Thing 17

Thing 17 - Podcasts

I already use podcasts a lot. I see from iTunes that I subscribe to about 25 of them, on and off, and listen to them on my iPod, usually when walking to and from work, or travelling further afield. Not only do podcasts allow me to keep up with radio programmes I generally can't listen to because of being at work (apparently radio is banned in the library, say the spoilsport powers that be), but they also alert me to things I would otherwise have missed. The BBC Radio 4 Documentary of the Week podcast is a case in point. Each week is likely to throw up something new. A couple of months ago it was this, which turned out, to my surprise, to be one of the most moving programmes I had heard in years. I would never have happened upon it otherwise.

Listening to library-related podcasts is not a regular occupation of mine, though I discovered and sampled quite a wide range of them last year. The MA course at UCL has one compulsory exam on matters of professional awareness, and I decided that listening to podcasts would firstly provide me with an idea of what different libraries might use podcasts for, and secondly keep me thinking about libraries constantly, whether I wanted to or not. Once the exam was out of the way, I had a break from them, and I confess I haven't gone back.

Podcasts anywhere anytime by Francois Schnell on Flickr

From what I recall, the more successful podcasts tended to be those produced by public libraries, particularly those aimed at teen audiences and involving input from teenagers. I don't know if any British libraries do this, but US libraries seem to have grasped the potential of podcasts aimed at slightly geeky adolescents who are into not just books but also the other facilities libraries now provide - video, music, gaming - and several are beginning to exploit it rather well.

By contrast, those podcasts I listened to which were produced by libraries in the UK tended to be practical guides for library users - a small, finite series of short programmes to explain borrowing procedures, catalogue searches, the logistics of library access, that sort of thing. Of course, there are also podcasts aimed not at library users but at librarians themselves, which I intend to explore properly when I have a bit more time.

I haven't podcasted before, but one of my brothers contributes to a university comedy podcast, and with some success. I can certainly see the value for libraries of producing audio and video tutorials, as covered earlier in the programme when we looked at screencasting, but I think a podcast should ideally be an ongoing thing. If you're going to have a library podcast, why not make it a monthly occurrence - perhaps an informal chat between library staff to explain what the librarians have been doing at work recently, or to broach other library news? It's a nice additional extra, like using Facebook for your library. Still, I wonder if it might turn out to be a minority interest. Perhaps a Doodle poll for students would clarify matters? Ah, all I have learned this summer is beginning to coalesce.