The BUFVC Moving Image Gateway includes over 1,400 websites relating to video, multimedia and sound materials. These have been subdivided into   over 40 subject areas. To suggest new entries or  amendments, please contact us by email or telephone or visit  the Gateway at  http://bufvc.ac.uk/gateway/

GB3D Type Fossils
This website – the world’s first virtual 3D fossil collection – is the result of a project led by the British Geological Survey and funded by Jisc. The database, which is still being populated, aims ultimately to hold records of all macrofossil species and subspecies found in the UK, including links to high resolution 2D photographs, stereo (anaglyph) photographs and a selection of 3D digital models, many of which can be reproduced by 3D printers. Freely available and aimed at researchers, university and school students as well as amateur geologists, the database collects information about invertebrates, bivalves, corals and plants, with plans to expand in the future to dinosaur bones and skeletons. Detailed metadata for each record, including locality, age, taxonomic identification and registration number, means that highly refined searches are possible. A selection of free software packages for viewing and manipulating 3D images can be downloaded here.

Channel N
Part of the PsychCentral website, ChannelN is a curated site which presents online videos about psychology, neuroscience, neurology, neuropsychiatry, as well as specific disorders and treatments. The range of material is diverse and covers lectures, documentaries, art films, educational videos, podcasts and user-generated public service announcements.

Media Berkman
These podcasts are produced by the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University and focus on the study of cyberspace and the internet in its social and legal context, with particular emphasis on how rapidly changing technology is impacting on democracy. Amongst the site’s offerings are media theorist Douglas Rushkoff speaking about his book Present Shock, which offers new ways of thinking about today’s digital landscape; a look at how changing technology is affecting knowledge workers and a report from a Circumvention Tools Hackfest , an event held in New York to build and improve applications to help activists in repressive regimes bypass censorship and surveillance.

60 Second Recap
This resource, which is primarily intended for secondary school students, presents sixty second summaries and analyses of works of classic literature. The site is the brainchild of Peter Osterlund, a former journalist and Hollywood screenwriter, who based the one minute concept on the idea that attention spans for small-screen video tend to lapse after around 60 seconds. All of the videos are presented by critic Jenny Sawyer, who also researched and wrote the content, which gives the site a unified and purposeful feel. Each literary work – including Crime and Punishment, Hamlet, and The Catcher in the Rye – consists of an ‘album’ of around ten 60 second videos on a different aspect of the work, including plot, characters, themes and symbols. The website currently has around 625 videos, covering 42 classic literary works, as well as a blog which reviews contemporary books of potential interest to teenagers and a space called Club Recap where users of the site can post their own 60 second recaps, like this version of Hamlet.

Although the site has been criticised for its somewhat breathless approach, its real potential lies in its use as a starting point for further discussion as well as encouraging students to think in a focused way. It helps that the videos are creative, communicative and funny but remain grounded in Sawyer’s knowledge and a serious understanding of the texts themselves.

Yovisto
A video search engine specialising in educational video content which provides access to 7800 videos of lectures and scientific conferences across the whole spectrum of academic research. Searching and viewing videos is free but users who register can use the other features on offer, such as tagging, commentating, uploading and organising videos. Yovisto started in 2006 at Friedrich-Schiller-University in Germany with the objective of developing a video search engine for academic lecture recordings. Amongst the universitites and organisations offering content via Yovisto are The Library of Congress, Berkeley and The Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton. The site also features a blog in which essays on selected topics are accompanied by lectures, suggestions for further reading and links to other resources on Yovisto.