Fraulein Sara's Teachings on PODCASTING!

Podcasing. The combination of iPod and broadcasting. I love it when words come together to unite in a wonderful way, just like Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck...Bennifer, how I miss you. ANYWAY! Podcasting is a way for you to get yourself heard/seen on the inter-webs. Getting your opinion out there for people to enjoy.
I was going to start a podcast this past summer. My friend and I had big plans to retire to her dad's fancy computer room after every episode of True Blood on Sunday nights and record/upload our podcasts about what we thought of that night's episode. Sadly this never came to fruition because we fell prey to the podcast of two other girls who had the same idea as us and were possibly funnier than we were, so instead we watched their podcast and laughed along with how hilarious vampire Bill's accent was...yes, my summer was very exciting.

Now onto the main event! Libraries. You want to know where you can do some neat keen and groovy searching for library podcasts? I did too, so I found a few sites...or maybe I was given them from my instructor, but either way I will share them with you and let you know what I thought about them!

Library Podcasting Resources- A PBWorks Wiki AND Podcasting- Library Success Wiki

So yeah...not very fun to look at but I figured there had to be some fun stuff somewhere within the bleakness of the page. Then I saw it! 'Podcasting Libraries: Library Success Wiki-Podcasting'. Perfect, that's the juicy stuff I was looking for...however when I started mindlessly clicking on random libraries to see what their podcasts had to offer, I found quite a few of the links refused to load or the 'server was not found'. Hmm, not very helpful. Maybe you'll have more patients with the site, but I didn't.

Educause Podcasting- 186 Resources

I found that it's only an ok site. Very professional looking, and overall appealing to look at. However when I began to peruse through the podcasts I noticed that the most recent one was posted in 2008. Just a tad dated, however I did like the options you had to either download the podcast or show notes.

Podcasting for Library Instruction

This was just right. I thought it's a wonderful place to learn how to podcast! It's easy to understand and the site itself seems quite welcoming. I love the fact that you can leave comments and you can read what other people thought about it. This was a clear winner for me, so if you want to learn how to start a podcast, this is my gold star recommendation.
http://www.slideshare.net/hermand/podcasting-for-library-instruction-presentation

And lastly, dear readers, I wouldn't leave you without reviewing a few library podcasts myself. I listened to three and...to be honest I have quite mixed thoughts about them.

Los Angeles Public Library- The Giving Tree by Shel Siverstein

A children's book read out loud. It's a great idea. Kids don't always have the best attention span to read through an entire book, so having a podcast of someone reading the book, as the child flips through the pages is a great idea! The sound quality kinda sucked, not going to lie, it was pretty bad. It was clear but you could hear a lot of background noise, however I did like the fact that you could hear the girl who was reading turn the page. That way if a child was reading along they'd know when to flip the page as well. So I'd probably give it a C rating.

Seattle Biblio Café- Librarians discuss what they’re reading

LOVED IT! Not only did this podcast have opening credits but it took place in a coffee house! As the librarians were discussing amazing books that they were reading you could hear the barista's in the background making coffee and delicious lattes. I wanted to be there with them discussing the book I'm reading. I had a great time listening to them talk and laugh, and I may have gotten a few ideas of which books to read next. Definitely an A+ podcast.

Duggan Library Instructional Podcasts- Book Reviews

HORRIBLE! You know that teacher in Ferris Bueller, played by Ben Stein? The one who's voice sounds like the boring version of nails on a chalk board? Well this guy is worse. Immediately I felt my eyelids getting heaving and my head falling towards my chest. The sound was terrible, it was as thought he'd been podcasting from the 80's! Definitely an F grade.

In conclusion, I'm an avid fan of the podcast. They're brilliant. If I had a class or two that was taught by podcast, I would be extremely okay with that. The best part of any class is when your teacher gets you to watch a movie or a youtube video on your computer- podcasting isn't that different. It's a way of making teaching fun and they're fun to make! Just be cautious of which one's you choose to subscribe to, avoid the 'nails on the chalkboard'/80's audio castings!

Fraulein Sara's Teachings on SOCIAL MEDIA!

What is this thing called social media? Why it's a web based site that relies on user participation. It usually consists of tools that allow users to share all sorts of business, academic, personal or any other form of information.

''Hmm..." you say, "This all sounds so familiar". My dear sir, or madame, that is because you use social media! You're already a cog in the system. I'm sure all of my lovely followers take part in the social media clock, and why do I know this? That's because I've already 'friend-ed' most of you on facebook- I am also in the process of 'following' you on twitter.

Nearly everyone I know uses some form of social media...everyone except for my grandparents, seeing as how they refuse to get a computer, according to them the computer is the new version of the 'idiot box', however considering that you learn so much on the internet compared to television, I say they'd be wrong-however, that is a discussion for another day! Stay tuned for 'Idiot Box: Television or Computer! You be the Judge!'

Do I like social media? I spend at least an hour every two days on twitter or facebook. I'm constantly updating my tumblr and I frequent myspace to check on on some of my favourite bands. Doing all four of those things takes up about ten minutes of that half hour computer time, so I would say, 'YES!' I do like social media because I think that a fraction of my life is devoted to it.

'My name is Sara, and I have a problem. I am a social media addict.' I find it's a new way to organize school projects and stay informed to waht's going on with the world. I mean, how did I find out about Steve Jobs recent passing? I saw a status update about it on facebook, and then I took to twitter, which confirmed his death by having a '#RIPSTEVEJOBS' as a top 10 trend.

Is social media used in libraries? Should it be? Should I start one for the library- well, if I was asked to I would, because I find myself quirky and hilarious and I think everyone would enjoy a little slice of Sara in their lives on a virtual and daily basis. As for libraries in general, I think social media is very important to keep on top of. Yes, some libraries do use them, but I don't think enough, and I don't think they keep up with the ever changing web 2.0 evolution as they perhaps should. Like I've said before, keeping up with web 2.0 and all it has to offer is a wonderful way of keeping patrons in touch with what's going on, seeing as with social media a question regarding the library or books is but a click away. However, if a library is going to branch out into social media they should do it proporly by making sure they keep updaing whichever form of social media they choose to use. If you have a facebook I don't want to see that your status hasn't been updated in over two weeks. I don't want to forget I'm following you on twitter because you never post, and I really don't want to see any sort of blog that hasn't been updated in well over two months. That's not going to help you any.

HOWEVER! I think if a library could get organized and be taught the fine workings of social media they could be BRILLIANT! Have you, dear readers, heard of social cataloguing? NO!? It's an amazing thing where you can catalogue your books, CD's, movies...tapes, if you still have those, online! You can rate them and see recommendations for other items that you might enjoy and write reviews- it's a plethora of nerdy cataloging! It's wonderful and libraries would become so much more efficient with aiding patrons with questions about which books to get.

Not only that, but now for a low cost of nothing, the library could also branch out and connect with the WORLD through social networking...yes, that makes me think of the facebook movie too. If the library gets out there more people will be brought together and be made aware of how wonderful and FREE the library is. So many of my friends are unaware that you can return your library books to any library, or that you can order a book from anywhere in the city directly the to closetst library to your house. With social media, it's like word of mouth- only faster and more electronic...like a very talkative/connective version of Tron.

So there is MUCH room for improvement on the library-front of social media, but I feel confident that in the next few years, with the right library workers that we can get a grasp on social media of all sorts, making the library more technologically inclined, and by that I mean more attainable to the rest of the public. I plan on helping the library get to that point, the point of pure geekiness! It's truly my life goal.

....also, that photo at the top may or may not be a photo of my head poorly pasted onto the body of Justin Timberlake, from The Social Network.