Librarians, fix your makeup! November 22, 2006

First of all, I would like to send a big thanks to this weeks presenters on Podcasting, they did a great job.

Before this class I listened to a couple of podcasts that I searched for on iTunes and downloaded onto my iPod. I looked for Spanish broadcasts to keep up my skills (ha!) and found one that I subscribed to for a while, but then it disappeared. I haven’t tried finding podcasts since. I have noticed them proliferating on news websites and have considered listening to some of them, but never got around to it. I guess I just felt as though I could read and filter news faster on my own then in having someone read it to me. A little silly considering I do watch the news, but that is my prejudice. But I have heard that some people love them… I just don’t know of anyone that does. I wonder if podcasting is another ‘RSS’; that is, I wonder if I tried it out for a while I would love it and wonder why everyone doesn’t do it. Nah. I just don’t see it. For one, the podcast that Amanda assigned two weeks ago annoyed me. It annoyed me because it was 40 minutes long and too many people were on it. I suppose this tells me that I would not like to have a distance course given entirely through podcasting. This week’s Educase reading helps me articulate why - it mentions that a downside to podcasting is that, when it is not done by a professional broadcaster, it can sound very amateur-ish.

But for arguement’s sake I think I will look for Spanish music podcast (Ritmo Latino!) and try it out for a while, and maybe try a news channel (CBC!).  Ha, I’m addicted to Ritmo Latino after one minute!

Now onto libraries using podcasting. I’ll start with the good. I really like the idea of broadcasting children’s storytime, like the Thomas Ford Library’s click-a-story (thanks to this weeks group presentation on Podcasting for that link). What appeals to me most is that I feel that the storytime librarians are professional presenters who are skilled in voice projections. But what about the pictures! I always liked the part where the librarian showed the pictures. Another great podcasting idea linked from the group presentation is the Waterloo Public Library’s city history tour, which they lend out on iPods and accompanied with a city map. People pay for audio tours in some cities, and in a lot of museums, so why not?

Now, in saying I’d start with the good, I implied that I would get to the bad/ugly. However, I didn’t hate any of the library podcasts I came across. To me this means that librarians have already thought of some great ways to use the technology and that we can feel free to imitate - thanks everyone!  This is not to say that all the good ideas are taken.  I think one podcasting trend in the future will have to do with the fact that Apple and other iPod-type devices are trending towards larger screens.  I see this as a sign that videos will be more popular than ever and podcasts should at least come with good cover art.  Librarians as vidcast/vodcast stars?