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Box of Broadcasts (BoB)
Your guide to using Box of Broadcasts (BoB), Learning on Screen's on demand TV and radio service for education
What is BoB?
With BoB you can:
- Record TV and radio programmes from over 75 free-to-air channels
- Search an archive of over 2.2 million broadcasts dating back to the 1990s
- Stream broadcasts anywhere in the UK, anytime
- Share resources via Moodle and reading lists
- Create clips to use in lectures or send to students
- Save playlists of your favourite broadcasts and series
- Never miss a programme with a buffer of 30 days
Access content from:
- BBC One, BBC Two, BBC Four, ITV, Channel 4, Film4 and more
- 10 foreign language channels: Italian, French and German
- BBC Shakespeare Archive content dating back to the 1950s
BoB is only available in the UK.
Sign in with your Manchester Metropolitan University ID and password. The first time you log in to BoB and follow a link, you will be asked to set up a BoB account. There are legal restrictions on the use of BoB content; please read the terms and conditions.
As there is no series link on BoB it can be easy to miss an episode of a series. We do however have a service called TRILT in which you can set up reminders and TRILT will email you with details of the latest upcoming broadcasts.
- First you must log in to TRILT.
- You can set your preferences, including name and email address using the link found on the left hand side of the page under the heading MyBUFVC. This will allow TRILT to email any auto alerts you set.
- Search for the programme you wish TRILT to remind you about. You can refine your search if you’re looking for a programme on a particular channel, or a specific date for example.
- You will then be shown the listings for any future programmes associated with your search. From here you can save your search by clicking Save as auto alert, found on the left-hand side in the section headed Current Search.
- TRILT will email you on your preferred day and remind you when the next episode is on so you never forget to record your favourite series on BoB.
FAQs
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How do I add links to BoB in Moodle?
To add a video, radio broadcast, clip or playlist to Moodle first pick where you want the link to appear. Switch on editing and then click on Add an activity or resource.
A box will appear to add a resource. Scroll down and select URL. Then click Add.
Here you can add a title, a brief description (this will not be viewable as user will be taken straight to the BoB video) and the BoB programme page URL.
Use the WAYFless link from the Share tab underneath the programme you wish to link to.
In the options box select New window under Display. This will make sure that the BoB page opens as a separate window, leaving Moodle open in the background. Or you can select Automatic if you want the video to open in the same web page.
Once this has been saved, your BoB link will appear in your Moodle area and is ready to use.
Please note: After following the link to BoB from a Moodle area, users will need to select Sign In, enter the name of their home institution, Manchester Metropolitan University and then enter their Manchester Met ID and password.
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How do I link to BoB in Aspire?
To add a recording to Aspire click Add to My Bookmarks or the bookmarklet extension as you would for other resources. You can also add clips and whole public playlists.
You will be taken to the Aspire page where you can rename your resource and add it as an audio-visual document.
Once added to your list, students will be taken directly to the video when they click on the ‘View online’ button.
You may wish to make your URL a WAYFless URL to make the link more direct for users. To do this use the base https://login.learningonscreen.ac.uk/wayfless.php?entityID=https://idp.mmu.ac.uk/shibboleth&target=https://learningonscreen.ac.uk/ondemand/ to which you can add the ID of the programme, clip or playlist you wish to link to, for example - playlists/103254. https://login.learningonscreen.ac.uk/wayfless.php?entityID=https://idp.mmu.ac.uk/shibboleth&target=https://learningonscreen.ac.uk/ondemand/playlists/103254
After following the link to BoB from an Aspire reading list, users will need to select Sign In, enter the name of their home institution, Manchester Metropolitan University and then enter their Manchester Met ID and password.
This process is also shown in the short video
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Do I need a TV licence to watch BBC programmes on BoB?
You do not need a TV licence to only access BoB. However, if you watch BBC iPlayer or any live TV or radio as well as BoB, then you would need the licence.
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Why do I receive a message on BoB saying ''Content not Available"?
BoB added iOS compatibility during a major upgrade in January 2014. The significant change that allowed this was switching from flash encoded files to MP4. The drawback of this was that all content recorded before the upgrade remained in flash. All clips are also encoded in flash.
The most likely reason the error message presents itself is that the browser flash plugin needs to be enabled or updated. You may have recently had an automatic update that has defaulted your security settings to block flash content. The other way to check would be to try and access BoB using an entirely different browser. Google Chrome is the recommended browser as they have their own inbuilt flash player.
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Does copyright apply to BoB clips?
Yes. Please see the Box of Broadcasts terms and conditions.
For help with using BoB, please contact the Library: