LIBR 246-04/13 Web 2.0 (Spring 2010)

Lisa, in one of her blog posts this week, made some good criticisms of bad marketing and instructional videos from academic libraries. UCLA and Brown are academic heavyweights among American universities, but I guess that doesn't mean they're going to produce high quality content in everything they do; their videos are not very professional, and that lack of quality and professionalism undercuts their message.

The usefulness of video for libraries is a given, but I wonder if it is always necessary for librarians to produce the video. When it comes to instructional videos and screencasts, I think librarians are best positioned to produce something accurate and informative, but when it comes to marketing, libraries might benefit from "outsourcing" to people in the community. Depending on the community, that could mean students, company employees/partners, or the general public.

When I was an undergrad, I paid a co-worker (in beer) to tutor me in math. With his help, I just made it though my required math course. If only I had had something like Khan Academy I could have saved myself a lot of beer.

This week, we will be looking at the creation of video content online, including vodcasting and screencasting. These have become increasingly popular outreach tools in libraries, so it's definitely a good idea to be well-versed in their use.

Vodcasting