Podcasts in Libraries: Reference Services

1. Podcasts in Libraries:Reference Services LIS 262 Advanced Reference April 19, 2006 Kathryn Shaughnessy Instructional Services Librarian

2. Podcasts: History & Overview A podcast is… A growing method of delivering audio information • Time-shifted • Place-shifted • An informational “broadcast” saved as an audio file (mp3) and distributed via the web (strictly speaking via RSS) • Listeners download/listen at their convenience via desktop/laptop or on a personal player

3. Podcasts: History & Overview Podcasting timeline… • August 2004: “iPodders” search for a way to retrieve old blogs and audiofiles – develop RSS (Winer) and podcast software (Curry) • July 2005: iTunes supports/distributes podcasts, get 1 million subscribers in first 2 days • August 2005: 8,000 podcasts, 6 million listeners • December 2005: Podcast selected as “Word of the Year” by editors of New Oxford American Dictionary: "a digital recording of a radio broadcast or similar program, made available on the Internet for downloading to a personal audio player" • January 2006: iTunesU offers “free” courseware distribution Hobson and Holtz Report, 8/4/2005 http://forimmediaterelease.biz/index.php/weblog/2005/08/05/ ) Oxford University Press, US website, http://www.oup.com/us/brochure/NOAD_podcast/?view=usa

4. Podcasts: History & Overview Podcasting evolution … • Personal / information sharing • Business applications • Religious groups • Education & Distributed Learning

5. Podcasts: History & Overview Noted benefits of podcasts in learning/instruction • playback of difficult content/material • multiple repetitions for listeners who have difficulty with English • allows for review/enjoyment of materials while multitasking (e.g.: commuting or exercising).  • inspired creation of podcasts among listeners • increased “frequency and depth” of learner interaction, especially in language & music   • increased communication between users, library and IT; led to improved collaboration and planning, both within & among institutions. Duke Report, 2004 - 2005

6. Current Uses of Podcast Resources Reference-quality lectures (NPR, Stanford & Princeton)

7. Current Uses of Podcast Resources • Reference-quality lectures (NPR, Stanford & Princeton)

8. Current Uses of Podcast Resources Reference-quality lectures (NPR, Stanford & Princeton)

9. Current Uses of Podcast Resources • Patron Instruction / Orientation (Drexel)

10. Current Uses of Podcast Resources • Community News (U. of Western Ontario)

11. Current Uses of Podcast Resources Outreach to potential students/users/members (Peterson’s)

12. Current Uses of Podcast Resources • Scholarly Communication (U. of Florida)

13. Current Uses of Podcast Resources Audio tours (Purdue)

14. Current Uses of Podcast Resources CE / Professional Development (LOC, LIS radio, InfoSpeak)

15. Current Uses of Podcast Resources CE / Professional Development (LOC,LIS radio, InfoSpeak)

16. Current Uses of Podcast Resources CE / Professional Development (LOC, LIS radio, InfoSpeak)

17. Finding External Podcast Resources Finding New Podcast Resources: • Podcast Directories • Blogs and your favorite websites • Suggestions from others

18. Finding External Podcast Resources Directories • A Google search for “podcast Directory” yields biggest directories, with search menus

19. Finding External Podcast Resources Directories iTunes iTunes  music store  podcasts  education

20. Finding External Podcast Resources Directories yahoo Browse by popularity or by categories

21. Finding External Podcast Resources Directories podcast.net Browse by popularity, categories or use the keyword search

22. Finding External Podcast Resources Directories PodZinger Searches for words by scanning content within all podcasts, (note “Science Update” subset)

23. Podcasts as Library Resources Finding New Podcast Resources: • Podcast Directories • Blogs and your favorite websites • Suggestions from others

24. Finding External Podcast Resources Blogs and your favorite websiteswill alert you about podcast trends and where podcasts are showing up! • 2005 was the year of the podcast

25. Finding External Podcast Resources RSS syndication • Because podcasts are “digi-born” and are generally posted on webpages or syndicated through blogs, one of the the best ways to keep track of new podcast resources is by using RSS feeds to monitor blogs and websites Utilizing RSS requires • choosing an RSS reader • free or fee-based • Desktop or web-based • inputting RSS feeds Investment of time: • to learn the aggregator • to build up *your* collection of sites/feeds • to weed out less-helpful sites over time

26. Finding External Podcast Resources Practical Questions about using RSS for podcasts: Choosing an RSS reader • FeedReader free, client-based, Open Source (http://www.feedreader.com/) • MyYahoo & GoogleReader Browser-based • Newsgator (www.Newsgator.com) Browser-based • Bloglines (www.bloglines.com) Browser-based • Directory of readers is available through dmoz: http://dmoz.org/Reference/Libraries/Library_and_Information_Science/Technical_Services/Cataloguing/Metadata/RDF/Applications/RSS/News_Readers/

27. Finding External Podcast Resources Practical Questions about using RSS for podcasts:

28. Finding External Podcast Resources Podcast Resources: Choosing an RSS Reader Feedreader If the summary sounds intriguing, click the link to see to original web page

29. Finding External Podcast Resources Podcast Resources: Choosing an RSS Reader GoogleReader

30. Finding External Podcast Resources Podcast Resources: Choosing an RSS Reader NewsGator Newsgator allows you to download the podcast in their compatible “FeedStation player” or you can right-click and “save-as” Add to my podcasts

31. Finding External Podcast Resources RSS for Podcasts & Professional Development in Libraries • RSS feeds from Professional Associations: ACRLog:http://acrlblog.org/index.php?feed=rss2 • RSS feeds from Professional Journal-Blogs Library Journal Tech Blog:http://www.libraryjournal.com/LJTechblog.xml • RSS feeds from sites/blogs by other practicing librarians Stephen Bell (Academic) : http://keptup.typepad.com/academic/atom.xml • RSS feeds from Vendors/Innovators OCLC Lorcan Blog:http://orweblog.oclc.org/index.xml Stephen’s Lighthouse: http://stephenslighthouse.sirsi.com/index.rdf

32. Finding External Podcast Resources Newsgator.com account for LIS262: Once signed-in, click on WebReader (upper left corner) and navigate through the My feeds folder Note: a story on the use of iPods from LJ tech blog

33. Finding External Podcast Resources Finding New Podcast Resources: • Podcast Directories • List-servs • Blogs and your favorite websites • Suggestions from others • Users • Other librarians • Subject experts/ co-workers/ faculty • Collaborate in a wiki! http://podcastresources.pbwiki.com

34. Finding External Podcast Resources Finding & Sharing Podcast Resources:http://podcastresources.pbwiki.com editing password: collabor8

35. Library of Congress http://www.loc.gov/today/cyberlc/results.php?cat=2&mode=a FirstGov http://firstgov.gov/Topics/Reference_Shelf/Libraries/Podcasts.shtml OYEZ Supreme Court Podcasts http://www.oyez.org/podcast/ WhiteHouse Radio Addresses: http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/radio/ NASA http://science.nasa.gov/podcast.htm AAAS Science podcast http://www.sciencemag.org/about/podcast.dtl UNICEF http://www.unicef.org/videoaudio/video_podcast.html BBC http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/downloadtrial/ NPR http://www.npr.org/rss/podcast/podcast_directory.php For these and additional resources, see the wiki Finding External Podcast Resources

36. Creating Internal Podcasts Creating New Podcast Resources: In addition to compiling and indexing lecture podcasts as reference tools, some libraries are leading the way with demonstrating how podcasts can be used to enhance work, school and research environments • offering virtual tours and audio guides for patron instruction • recording guest lectures • promoting services, news and community events

37. Creating Internal Podcasts “Programming” Podcasts captured by the St. John’s Libraries • Poetry Readings: Poets Maria Mazziotti Gillan & Jane Augustine; Graduate Poetry Class reading/final exam • Author visit: Richard Vetere “Third Miracle” • Guest Lectures: Italian Consul General and diplomat, Minister Antonio Bandini on “Italy and World Diplomacy” and McKeever Chair, Paul Lauritzen’s Lecture on “The Commodification of Education” • Student essay winners, e.g.: Service Learning Essay • Title III Project: Colloquia & meetings

38. Creating Internal Podcasts Instruction-related Podcasts • Audio Tours: of physical library & library website • Database Tutorials: Audio guide to supplement current online and paper-based tutorials • Distributed Learning: Greetings from director, Orientation to using CMS, Intranet and/or information portal; Podcasts of instructional workshops, for patrons who cannot attend during instruction sessions • Professional Development: Podcasts of professional / association meetings; podcast of information sessions for fellow faculty/staff; Continuing Education lectures/workshops

39. Creating Internal Podcasts Practical Questions for creating podcasts: • Investment of Money: • Computer (Laptop or Desktop) • Audio editing software (Audacity = free) • good microphone ($50) • headphone equipment ($40 - $60) Can record using a Laptop with Mic or purchase a digital Voice recorder ($40 – 80) to use with or without a lapel mic ($25) (see equipment handout for more information)

40. Creating Internal Podcasts Practical Questions for creating podcasts: • Investment of time: • learning editing software -- not long to learn basics of Audacity • editing -- this takes the most time, if lengthy session • annotations – depending on how/whether you want to make it easy for your users to preview or skip to point within a podcast • Adding metadata – not long, but important • Uploading – not long

41. Creating Internal Podcasts Practical Questions for creating podcasts:Sonic software Audacity(interface shown below) is free, open-source audio software available for MAC, Linux and PC. More information, including tutorials for Downloading Audacity and Basic Editing in Audacity are available on the wiki

42. Creating Internal Podcasts Technical Questions: • How many files/downloads can the server handle? • 8 minute podcast, saved bit rate 64 size: 7 MB time to download on T1: 10 seconds • 70 minute lecture, saved bit rate 64 size: 28 MB time to download on T1: 22 second • How do we index / store / retrieve? • How do we handle preservation/archiving of files

43. Creating Internal Podcasts Legal Questions: • Release form for electronic recording • Library developed one, should have it approved by counsel • Clarify extent of distribution to lecturer • On main website: available to all • CMS or intranet: Although password protected, once in digital format, it is relatively easy to duplicate.

44. Creating Internal Podcasts Legal Questions: • Incorporating “PodSafe / Creative Commons” music

45. Using Podcasts as Library Resources • Strengths of using external/internal podcasts: • facilitates development of information literacy and life-long learning • enriches primary-resource reference base • coach vs. sage – facilitating/motivating individual learner inquiry and peer discussion • engages different styles of learning • assists low-vision and ESL patrons

46. Using Podcasts as Library Resources Some Recent coverage of Instructional Podcasting • Chronicle of Higher Education: “Lectures on the Go” (10/28/2005) http://chronicle.com/weekly/v52/i10/10a03901.htm (Subscription req’d) and “Apple Releases Free 'iTunes U' Software to Colleges for Coursecasting “ (01/25/2006) Accessible for free. http://chronicle.com/free/2006/01/2006012501t.htm • Duke University.“Duke University iPod First Year experience evaluation Report” (June 2005) Accessible electronicallyhttp://cit.duke.edu/pdf/ipod_initiative_04_05.pdf • US News & World Report. (From the 10/17/05 print issue)http://www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/articles/051017/17elearn.htm • Educause article on Podcasting (December 2005) http://www.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/erm0561.pdf

47. The Future of Podcasts as Library Resources Podcasting, co-operation and future trends in libraries • Academic libraries • School libraries • Public libraries • Special libraries • Corporate libraries • Archives

48. Collaborating on Podcasts as Library Resources Article on Podcasting at St. John’s Libraries http://www.stjohns.edu/academics/libraries/podcast.sju Please contact me with any questions/suggestions • Kathryn Shaughnessy, x1454 Shaughnk@stjohns.edu St. John’s University Library