Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Week 9

Podcasting - looks like there could be uses in the library, but would have liked more on how to do it for yourself and tips to avoid doing rubbish. Here's a blog about what to be wary of with podcasts : 6 reasons I'm not hooked on podcasts. Some sound advice for us if we choose to go down this path.

I noticed that the Library Success wiki page had a How to bit but several of the entries made reference to ringing a number and recording your podcast. Surely not? - might be a job for someone . . . sometime . . .

I'm a bit confused about the use of podcasting in some cases. I can see how they would be great for storytelling, etc. but for promoting library events? I think I'd really prefer to just read about the next great project. And you'd have to make sure the person doing the podcast had an appealing voice - use a monotone and it'd be a mono audience.

However, having looked at OCLS and LibVibe and the others, I can see how literary talks, storytelling and book reviews could be a good idea. And several people suggested using them for recording Living Books. As an online education tool they would be useful too. I liked on the OCLS site that you can download for your MP3/ipod etc, and/or watch it on video for some topics ~ I would have liked it even more if the link had opened and I'd been able to watch it. What a shame LibVibe seems to have stopped in June although the narrator illustrates my point above regarding annoying voices! I listened to a little bit of a podcast from Cheshire Public Library where they are using podcasts to give the local youth a voice - great idea - allows the kids to showcase their talents and air their views. This project is teen-driven.

While in the ABC site I could've gone mad - oh how careful you'd have to be about your download limits. I must admit though, I'm a little confused there too because the ABC had stuff about RSS feeds - can I use my bloglines RSS feeder or not? If not, I'll have to wait till I get home to subscribe to a podcast feeder. What I was really interested in was the ABC's new iView service but couldn't get it to work - not enough bandwidth for it I think - but could this be the start of something entirely new?

[One of the downsides of all this web 2.0 stuff is all the different things you have to join up to ~ I'm considering a spreadsheet to record them all, I'm loath to use the same login and password all the time but the number I have to remember is getting unwieldy and I'm running out of room at the back of my diary!]

2 comments:

Vicki said...

You made podcasts sound so much more appealing! I have to admit I was a bit ho hum about this week but you have given me food for thought - thank you (and I love the RSS feed icon with earphones)

pls@slnsw said...

You can subscribe to podcasts through bloglines - no need for a separate reader!

Ellen (PLS)