Media Lab: Resources

Resources for your projects

On this page you'll find resources to help you with your digital media projects, including links to places you can search for music, photos, and video you can incorporate into your own works, databases and tutorials to help with projects, and links to software you can download from home.

Database Resources

The Library offers several great databases to help customers enhance their learning experience.

LinkedIn Learning provides video tutorials and full courses on learning available software and techniques. Using the search box, you can jump directly to content in a tutorial to help you get to the heart of your inquiry faster. Some courses can link to your LinkedIn profile to show your training has been completed. This is free with a valid COD Library card. Below are some courses offered through this database to help you get started on different media projects. Editing video in Adobe Premiere Pro Create an infographic in PowerPoint Learn audio recording and editing in Audacity

OReilly for Higher Education provides full textbook and "for dummies" books to aid users of all levels in software and techniques. Using the name of programs or keywords, a customer can pull up courses or textbooks to read via any tech device in our out of the Library.

Open Source Software

While the Library does not endorse any programs over others, we have found the following open-source media creation applications can be downloaded and used free of charge on Mac and Windows computers. Many of these are professional alternatives to paid software and share many of the same tools and layouts.

Video Production

• Teleprompter 

Video Editing

• DaVinci Resolve
• Kdenlive

Photo Editing

• GIMP

Digital Illustration

• Inkscape

Audio Recording and Editing

• Audacity

Online Media Sources

There are many resources online for finding videos, images, and music you can use in your projects. Below are a few places to start your search. The Library does not guarantee that everything you find at the following links is in the public domain, or otherwise available to be used or reproduced in your project; it is your responsibility to determine the copyright status of any materials you want to use. To learn more about copyright check out the COD Library’s Copyright Guide.

COD Library Image Databases

• Search several database collections for thousands of images from many different subject areas.

Stock Images and Videos

• Search Pexels and Unsplash for free images and video with Creative Commons licenses
• Archive.org is a resource for finding archival video, images, and sound
• Vimeo Creative Commons is a resource for original video content
• Flickr is a photo sharing app

Music

• Free Music Archive offers a mp3 format sounds with a mix of free and paid options
• Creative Commons has a list of sites with music published under a variety of Creative Commons licenses

COD Curriculum Support

When choosing what equipment the Media Lab has to offer for your curriculum, consider some of the following curated ideas that correspond with COD's main areas of study page.

• Business and Information Technology
  • Camtasia for videos over presentations
  • Green screen space or checkouts for headshot photos
• Career & Technical
  • Cameras for photographing projects
  • Projector for home visits where connect to tablet to display recommended changes on wall
  • Projector, grip arms, and tripod to put maps or diagrams down onto a table
  • 360 cameras to photograph projects or spaces
• Culinary & Hospitality
  • Cameras for photographing projects
  • Projector for home visits where connect to tablet to display recommended changes on wall
  • Projector, grip arms, and tripod to put maps or diagrams down onto a table
  • 360 cameras to photograph projects or spaces
• Education
  • Camtasia for videos over presentations
  • Green screen checkouts for changing out the background of photos
  • Cameras and videocameras to record student teaching or fitness techniques
  • 360 cameras to photograph projects or spaces
• Fine & Applied Arts
  • Capture card for recording or streaming animation or camera to computer
  • Cameras and videocameras to record performances, projects, "lookbooks", and more
  • 360 cameras to record art installations
  • Light tent in Film Production Studio for product photography
  • Apps like Procreate, iReal Pro, or Steve Reich on the iPads
  • Studio spaces to record
  • VR headsets for 3D modeling
  • Speaker for live or outdoor performances
• Health Sciences
  • Cameras and videocameras to record training videos
  • Software to create brochures, posters, or informational handouts
  • Camtasia for videos over presentations
  • VR headsets for 3D databases
• Liberal Arts & Communication
  • Studio spaces to record
• Public Services
  • Projector, grip arms, and tripod to put maps or diagrams down onto a table
  • Cameras and videocameras to record training videos
  • Speaker that can connect with multiple devices for outdoor scenario trainings
• Social & Behavioral Sciences
  • Camtasia for videos over presentations
  • Green screen space or checkouts for headshot photos
• STEM
  • VR headsets for 3D databases
  • 360 cameras to photograph projects or spaces
  • Cameras and videocameras to record projects, work study, or experiments

If you are in one of these programs and find a certain piece of equipment or software is very useful to classwork, please let us know. We are happy to review and add suggested uses to this list.