Kaltura: Organize Your Media Collection

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 Kaltura/My Media is a multimedia repository that stores your educational media. However, there are a few steps to take to ensure your experience is efficient. Unlike computer hard drives, Kaltura/My Media does not come with a file folder structure. Instead, there are systems in place to help you find your media quickly and efficiently. However, to capitalize on your efforts when finding and filtering for videos, you will need to take steps to use naming conventions and tagging systems that make sense. 

First, to navigate to your My Media account: 
  1. Log into Canvas with your UWEC credentials.
  2. Click on the Account button (your picture) in the top-left-hand corner of the Global Navigation bar.
  3. Drop down and click on My Media.
 

My Media Views

If you have existing media in your collection, you’ll see it listed in a Table on your My Media page. The default view is called Detailed View. This view shows a thumbnail of the video along with the names, tags, descriptions, and publishing status.
The Detailed View is the default view in My Media and can be found to the left of the Add New button.
The Detailed View is the default view in My Media and can be found to the left of the Add New button.
 
This view can be changed to either (1) Collapsed or (2) Table View. To accomplish this, click on the Collapsed View or Table View icons next to the Actions menu. 
 
The Collapsed View eliminates the distractions within the other views to give you a cleaner look at the media stored within your My Media account.
The Collapsed View includes a list of video entries and connects to video analytics, editing, and delete buttons.
The Collapsed View includes a list of video entries and connects to video analytics, editing, and delete buttons.

 
The Table View has many important details associated with a video entry including the media ID, the type of media, the duration of the media, the number of plays, the updated date, and actions. The icons under actions will change depending on ownership and collaboration permissions.
The Table View provides the most detail of the views. The actions associated with the view include analytics, editing, and deleting.
The Table View provides the most detail of the views. The actions associated with the view include analytics, editing, and deleting.

Recommendations for Optimal Organization

To ensure you can filter and search for videos within your My Media collection, there are two important things you can do: 
  • Apply a meaningful name using naming conventions
  • Apply meaningful tags

Naming Conventions

Because Kaltura/My Media does not come with a file folder system and structure, the use of consistent naming conventions is important. A proper naming convention can help you find a media entry quickly when using filtering options. It is important for naming conventions to be clear and consistent for your students, but it is also helpful when trying to find content in My Media. 

The name of a video can be altered when a new media entry is created. The name of an existing entry can also be altered using the directions below. 
1. If you are editing an existing entry’s name, select the edit file information button to the right. 
 
The edit button is located in between the analytics and delete buttons.
The edit button is located in between the analytics and delete buttons.
 
2. Under the Details tab, edit the name by selecting the textbox. Use a hierarchical structure such as Year, Term, Course code, Section, Lecture (or module), topic and part number. For Example: 2024 Fall CETL 101-01 M1 Introduction Video.
Media entry information can be edited under the details tab.
Media entry information can be edited under the details tab.
3. Check for Accessibility: When naming a video it is helpful to Ask Yourself: If I read the file name out loud, does it make sense? If it does, then students using screen readers will be able to understand the title of the video as well. 
4. Omit the portions of the hierarchy that don’t make sense. 
5. Hit Save to update the name of the video. 

Tagging Systems

Just like naming conventions, tagging systems can help you find your media faster. This is especially true when using the search bar to find your media. Tags can be added to new entries or existing entries. 
 
A few recommended tags are: 
  • Course Code
  • Year
  • Academic Term
  • Topic
  • Keywords
 
Use the directions below to add a tag to an existing media entry: 
1. Select the edit file information button located to the right of the entry.
The edit button is located in between the analytics and delete buttons.
The edit button is located in between the analytics and delete buttons.

 
2. Under the Details tab, navigate to the Tags textbox. Add an appropriate tag into the box and select from the options that populate or hit the tab key on your keyboard.
Tags can also be found under the Details tab.
Tags can also be found under the Details tab.

3. Multiple tabs can be added by following step 2 for each tag being applied to a media entry. 
4. Hit Save to update the name of the video. 

Finding and Filtering Media 

Review the following KnowledgeBase article to help you find and filter your media entries stored in My Media.