Movie streaming service offers free trial to Truman community

Truman State students, faculty and staff can now stream 100 movie titles through Swank Digital Campus.

The movie streaming service is offering a free trial to members of the Truman community until May 1. The movies can be streamed via the Pickler Memorial Library website and off campus using Truman’s VPN client or the virtual desktop.

The movies available to stream are the 100 films most requested from Swank by academic institutions. Title’s range from “Moneyball” to “West Side Story” and “The Shinning” to “Inception.”

Janet Romine, Head of Pickler Public Services, says while many of these titles are available to rent from Pickler, the advantage of the streaming service is being able to avoid possible waiting lists at the library and watch the movies instantly.

Richard Coughlin, the Libraries and Museums Dean, says it is unlikely Truman will continue to offer the streaming service after the free trial ends because of the high cost. He says the estimated costs are $11,000 per year for 100 titles and $3,000 per year for 25 titles.

“The service model is not ideal for us,” Coughlin says. “You can select films, but you select those for the year. The way our classes are run, people need different films different times of the year. This model has its attractions, but 100 films are not that many to satisfy what the needs might be. However, it’s still worth doing the trial to see the quality of the streaming, and maybe our faculty and students can use these films for a couple months.”