Podcasts & Videos

I have mixed feelings about podcasts. I think it's great that libraries are offering them, but I wonder if they have an audience. At my library, for instance, we have a once-a-month brown bag lunch series. It probably could be a podcast event, but would anyone subscribe? Would people sit for an hour listening to a talk from the library? Do people really play the podcast storytimes to their children?

Curtin University: I like that they are choosing very appropriate topics for their students. I hope they get used. The quality of the ones I listened to was poor. It sounded like Alvin & the Chipmunks.
Denver Public: A very nice variety of well-read podcasts.
Grand Rapids: Again, a nice variety.
Sunnyvale: Gee whiz. This library is all about podcasts. Maybe this is how it should be done -- all out, not just a few here and there.
Thomas Ford: If the dates are accurate, this looks like someone's great idea that could not be sustained.

I did not have much luck viewing the videocasts. For Manchester Public, I could not hear, although on one I was able to see the speaker. The Westerville Public Library site never worked. I was able to view some teen videos from Orange County.

Videos are something I'm very interested in doing. I can see why patrons would watch a library video (as opposed to listening to a library recording). Speakers, concerts, storytimes -- I think library videos are very exciting.

Flickr Images

Tutt Library: The pictures are good (as far as quality), and having them "humanizes" the library. And probably the staff enjoy them. But they add nothing to the library web site. I couldn't find a link to them from the library's web page.
Hennepin Library: I like how they encourage public participation and make use of the neat Flickr tools. They seem to really have embraced Flickr and what it can do for their library web presence.
Westmont: This is a neat way to highlight new books, and I like that it links back to the catalog. Still ... is this how patrons find out about new books at the library?
Kansas City: Which pictures on this site? I love the rotating picture marquee.

IM

I signed up with AIM. My username is AthensInfoDesk.

Wikis

The thing about the wikis, to me, is that they're a little off-putting at first. That may be because the subject matter of each was so different, but each one I went to, I had to study for a bit before I could figure out what it was for and how to use it. But once I did, I was very impressed, especially with the St. Joesph Public Library Subject Guides. Still, should a library-based web page need so much instruction before you can use it?

Blogs review

My hat is off to any library that starts and maintains a blog. It was interesting to see all of the different blog looks, not to mention writing styles.

• Lansing Teen blog: Good variety of topics; nice use of tags. I like the podcast option, but it took me awhile to figure out how to listen to one. I like the catalog link on it.
• St. Joseph Library blog: This one has a fun feel to it. It was easy to find things and does allow comments. However, there is no link back to the library.
• Ann Arbor District Library Books Blog: Wow! This one is great. The format is the same as the rest of the library's web page, so it doesn't have that "blog look."
  
• Waterboro Public Library H20boro: Not as crisp as some of the others, but efficient and clean looking. They do link back to the library but do not accept comments.
• Thomas Ford Memorial Library Western Springs History Blog: This one is so unbloglike that I thought I had the wrong page. It's very intriguing. Is it a blog or a web page? It's very neat to see the comments people have about the old houses.