Experience, The News Hours, and more. PBS’ broad array of programs has been consistently honored by the industry’s most coveted award competitions. Browsable by program or topic. This resource is NOT UW restricted.

Theatre in Video - Contains performances of the world's leading plays and film documentaries on the subject of theater in streaming video. Some plays presented in multiple productions exemplifying various interpretations of the text, and technical and cultural differences among the presentations. Stage work of directors and actors are cross-searchable and available for side-by-side comparison. Interviews with directors, designers, writers, and actors, along with excerpts of live performances, provide illustration of the development of texts and the productions. Includes the complete works of Shakespeare as produced by the BBC and other theatrical companies (UW restricted).

YouTube The most popular destination to watch and share videos on the web. Don't be fooled by its popularity or seeming triviality, there is a lot of archival and potential research material here. And while you are there check out the Media Center Channel! This resource is NOT UW restricted.

UWTV - University of Washington's television channel offers on-demand/online access to original, non-commercial educational programming — 24 hours a day, seven days a week. A unique educational resource, UWTV provides our audience with direct access to world-renowned scientists and researchers whose insights and discoveries are changing our world. This resource is NOT UW restricted.

Various Online Video Sites - Too much free time on your hands? Check out this long list of video sites. Though it was originally posted in 2007, users keep adding links to new sites. This resource is NOT UW restricted.