Saturday, March 8, 2008

#19, Podcasts

I listened to a great one on MPR's site yesterday - it was about the current MN Opera production, and the conductor, Harry Bicket, was being interviewed. OOOH that English accent, but I digress. This gave me the opportunity to listen, which was a different dimension than, say, reading a transcript of the interview. I see that there is a link to MPR from the 23things blog - it gives podcasts of the "new classical music broadcasts" - another great way to try things before you buy.

I know several radio shows offer podcasts - you can usually listen for free the day of the broadcast, and then pay a monthly fee if you want to access at other times. Just download to your iPod (which I don't have). For example - StephCasts!! http://www.stephaniemiller.com/subscribe.php

A few years ago brother was downloading computer files of old radio shows - evidently a man had a collection of these (out of copyright) and was letting them be downloaded for free to others who shared his enthusiasm. I have no idea what program he used; I wonder if he could now upload them to a portable device. For those hard-to-find things or niche interests, this is perfect.

Our BookLetters newsletter does include some audioclips which are embedded into the online newsletters.

Here's a link to a podcast, from the "educational podcast" link given at 23things - it's audio clips of Naxos music. Great way to advertise!!
http://www.epnweb.org/index.php?request_id=1027&openpod=8#anchor8
Every so often we get requests for pieces of music for students - say, the middle school chorus needs to listen to something. I bet that this would be a good way to find a music clip, especially as our music CD collection isn't that extensive.

#18, YouTube continued 2

So how could we use video etc clips on our library Website?
1) Author visit - find a clip of them speaking
2) Advertise any streaming videos available in the collection or any multimedia capabilities of databases
3) Use to promote books - for instance, any short blurb of someone on booktv.org - perhaps the author has won an award
4) Videos from a past summer performance, or from a teen contest or activity

#18, YouTube continued



OK, I just posted a video from YouTube. Why did I choose this clip? Because I am thinking of purchasing this DVD and I can get a good idea of what the production is like by watching this.