AIMS and Britannica Team Up

By Meg McCaffrey -- School Library Journal, 3/1/2004

Imagine having your own encyclopedic video jukebox. AIMS Multimedia, a producer of educational video programs for libraries, has joined forces with Encyclopaedia Britannica to create a new product that brings together the best of both companies. By June, about 30,000 of Britannica's articles will be added to DigitalCurriculum, AIMS's video-on-demand database. DigitalCurriculum contains thousands of full-length video clips and still images on K–12 curriculum topics that are integrated with lesson plans, teachers' guides, and interactive assessments and assignments.

In turn, the online version of Encyclopaedia Britannica will feature DigitalCurriculum's clips, and the new resources will add no extra cost for subscribers of either product. The combined product gives access to a database of online articles that are updated daily. For example, a search on Senator John Kerry conducted immediately after his Iowa caucus win turned up articles that included his triumph there.

AIMS has created about a third of DigitalCurriculum's 1,800 videos. Others come from video producers such as Weston Woods, CNN, and the BBC. The video clips average about 10 minutes in length for elementary students and about 30 minutes for high school students. Educators who use DigitalCurriculum's videos, through Britannica or not, also get access to a directory of curriculum-relevant videos that can be used to stress a particular lesson. Robin Landers, media director for the Dallas (TX) County Schools, says she likes how DigitalCurriculum's content is correlated to state standards, and she gives its customer support services a big thumbs-up.