Undergraduate university students experience a knowledge gap when required to use unfamiliar software applications without the benefit of direct instruction. As a solution, students often turn to online support, particularly video, but little is known about students' perceptions of the effectiveness of support videos. As libraries are a principle resource on campus where students can seek additional academic help, library staff can benefit from a study of student perceptions of the effective qualities of online instructional support video for software knowledge development. Understanding student perceptions can increase the effectiveness of library staff instructional video and improve the knowledge gap of undergraduate students. This study employed the theoretical framework of Mayer's Cognitive Theory of Multimedia Learning (2001) to explore the perceptions of undergraduate students of the effectiveness of instructional videos. This basic qualitative study sought to gather information on undergraduate students' perceptions of the qualities of effective online software instructional videos through descriptive survey and semi-structured interviews with thematic analysis. Themes discovered revealed positive perceptions of video with a natural class setting and personalization as well as desires for previous experience with software, more interactivity and segmenting, and the development of skills perceived as useful for the future. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com.bibliotheek.ehb.be/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]