Minutes after I came across an article in LLRX called Are You Ready for Podcasting?, I saw it had been selected as the Library Link of the Day. Ah, great minds…
Anyway, as I would have suspected, the author talks to Jim Milles of Check This Out! fame. As a podcasting law librarian, he is a logical choice. It’s worth noting that Ms. Crosby also records a regular segment for Mr. Milles on his show, so it wasn’t much of a stretch for her to interview him for this article.
One part that bears comment: “He quickly learned from his first few episodes that compiling notes and then talking for half an hour or even a full hour was not enough to hold an audience. Now each show is a number of segments strung together.”
Now Mr. Milles, to my memory, has always had segments in his show, even in the first episodes (unless he started podcasting elsewhere first). Things like “Librarians in Film” and the “Canadian Minute.” In fact, I would say that his show is somewhat less structured now than it was when he started, since those segments are gone and many shows consist of a single interview and Ms. Crosby’s segment. In some ways, I think this is a good thing, because segments can come off on the gimmicky side.
However, at many levels, I found the earlier shows more interesting. Then again, I am not the target audience: “He told me his primary audience is law librarians, but also includes others from the legal academic community, such as other law professors and the law students.”
But I have to disagree with the premise that talking for 30 minutes will not hold an audience. Completely depends on who’s talking and what they’re saying. There are a number of people who I will give 30 minutes of my time without reservation, but admittedly, you have to earn that with consistently quality content. I’m not sure I’ve earned that from my audience, but upwards of 300 people download each show within a week of publication, so that’s telling. My point is that content always comes first.
Mr. Milles mentions that “I would love to see other librarians doing this.” [Errr, ummm, cough, cough?]
“I tried to make my podcasts interesting to a wide variety of people, at least within the library community; but, I don’t try to speak for everybody. This is my own voice. I am trying to set an example or a model to show people it’s not that hard.”
Lest I come off as critical, Mr. Milles does an excellent job with his podcast and clearly has reach in the circles he is targeting. And I have listened to every show religiously, for that very reason.
Incidentally, you can listen to Ms. Crosby’s interview with Jim Milles as part of Check This Out! Episode 17.
