Podcasts

Podcasts are a handy way to keep up-to-date with programming you don't want to miss. Awhile back, using iTunes on my home computer, I subscribed to free podcasting from NPR's "This American Life" radio show. I was surprised that the weekly show downloads into my iTunes account only after I have clicked on an icon on my computer; there's a wait of several minutes before the content is actually there to listen to.

This technology could be useful for certain library applications. Staff at San Mateo County Library suggest some interesting possibilities in their Guide to Podcasting, such as services for the visually impaired, book reviews (e.g., Sam W.'s "One Minute Critic"), and poetry readings. Emory University podcasts a Library Survival Guide to help students and faculty learn what's available at the campus library, and how to use the resources there. (For example, their first episode was "a discussion of peer-reviewed journals: what are they, how do you find them, why do you care?")

Working with a blog -- creating posts, even adding photos, audio, and video -- is at a level of difficulty that hasn't seemed overly daunting for an individual. With podcasting, it seems that while recording may be something most of us could do given the equipment and some basic instructions, the jobs of editing and uploading the podcast to a website probably would be handed off to the techies in our midst.