Alexander Street Press and Prelinger Archives today announced a partnership to provide more than 1200 hours of streaming video, drawn from the Prelinger ephemeral films collection, to libraries around the world.  These films complement, but are in addition to, the titles made available through the Internet Moving Images Archive.

As part of Alexander Street's Critical Video Editions™ platform, this new collection will offer researchers, educators, teachers, and public library patrons unprecedented search, browse, and sharing capabilities. Users will also be able to make their own clips of specific scenes, organize them into playlists, and then share those playlists with other users.   

The films in this exclusive collection, never before available online, are some of the most vivid historical and cultural documents in existence.  These are not "Hollywood" films: they were made by corporations, educators, advertisers, and ordinary people for specific purposes, and they reflect the social and cultural themes of their time. From abstinence-promoting educational films to early automotive "infomercials," these works are key to understanding a century in which media and persuasion are deeply intertwined.

In addition to the videos, the collection will feature extensive, searchable transcripts and context-enhancing documentary essays written by noted historians and scholars.

"I'm excited at the idea of publishing these films in a curated collection," says Prelinger Archives founder Rick Prelinger. "The films we've already put online through the Internet Moving Images Archive have proven very popular, and this new Alexander Street Press collection of 1200 additional films will only increase the interest in, and appreciation of, ephemeral films."

"I've long been a personal fan of Prelinger Archives," says Alexander Street President Stephen Rhind-Tutt, "and I'm thrilled to bring our expertise to bear on these historically important works. Anyone interested in the social and cultural history of America will find this collection indispensable."

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ABOUT ALEXANDER STREET PRESS: Founded in 2000, Alexander Street Press has garnered a wide array of awards and critical acclaim for its databases, including Women and Social Movements, Theatre in Video, Classical Music Library, Black Drama, North American Women's Letters and Diaries, and many others.
Alexander Street combines the skills of traditional publishing, librarianship, and software development to create Semantically Indexed electronic collections with a reputation for quality content, ease of use, and uniquely powerful search capabilities. To learn more, visit www.alexanderstreet.com

To learn more about Prelinger Archives' ephemeral films collection, view the short video below, or visit www.prelinger.com