This presentation will explore a collection, or rather an absence of collection, of moving image works in a Canadian academic institution. Between March 2020 and March 2022, faculty at Concordia University requested over 2,000 films in streaming format to be purchased or licensed by the university library for course and research use. Approximately one third of these requests were unable to be fulfilled due to licensing and rights limitations. Funded by the Concordia University Library Research Grant, this presentation will provide details into an exploration of these requests, identifying trends and highlighting possible implications to the future of academia as a result.

This research project draws attention to how technological and format changes impact enduring access to information and how pivotal open scholarship is for the advancement of a learned society. As such, this project can be used to inform librarians and information practitioners across the country and around the world of rapid format change can impact access to information and content availability. Interest in streaming media has greatly expanded in recent years. Thus, the utility, and indeed the necessity, for this project, which draws a critical eye to resource gatekeeping in this new format becomes abundantly clear as more and more libraries are faced with navigating this new information landscape.