RSS for Podcasting for Libraries

RSS for Podcasting for Libraries

METRO Workshop

March 24, 2006

Kathryn Shaughnessy

Instructional Services Librarian

Podcasts: History & Overview

A podcast is…

A growing method of delivering audio information– Time-shifted– Place-shifted

• An informational “broadcast” saved as an audio file (mp3) and distributed via the web (strictly speaking via RSS)

• Listeners download/listen at their convenience via desktop/laptop or on a personal player


Podcasting timeline…

• August 2004: “iPodders” search for a way to retrieve old blogs and audiofiles – develop RSS (Winer) and podcast software (Curry)

• July 2005: iTunes supports/distributes podcasts, get 1 million subscribers in first 2 days

• August 2005: 8,000 podcasts, 6 million listeners

• December 2005: Podcast selected as “Word of the Year” by editors of New Oxford American Dictionary: "a digital recording of a radio broadcast or similar program, made available on the Internet for downloading to a personal audio player"

• January 2006: iTunesU offers “free” courseware distribution

Hobson and Holtz Report, 8/4/2005 http://forimmediaterelease.biz/index.php/weblog/2005/08/05/ )Oxford University Press, US website, http://www.oup.com/us/brochure/NOAD_podcast/?view=usa


Podcasting evolution …

• Personal / information sharing

• Business applications

• Religious groups

• Education & Distributed Learning


Noted benefits of podcasts in learning/instruction

• playback of difficult content/material

• multiple repetitions for listeners who have difficulty with English

• allows for review/enjoyment of materials while multitasking (e.g.: commuting or exercising).

• inspired creation of podcasts among listeners

• increased “frequency and depth” of learner interaction, especially in language & music

• increased communication between users, library and IT; led to improved collaboration and planning, both within & among institutions.

Duke Report, 2004 - 2005

Current Uses of Podcast Resources

Reference-quality lectures (NPR, Stanford & Princeton)


– Reference-quality lectures (NPR, Stanford & Princeton)


Reference-quality lectures (NPR, Stanford & Princeton)


– Patron Instruction / Orientation (Drexel)


– Community News (U. of Western Ontario)


Outreach to potential students/users/members (Peterson’s)


– Scholarly Communication (U. of Florida)


Audio tours (Purdue)


CE / Professional Development (LOC, LIS radio, InfoSpeak)

Finding External Podcast Resources

Finding New Podcast Resources:

– Podcast Directories

– List-servs

– Blogs and your favorite websites

– Suggestions from others


Directories• A Google search for “podcast Directory” yields biggest directories,

with search menus


Directories iTunes

iTunes music store podcasts education


Directories yahoo

Browse by popularity or by categories


Directories podcast.net

Browse by popularity, categories or use the keyword search


Directories PodZinger

Searches for words by scanning content within all podcasts,

(note “Science Update” subset)




– List-servs




Listservs

ex: Bibliocasting• http://mail.asis.org/pipermail/asis-l/2005-April/001977.html

• Archive at http://iis.syr.edu/archive/bibliocasting/

Podcasts as Library Resources



– List-servs




Blogs and your favorite websites will alert you about podcast trends and where podcasts are showing up!

• 2005 was the year of the podcast


RSS syndication

• Because podcasts are “digi-born” and are generally posted on webpages or syndicated through blogs, one of the the best ways to keep track of new podcast resources is by using RSS feeds to monitor blogs and websites

Utilizing RSS requires • choosing an RSS reader

– free or fee-based– Desktop or web-based

• inputting RSS feeds

Investment of time: – to learn the aggregator– to build up *your* collection of sites/feeds– to weed out less-helpful sites over time


Practical Questions about using RSS for podcasts:

Choosing an RSS reader

• FeedReader free, client-based, Open Source (http://www.feedreader.com/)

• MyYahoo & GoogleReader Browser-based

• Newsgator (www.Newsgator.com)

• Bloglines (www.bloglines.com)

• Directory of readers is available through dmoz: http://dmoz.org/Reference/Libraries/Library_and_Information_Science/Technical_Services/Cataloguing/Metadata/RDF/Applications/RSS/News_Readers/

For more details on RSS in METRO libraries see Michele Misner’s METRO presentation WebSIG, and the handout on RSS


Practical Questions about using RSS for podcasts:


Podcast Resources: Choosing an RSS Reader Feedreader


Podcast Resources: Choosing an RSS Reader GoogleReader


Podcast Resources: Choosing an RSS Reader NewsGator

Newsgator allows you to download the podcast in their compatible “FeedStation player” or you can right-click and “save-as”

Add to my podcasts


RSS for Podcasts & Professional Development in Libraries

• RSS feeds from Professional Associations:ACRLog: http://acrlblog.org/index.php?feed=rss2

• RSS feeds from Professional Journal-BlogsLibrary Journal Tech Blog: http://www.libraryjournal.com/LJTechblog.xml

• RSS feeds from other practicing librariansStephen Bell (Academic) : http://keptup.typepad.com/academic/atom.xml

• RSS feeds from Vendors/InnovatorsOCLC Lorcan Blog: http://orweblog.oclc.org/index.xml

Stephen’s Lighthouse: http://stephenslighthouse.sirsi.com/index.rdf




– List-servs


– Suggestions from others• Users• Other librarians• Subject experts/ co-workers/ faculty• Collaborate in a wiki!

http://podcastresources.pbwiki.com


Library of Congress http://www.loc.gov/today/cyberlc/results.php?cat=2&mode=a

FirstGov http://firstgov.gov/Topics/Reference_Shelf/Libraries/Podcasts.shtml

OYEZ Supreme Court Podcasts http://www.oyez.org/podcast/

WhiteHouse Radio Addresses: http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/radio/

NASA http://science.nasa.gov/podcast.htm

AAAS Science podcast http://www.sciencemag.org/about/podcast.dtl

UNICEF http://www.unicef.org/videoaudio/video_podcast.html

BBC http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/downloadtrial/

NPR http://www.npr.org/rss/podcast/podcast_directory.php

For more see the handout

Using Podcasts as Library Resources

Some Recent coverage of Instructional Podcasting

• Chronicle of Higher Education: “Lectures on the Go” (10/28/2005) http://chronicle.com/weekly/v52/i10/10a03901.htm (Subscription req’d)and “Apple Releases Free 'iTunes U' Software to Colleges for Coursecasting “ (01/25/2006) Accessible for free. http://chronicle.com/free/2006/01/2006012501t.htm

• Duke University. “Duke University iPod First Year experience evaluation Report” (June 2005) Accessible electronically http://cit.duke.edu/pdf/ipod_initiative_04_05.pdf

• US News & World Report. (From the 10/17/05 print issue)http://www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/articles/051017/17elearn.htm

• Educause article on Podcasting (December 2005) http://www.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/erm0561.pdf

The Future of Podcasts as Library Resources

Podcasting, co-operation and future trends in libraries

– Academic libraries

– School libraries

– Public libraries

– Special libraries

– Corporate libraries

– Archives

Collaborating on Podcasts as Library Resources

Article on Podcasting at St. John’s Libraries

http://www.stjohns.edu/academics/libraries/podcast.sju

Please contact me with any questions/suggestions– Kathryn Shaughnessy, x1454

[email protected]

St. John’s University Library

RSS for Podcasting for Libraries

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