In the past few weeks, the Mercyhurst Hammermill and Ridge Libraries opened two new trial databases on their website for students.

The first trial database is called the Academic Video Online database, which is an academic collection of videos of all kinds. “The Academic Video Online is a premiere collection of videos, such as documentaries and news reels, that covers a wide range of topics,” said Darci Jones, director of University Libraries.

Academic Video Online was chosen because it fits the needs of the Mercyhurst faculty and student body.

“It checked every one of our boxes for every single subject, from art to health sciences,” Jones said.

Jones feels it can be a useful tool for both students and faculty.

“It is both a teaching tool and a learning tool,” said Jones. “It would allow faculty to place appropriate videos into their courses, and it would also provide students with another level of learning and give them a tool to use on projects.”

Additionally, the trial database allows users to clip certain parts of videos to use in projects, and it provides the appropriate citations. For example, if a student wants to place a 30-second clip of a documentary into a presentation, Academic Search Online would clip it and provide a citation.

The second trial database is called Country Watch, which provides cultural, economic, political, environmental, business and demographic news from around the globe.

“It covers every single country, and has all the latest information you could potentially have on a country,” Jones said.

While Academic Video Online focuses more on video, Country Watch is primarily focused on print news, and it operates similarly to a modern news site. The content available on the site is wide in its scope, covering news from just about any place one can imagine.

Similar to Academic Video Online, Country Watch also allows the user to insert content into projects and presentations.

The trial end date for the Academic Video Online database is Feb. 15, and the end date for the Country Watch trial is Feb. 16.

At the end of the trials, the University Libraries will make a decision to either purchase a subscription to the databases or not.

Future updates and other information regarding the trial databases will be found on the Mercyhurst University Hammermill and Ridge Libraries Facebook page.