Canal-U in the spotlight in the Bulletin des bibliothèques de France (French Library Bulletin)

The scientific audiovisual platform at the core of the ‘Audiovisual and Multimedia in Libraries’ feature

Audiovisuel et multimédia en bibliothèque — © BBF

The first thematic issue of the year from the Bulletin des bibliothèques de France (French Library Bulletin) includes a feature on Canal-U, a key player in scientific audiovisual publishing.

The BBF’s latest thematic issue explores the growing role of audiovisual and multimedia resources in libraries, marking the 50th anniversary of the decree establishing the legal deposit of videograms. Titled Audiovisual and Multimedia in Libraries, the issue examines usage, formats, business models and the distribution challenges linked to these resources.

In this context, the Canal-U team has contributed an article entitled Canal-U: A Leading Scientific Audiovisual Platform for Libraries. The article outlines the platform’s key features, operating model and editorial approach, and highlights its mission to make research and higher education audiovisual content accessible in line with scientific quality standards.

Canal-U: a major platform for scientific audiovisual content in libraries

Excerpt from the article (in french)

« Dans un monde où l’accès à l’information et à l’éducation s’effectue de plus en plus en ligne, les bibliothèques, via leurs portails en ligne, jouent un rôle crucial en offrant des ressources variées et de qualité à leurs usagers. Si l’écrit demeure un pilier fondamental de la diffusion du savoir, les supports audiovisuels occupent une place grandissante dans les pratiques de recherche et d’enseignement. Dans ce contexte, Canal-U (www.canal-u.tv) se distingue nettement en offrant un accès libre à un vaste catalogue de vidéos et de podcasts scientifiques que les bibliothèques peuvent facilement moissonner. Cette plateforme constitue une ressource essentielle pour les établissements qui souhaitent diffuser et partager des ressources audiovisuelles fiables et enrichies. »

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The article highlights the documentary tools that facilitate the integration of Canal-U resources into library catalogues:

the assignment of a DOI to each resource, ensuring citability and long-term referencing;
harvesting via the OAI-PMH protocol, allowing for the automatic collection of metadata through the platform’s repository (https://www.canal-u.tv/oai);
metadata standardisation, using RAMEAU subject headings, interoperability with the IdRef authority database developed by ABES, and compliance with academic metadata formats such as Dublin Core and Sup-LOMFR.

Thanks to these tools, libraries can integrate, promote and disseminate scientific audiovisual content within their own digital environments, offering users reliable, free and enriched access to resources produced by research institutions.

→ Read the article online (in french)

Nadège LARCHER, Joséphine LOTERIE et Damien POÏVET, « Canal-U : une plateforme audiovisuelle scientifique de référence pour les bibliothèques », Bulletin des bibliothèques de France (BBF), 2025-1.