Project Play 2nd Sem Week 9

Okay, so I started this over two weeks ago and I'm finally getting around to finishing it now. I needed to make a call to the help desk to have them install Java so I could watch the screencast on how to add a video to my blog. If I had know it was so easy to embed a video into my blog, I wouldn't have had to call. All thought as an added bonus we how have up-to-date java on our workstation.

I really liked having so many videos and other clips available on YouTube. It was amazing to just understand and visualize all the millions of things that were out there and accessible for use! I think it really is a great resource in so many ways. However, there are some negatives that go along with it. Trying to figure out what to type in to get a particular video with out too many results is difficult. I started out with cockatiels, but I found out that was too broad and needed to add some more terms to narrow it down. I don't know if most people (library patrons included) realize to add more terms to get fewer results of what they are looking for. Another negative things is that you don't know the quality of the video until you look at it. These are usually homemade videos and are not what most people are use to seeing. The polished, professional look of videos does not exist for some of the videos. Depending on the video and the topic - it could either work for or against you.

I added a video about cockatiels taking a bath. It should appear in the blog entry right above this one. I hope you enjoy it. I found it cute! You can tell I'm a bird person.

I think that libraries can make really good use of YouTube. I can see for reference how it could help patrons out - by giving them a visual to go along with the printed material. I think it would be easier to watch how to do something then by the printed instructions sometimes. I also think it would be a great way to give a visual tour of the library that people could watch on the library website. What a great way it would be to introduce the library to a patron that has never been here. I also think it would be fun to encourage users to make their own videos of the library and be able to link them to the library. The only problem would be making sure the videos view the library in a good way. I really did like watching all of the InfoSoup videos. I'm sure we will get some great South Central entries. I can't wait to see those. That's all for this week. One more week and then were done. :)