Emeging Issues 2: Podcasting and Social Networking

[rprouty]

EMERGING ISSUES 2
Location: Errol Flynn
Attendees: 12

Developing a Library Podcasting Program. Marisa Ramirez, Arizona State Library, Archives and Public Records.

Podcasting: Marisa stressed that podcasting “doesn’t take a lot.”
Keep it simple.
Use the NPR (“conversational”) format.
Prepare questions ahead of interview time
Define roles of interviewer, tech engineer, editor, et al.
Don’t script the podcast!
Post-interview editing is required.

Hardware and software are free unless you want to upgrade.
HOSTING: You can host your own podcast but you’ll need a
streaming server.
Hosting is free on several sites.
Set up an RSS feed.

SOME BENEFITS TO PODCASTING:
Meet users on their own turf.
Users can learn about new services on demand (on their own schedule).

PLAN AHEAD:
Know your audience: Who is this podcast for?
Determine your topics.
Set the time limit for the podcast (no more than 10 – 15 minutes).
Determine your frequency – once a month, twice a month, every
week, etc.
Be clear on copyright issues. Have interviewees sign a release.

Determine your Podcast's Purpose(s)
Library updates
Virtual (audio or video) tours of library facilities
Special presentations
Book reviews
Etc.

Some Resources:
JOOMLA@the library.com
Freegovernmentinfo.com provides a list of federal and state
podcasts.

COMMENTS:
Indexing and metadata for your podcasts is essential
MS has a commercially available product called “One Note” that does
indexing.
Video is a good option for tours.


EMERGING ISSUES 2
Location: Errol Flynn
Attendees: 12

Facilitating Access to Digital Government Information Using Web 2.0. Christy Allen, State Library of North Carolina.

What can State Libraries do to enhance access using the new social computing applications?

The bulk of reference questions come to via email, not from in-person interviews.

In Colorado, blogs are the most promising option for putting out new information and anticipating FAQ’s about controversial or popular topics. Blogs can contain links to answer those questions.

Staff may be resistant to keeping blogs updated.
Staff members create their own content
They can create new blog content based on reference questions they receive and daily news items.
Stats (web hits) motivate staff to keep updating and inform them that the public is reading their blog entries.
The Boulder library has a “what’s new” section which changes everyday.

Blogs could morph out of internal email distribution blasts. Instead of sending everyone in the office a lot of content, you could post it to a blog and colleagues can use an RSS feed to find out when new content has been published.

Learning 2.0 has a blog on blogs and 23 things to learn about blogs. http://plcmcl2-about.blogspot.com/


WIKI’s
Easy to set up.
You can use a wiki just to define internal specialty terminology
Wikipedia is a good place to start but its entries require external
verification.
There are new wikipedias coming out that are controlled and not so
anarchic.
Any group can set up its own wiki and control it.
Objects can be added to wiki entries.
Wiki’s are easier than Lotus Notes.
PB Wiki is free.
Internal hosting of your Wiki may be more secure and assure
against data corruption or file loss.
There is information about Karl Rove on Wikipedia.


De.lic.ious
A new utility for tagging bookmarks
Allows for networking and shared ideas and interests
It finds other users who have the same bookmarks

Social Tagging
Allowing users to come into your catalogue and create their own
tags, hence, creating a “folksonomies.”
Basic, standardized metadata is still important.
Del.icio.us in a way creates normalization of social tagging.
Could social tagging force LOC to speed up their adoption of new
terminology?


Second Life
Virtual reality game.
It’s free.
Libraries are now getting into it and holding conferences and
meetings there.
State Library of Kansas has a large presence on Second Life.