Coming to academic partners in December 2026
More of your Infobase subscriptions move to one platform in December, and each one includes built-in tools that help students develop information literacy skills as they research.
In December, Infobase will upgrade Bloom’s Literature, Health Reference Center, History Center, Issues & Controversies, Science Center, and World News Digest to the new platform. If your library already uses Films On Demand or Credo Reference, your students and faculty know the platform, and these products move to the same place. The content your students and faculty use today stays the same, and you can preview the new experience today.
Preview access and dates for each product are in the Academic FAQ →
This one-minute overview follows a student research session on the new platform, from the first search to a finished citation.
Students choose sources by how easy those sources are to reach. Researchers drawing on two multi-year, federally funded user studies found that convenience influenced source choices at every stage of research, and younger participants showed the pattern most strongly.
The habits students form early tend to last. In a national survey of more than 8,000 college students, most reused the same research routines from one assignment to the next, and many traced those routines to high school.
Infobase designed its new platform so that curated reference and video content is the easiest place for college students to start. When the credible source is also the convenient one, students are more likely to build research habits that carry through college and into their careers.
Students and faculty reach every upgraded Infobase subscription your library offers from the same access point.
After a search, students can switch between subscriptions with one click to compare results. For example, a student researching the Dust Bowl can review results in the History Center, then switch to Films On Demand to see the same search in video. The result is transformative and changes individual subscriptions into one powerful learning ecosystem.
Reference desk hours and one-shot instruction sessions limit how many students an academic librarian can coach one-on-one. Infobase built research supports into its platform so every student gets a version of library guidance.
Starting research is the step students find hardest. In the Project Information Literacy survey, 84% of college students said they often got stuck at the beginning of a research assignment. Infobase has uniquely designed tools and features to directly combat research challenges:
Mind Map shows students how a topic connects to related subtopics, so they explore the broader subject before they narrow their research.
Topic Assistant helps students develop a research topic that is complex, feasible, focused, and fascinating. Those four criteria match the goals of a reference interview, so students work through the questions a school librarian would ask before they start searching.
Research tips and citation tools appear alongside the content, so students practice research skills as they work.
A lesson on Mind Map in History Center applies the next time students open Science Center, because each upgraded subscription uses the same research supports.
By the end of December, every Infobase streaming video collection and subject research database resource will be on the Infobase platform. Each collection benefits from the same tools.
Infobase redesigned each product with a group of trusted partner librarians. The work started from the research tasks their students complete every day. Those known use cases shaped the layout and tools in each product.
Infobase evaluated each product on its own. Layout and tools stay consistent across subscriptions wherever consistency helps students move between products. Each product’s experience also reflects its own users and use cases, so a student analyzing a novel in Bloom’s Literature and a student watching a documentary in Films On Demand each work in an interface suited to the task.
Infobase aligned the platform with WCAG 2.2 AA accessibility standards, so students who use assistive technology can work with every upgraded subscription.
By the end of December, every Infobase streaming video collection and subject research database will be on the new Infobase platform.
Each collection you add includes the same research supports and the same interface, and students reach it from the same place as your other Infobase subscriptions. A school subscribes to Films On Demand and Bloom’s Literature, for example, will provide students video and background reading on the same topic, one click apart.
The Infobase Loyalty Program helps partners add collections over time.
October: Preview the new experience for your upgrading products.
Mid-November: Join an academic webinar covering the December changes and platform basics.
Late December: Your upgrading products move to the new platform.
