Rudaí23 thing#9: Video

It was only very recently that I was introduced to screen casting and videos, and how these tools could be used to further the reach of the library in terms of furthering information literacy amongst students. The library that I am working in is in the middle of overhauling its library management system as well as initiating a new library webpage and introducing libguides to replace physical guides for new (and current!) students. Part of that programme was the decision to include both instructional videos and screen casts to help students get to grips with the resources that are on offer in our library.

It is probably not surprising, but there is a huge amount of time required to make professional videos as well as investment in people who are well-acquainted with proper recording equipment. This took up a large part of our summer, but thankfully we had nearly everything ready in time for induction week. You can check out one of our screencasts by clicking here.

Getting instruction on screen casting

I assumed that I would need some instruction in using Screencastomatic, so I asked my colleague who had done the above video for some help. It was a very, very short session. Using Screencastomatic is an incredibly easy experience. However, as you will be able to see when you check out my very own screen cast, there is considerable room for working on what you're going to say and how you say it.

I can't exaggerate how easy screen casting is, especially if you do it through Screencastomatic. That's not to say there's no work involved, there clearly is. You need to find a quiet space (which should be easy in a library, right? But as I'm sure we're all aware, it's not always the case), one that has very good wifi, and you need to have a prepared script.

Getting your message out there

The next part is to figure out who your audience is, and get your screen cast to them. There are a huge range of options, from the more popular 'free' services like YouTube and Vimeo to more professional services that require subscription fees for even basic access (your library may have a subscription, though). I went with YouTube, as it's linked to my Google account, and it was also incredibly easy.

Why video?

It's important to know who your audience is. If you are confident that your audience (whoever they are) aren't going to watch your videos or screencasts, then spending all the time and effort into producing beautifully produced and well prepared videos is going to be a waste. But if your audience is one that you feel already access videos in order to learn new things, then it simply becomes a very good way of providing excellent information literacy.

Rudaí23 thing#8: Curator tools and libraries

'Curator tools' is a new term for me, although the more that I investigated the topic, the more I realised that I have used many curator tools in the past. Of the ones that I haven't used, I am at least aware of their existence. That's a start, right?

Flipboard

Have you ever been on a bus, see an article somewhere that you want to read, but your stop is coming up? There are many ways of saving the article and reading it later, but what about a 'magazine' with articles that you may be interested in as well all those ones you saved from earlier? I had never heard of Flipboard before, but the more I investigate it, the more appealing it becomes.

Here's a brief video explaining Flipboard

It's a really nice interface, and seems to be very easy to use. One thing I would say is that despite making essentially a library 'dummy' account, most of the articles are from the Daily Edition and are about US politics. I'm guessing that it will just take a bit of tweaking before it displays all the articles that I want to see.

It may seem so obvious that it's not worth saying, but Flipboard can work for you on a personal level, a professional level, or even for your library. If you can make an online magazine for all your personal interests, then why not one that broadcasts all the amazing things your library is doing? There's an interesting piece by Jan Holmquist that explains this better than I can.

Storify

I really like Storify. I guess you can look at it as a lazy way of telling a story (kind of like a news aggregator site as opposed to investigative journalism) but I think this is missing the point. I used Storify when I was on the Committee of an LAI subgroup and found that it was a great addition to blog posts, and was very well-received by people: it looks nice, people appreciate being included in a 'story' of an event, and it increases people engaging in future events that you hold. It also has the added benefit of notifying you of tweets that you may have missed if you participated in an event (either as an organiser or participant).

Pinterest:

I have never interacted with Pinterest before, despite being well-aware of its existence. For some reason, it makes me think of knitting and photos of cats, but my mind was really opened by actually, y'know, getting some first hand knowledge of it. (It turns out the most popular pins are recipes).

Firstly, it looks great. This shouldn't be surprising, as its primary focus seems to be on images over content. It should be fairly obvious the positives that this would mean to a lot of libraries and cultural institutions.

The obvious appeal means that many, many libraries are using it. You can use it to upload interesting photos from your collection, promote certain books that you think might be of interest to your users, or just interact with other Pinterest users. If you're not visible, how are people supposed to know about the services your library is offering?

Curator tools and you

 

Curator tools like the ones I've mentioned above are fantastic tools to highlight aspects of your library to users, as well as keep up to date with what others in your field are doing. Things like Pinterest and Flipboard work in a similar way to social media networks, but fill a different niche. But like with more traditional social media networks, the key to keeping these things relevant is your interaction with them. If you leave your Pinterest account inactive for a period of time, especially if this account is a professional one for your library, it becomes outdated and will reflect badly on your business. Updating regularly and interacting with other users is essential, but to be honest, after getting to know Pinterest and Flipboard, that shouldn't be too much of a problem.