David King was, to my limited knowledge, the first librarian to make a foray into videocasting. It seems his interest has not waned as he offers a nice list of possible applications for video on your library’s website: Integrating Video into Library Websites.
He’s looking for other ideas and I will offer one here: short “Meet the Staff” clips. One of the things that sometimes gets lost in the library technology shuffle is the human element that really makes a library what it is. It can’t hurt to remind your patrons that there are real people behind the OPAC, behind the calendar of events, behind the Ask-A-Librarian form, behind the downloadable audiobooks. Give ‘em a glimpse of the people who make it all happen.
In trying to catch up on my feeds, I saw that the DIY Librarian listed Open Stacks as one of her Top 5 Library Blogs of 2005. I greatly appreciate the acknowledgement, but that’s not why I’m writing presently. This was the part of her post that caught my attention: “I have not been reading Open Stacks as much since the focus has turned to podcasting”
Now I’m taking that statement completely out of context, but it got me wondering: Does it bug you, gentle reader, that I only blog about podcasting these days? There really is a reason for it.
When I started recording the show, I reserved any general LIS comments for that environment. Quite frankly, I found it easier to share my thoughts verbally. The blog became mostly a support mechanism for the show.
Then, a surprising thing happened. The “podcasting librarian” somehow became the “librarian with expertise in podcasting.” This has meant not only numerous opportunities to share my knowledge, but an impetus to maintain the currency of my knowledge. Thus, even though life has made it near-to-impossible to get back to actually producing the show, I feel compelled to keep current in the one area I’m considered to have some level of specialized knowledge. So blogging is now the mechanism by which I maintain my expertise in the topic of podcasting. Of course, if you have no interest in the topic, the blog is of limited value. So be it. For what it’s worth, I enjoy having a niche that beats a slightly different drum.
Hugs and kisses to everyone who has stuck with me through the “life trumps blogging/podcasting” stage. I am quite anxious to get back to the show. I have some new equipment to try out.
Gary Price highlights a series of interesting interviews from the Coalition of Networked Information 2005 Fall Task Force Meeting. Some serious information professionals here, including NYPL’s Barbara Taranto and Purdue’s James Mullins.
The interviews and descriptions are available over at Educause. All of these interviews and more are available via the Educause podcast feed.
Nifty little article in the Cheshire (CT) Herald entitled “Librarian Hopes To Attract Teens Via Radio Podcasting”. In short, Sarah Morgan, freshly appointed to the new teen librarian position at Cheshire Public Library, saw an opportunity to get more teens in her library with the alluring blend of creativity and technology.
“Teens who are interested will host a 30-minute ‘episode’ once a month that would include 10 minutes of creative work, 10 minutes of reviews of either literature, movies or video games and a 10-minute event announcement or interviews with other teens. Those involved will have total control over their ’station’ with the help of Morgan working as the ‘producer’.”
Wow. Pretty ambitious. I hope she pulls it off. There’s already an podcast information page on the library’s website. I like her description of the podcast as a “teen-driven cultural magazine.” Good luck Sarah!
