Podcasting for Library Instruction

PODCASTINGfor library instruction

TYPES OF INSTRUCTION IN ACADEMIC LIBRARIES

One shot session Embedded Librarian (several sessions or

team teaching) Online only Hybrid - Online and In person

WHY PODCAST INSTRUCTION?

Instruction can be done over a period of weeks rather than in just in one session

Students can view at any time even “on the go”

Students can review previous instruction sessions

Technology more appealing to them

WORLD LITERATURE 2 LIBRARY PODCAST PILOT – SPRING 2008

Library instruction delivered as a Podcast over the course of 8 weeks

1-2 “episodes” per week Students subscribed to Podcast feed through iTunes Formats delivered via Podcast feed: optimized

screencasts (mp4), video (mp4), audio (mp3), “enhanced” Podcast (m4a)

Short written assignments given to reinforce/verify students’ understanding of material presented

Librarians met with students mid-semester to answer questions and assess students’ satisfaction with the delivery medium

ACCOMMODATING DIFFERENT LEARNING STYLES

Active/Reflective Sensing Visual/Verbal Sequential

PRE- AND POST-TESTS

What skills and knowledge did students have at the beginning of the semester?

What did they learn after the podcast instruction?

How did they apply what they learned in the podcast instruction?

PRE/POST-TEST QUESTIONS1. What is the difference between popular and scholarly

information sources and give two examples of each?

2. List two databases found through the Burritt Library website where you could find articles or criticism about literature or poetry.

3. List three ways you can tell if a website is authoritative or not.

4. From the Burritt Library website, what would you use to find a book or video about Charlotte Bronte?

5. On which floor of the Burritt Library would you find reference sources?

PRE AND POST TEST PERCENTAGE SCORES

? C P C W

1 2% 58% 40%

2 0 28% 70%

3 18% 34% 48%

4 22% 2% 76%

5 26% 0 74%

? C P C W

1 25% 50% 25%

2 53.9%

33.3% 12.8%

3 35% 30.8% 34.2%

4 64.1%

2.6% 33.3%

5 71.8%

0 28.2%

Pre test – 50 studentsc=correct, p c=partially correct, w=wrong

Post test – 38 studentsc=correct, p c=partially correct, w=wrong

VIDEO GADGET COMPARISONFeatures Zune

80gbiPod Classic 80gb

iPod Touch 8gb & iPhone

Sony PSP

Display size (inches)

3.2 2.5 3.5 4.3

Screen resolution

320 x 240 320 x 240 480 x 320 480 x 272

Audio Support WMA, protected WMA, WMA Lossless, MP3, MP3 VBR, AAC (expected)

AAC, protected AAC, MP3, MP3 VBR, Audible, Apple lossless, WAV, and AIFF

AAC, protected AAC, MP3, MP3 VBR, Audible, Apple lossless, WAV, and AIFF

AAC, MP3, ATRAC3plus, WAV (Linear PCM), WMA (Windows Media Audio 9 Standard)

Video Support WMV, H.264,MPEG-4

H.264, MPEG-4 H.264, MPEG-4 H.264, MPEG-4, AVI

IN SUMMATION…

MP3 encoded audio H.264/MPEG-4 video 320 x 240 screen resolution

PRODUCTION SOFTWAREScreencasts Captivate (Adobe, Windows), iShowU (ShinyWhiteBox, Mac), Camtasia

(TechSmith, Windows), Camstudio (Windows, Free), Wink (DebugMode,Windows/Linux, Free), ProfCast (Mac)

Video Conversion Utilities

AVS Video Converter, YASA Video Converter, Moyea SWF to Video Converter

Audio Editing Audacity (Windows, free), GarageBand (Mac)

Video Editing FinalCut Pro (Mac), iMovie (Mac), PowerDirector (Windows), Quicktime Pro (Mac/Windows)

Feed Generation DYI, Podcast blaster feed generator, Feedburner SmartCast, Dreamweaver, iWeb (Mac)

FLASH FILE (SWF) TO IPOD IN 3 EASY STEPS

WHAT IS A POD/VID/VODCAST?

RSS + MP3 = PODCAST

RSS and (MP* or M4*)

SETTING UP THE FEED<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>

<rss xmlns:itunes="http://www.itunes.com/dtds/podcast-1.0.dtd" version="2.0">

<channel><title>English 204 Library Research Skills Podcast, Central CT State University</title><link>http://library.ccsu.edu/about/podcasts/</link><language>en-us</language><copyright>&#x2117; &amp; &#xA9; 2008 Central CT State University</copyright><itunes:subtitle>Library podcasts to accompany English 204, spring 2008</itunes:subtitle><itunes:author>Elihu Burritt Library</itunes:author><itunes:summary>This series of podcasts is designed to introduce you to library resources and services.</itunes:summary><description>Do you ever have trouble getting started with the research for a paper or project? This series of podcasts will show you how to conduct research quickly and efficiently using the library's resources and services. </description><itunes:owner><itunes:name>Debbie Herman</itunes:name><itunes:email>hermand@ccsu.edu</itunes:email></itunes:owner><itunes:image href="http://library.ccsu.edu/about/podcasts/eng204/burritt-library.jpg" /><itunes:category text="Education"><itunes:category text="Training"/></itunes:category>

<item><title>Take a Tour of the Burritt Library</title><itunes:author>Elihu Burritt Library</itunes:author><itunes:subtitle>Episode 1</itunes:subtitle><itunes:summary>Matt and Susan will take you on a tour of the Burritt Library.</itunes:summary><enclosure url="http://library.ccsu.edu/about/podcasts/eng204/library-tour-enhanced.m4a" length="5476193" type="audio/x-m4a" /><guid>http://library.ccsu.edu/about/podcasts/archive/eng204-1.m4a</guid><pubDate>15 Jan 2008 11:00:00 EST</pubDate><itunes:duration>9:49</itunes:duration><itunes:keywords>library, tours</itunes:keywords></item></channel></rss>

URL: http://library.ccsu.edu/about/podcasts/eng204/eng204.xml

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XML SNIPPET<title>English 204 Library Research Skills Podcast, Central CT State University</title><link>http://library.ccsu.edu/about/podcasts/</link><language>en-us</language><copyright>&#x2117; &amp; &#xA9; 2008 Central CT State University</copyright><itunes:subtitle>Library podcasts to accompany English 204, spring 2008</itunes:subtitle><itunes:author>Elihu Burritt Library</itunes:author><itunes:summary>This series of podcasts is designed to introduce you to library resources and services.</itunes:summary><description>Do you ever have trouble getting started with the research for a paper or project? This series of podcasts will show you how to conduct research quickly and efficiently using the library's resources and services. </description><itunes:owner>

BLOGLINES EXAMPLE

ENGLISH 204 Podcast Archive Page

FOCUS GROUP QUESTIONS

1. How many of you … Loaded the podcasts onto your own iPod? Accessed the podcasts through iTunes on your

computer? Accessed the podcasts through the link on the

webpage? Accessed the podcasts on the iPod at the library?

2. How did you like the podcasts/tutorials? What did you like about them?

3. What did you dislike about them? Do you have any suggestions of how they could have been done differently or better?

4. What kinds of technical problems did you have if any?

FOCUS GROUP QUESTIONS CONTINUED

1. Which podcasts did you like best – video, databases tutorials, audio or a combination?

2. Would you have preferred that they be more interactive (i.e. trying some of your own searches)?

3. Would you prefer to get this kind of instruction online or in person? Why?

4. After viewing and listening to these podcasts, how many of you feel more comfortable using the library’s resources?

5. After the podcasts do you feel more comfortable visiting the library and/or asking for help using library resources?

FUTURE PODCAST INSTRUCTION

Freshman Learning Communities course in fall 2008

Podcasts/tutorials/video available through Blackboard Vista

Make better use of library instruction time if podcasts are viewed before visit to library

VIDCASTING RESOURCES

http://del.icio.us/debbie.herman/vidcasting

THANK YOU!

Debbie Herman

Digital Resources Librarian

Central CT State University

hermand@ccsu.edu

Susan Slaga

Reference Librarian

Central CT State University

slagas@ccsu.edu