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Blogging Is So Last YearNow Podcasting Is Hot

'ALL I CAN SAY WITH CERTAINTY IS THAT I ENJOY LISTENING TO PODCASTS. AND I WILL CONTINUE TO WATCH THE DEVELOPMENT OF THIS TECHNOLOGY AND CONSIDER ITS USE IN THE LIBRARY." Each year when it comes time for me to write this column on hip high-tech, I look forward to it with hoth anticipation and trepidation. The anticipation is hecause I enjoy taking a closer look at new technologies that fascinate me and that don't really fit into any of the other editorial themes. The freedom is exhilarating. With freedom comes responsihility, however, and that is what fills me with trepidation. I've never felt comfortahle predicting what technologies will succeed and gain wide acceptance. A technology that intrigues me might not appeal to others. In the world of non-technological consumer products, my preference for a particular item seems to be the kiss of deathit instantly disappears from the marketplace. So my preferences certainly are no predictor of success. Some fascinating technologies might he just that, but they're not practical in the real world. Other technologies might seem to he successful in the short term as fads, hut they make no lasting contrihution and are quickly supplanted hy the next great thing. Librarians who want to project an image of being technically savvy while spending precious dollars wisely may find it difficult to decide whether to he early adopters of a new technology or to wait until the market decides if it will survive. I don't claim to have any special insight, so I'm not ofFering advice in this column. Rather, I'm by J A N E T L. B A L A S simply exploring a new technology that I find hoth fascinating and, at least for me, useful.

Enter the Apple iPod

In my personal life, I was an early adopter of Apple's iPod hecause it solved a particular problem for me. I drive a 10-year-old Toyota Celica that only has a tape player, so I couldn't listen to any CDs while driving. Of course, I could have dubbed the CDs to audiotapes, hut that is inconvenient and time-consuming. The iPod, however, immediately provided a solution. Using iTunes on my Mac, I quickly and easily transferred my CD collection to my iPod. I could use either a tape adapter or an FM transmitter to listen to music in my car. Audiobooks also worked, but since I have a short commute, it took too long to listen to an entire volume (although I did try one on a trip). iPods have continued to evolve, adding new features and capabilities. My newest one, which has a color screen, has begun to have a place in my professional life. I can carry my calendars and contacts on it and quickly consult them in meetings. Because my iPod has photo capahilities, I can display slide shows to a group hy connecting the device to a largescreen television. The iPod shrank in hoth size and price with the dehut of the iPod Shuffle, hut its "cool" factor continued to grow. The Monroeville Puhlic Library was fortunate to have two iPod Shuffles donated as prizes for this year's teen reading program. When one of the winners was notified, she arrived at the lihrary within 10 minutes to claim her prize! Libraries

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also began to find uses for Shuffles for example, the Newport Beach (Calif.) Public Library loaded audiobooks on Shuffles and lent them to patrons.

What Are Podcasts and Where Can You Find Them?

The latest innovation in iPod use did not come from an advance in the device's hardware or software, hut from its owners. Podcasts, which are audio files that can be downloaded and played either through a computer or an MP3 player such as an iPod, began to appear on the Internet. Created hy ordinary people, podcasts use RSS technology and can he described as RSS feeds with enclosures. Because they are feeds, users can suhscrihe to podcasts and have them downloaded automatically to their computers, just as news aggregators automatically capture RSS feeds. I was aware of podcasts, hut I hadn't gotten around to experimenting with them until Apple made them availahle through iTunes. I found it easy to hrowse through the listings in the iTunes Music Store and to suhscinhe to those that interested me. Since they are all free, I had

nothing to lose. Because so many of the early podcasters were "techies," there are plenty of podcasts devoted to technology topics. As a systems lihrarian, I find these podcasts to he great current awareness tools. I am a regular listener to This Week in Tech with Leo Laporte, and I recently listened to the first program of a new weekly podcast titled Security Now with Leo Laporte and Steve Gibson. The podcasts are downloaded automatically to ilbnes and then transferred to my iPod when I sync it. Many of these programs are short, so they are perfect for my 15- to 20minute commute.

Search Engine Watch. This is a 10- to 15-minute recap of the previous day's search engine and search technology news. Instructions for suhscrihing to these podcasts through iTunes or for listening through alternative methods are availahle on the Weh site along with the archived podcasts.

THE LATEST iNNOVATION IN IPOD USE DID NOT COME FROM AN ADVANCE IN THE DEVICES HARDWARE OR SOFTWARE. bUT FROM ITS OWNERS." Professional organizations are also starting to use podcasts. PALINET, a memhership organization serving lihraries in the mid-Atlantic region, recently posted its first podcast. Titled IR Conversations, it is descrihed as an ongoing conversation with vendors and practitioners of institutional repository software. The 20-minute broadcast featured an interview with Jeff Riedel, program manager for Proquest's Digital Commons IR. The page on the PALINET site that linked to the podcast also offered some hackground information on this new technology. OPAL (Online Programming for All Lihraries), a collaborative effort hy libraries to provide Web-hased programming and training, has hegun offering archived versions of its programs as podcasts. Information on the availahle sessions and instructions for suhscrihing to the podcast feed are on the OPAL Weh site. When I visited the site, there were programs on a wide variety of subjects, including hook discussions,

Podcasts for Librarians

I thought podcasts could be valuahle to librarians, so I poked around a bit to see what was going on. I was interested to see that some library professionals were already using this new technology. While I was using podcasts to keep up with technology in general, I found that I could aiso subscribe to ones that would keep me informed on developments that were more specifically relevant to my work. One such podcast is the Daily SearchCast from

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America's most listened to podcast and winner of the 2005 People's Choice Podcast Award

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Pocket Protectors Delayed

Bad news - the pocket protectors are deiayed j n t i l after the Aeple Store Bppearance. We will have them in time for our 9/18 debut al Noonan's however. Looks like we mighl haue lo make anoiher print run for flono Leo Lapstfe's blog I 61 commanit | iSSl reads Donala j

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Hosts: Lee Laporte, Pal rick Morton; Kevin Rose, Rot>ert Heron, Dawd Prager, and Steve Gibsori

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Res o u i::ces _D i scu s se cL

this W E E K in T E C H | Your first podcast of the week is the last word in tech http://thisweekintech.com Audio Books on iPod Shuffle http;//www.city.newport-beach.ca.us/nbpl/Bestsel!ers%20&%20New%20Tities/i Pods.htm The Daily SearchCast http://blog.searchenginewatch.com/blog/podcast.html PALINET Podcast: IR Conversations http://www.palinet.org/rss/ir/default.htm Online Programming for All Libraries: Archive Menu http://www.opal-online.org/archive.htm

Open Stacks
http://openstacks.net/os CIL Recap Show http://openstacks.net/os/CIL_Recap_Show.mp3 LibriVox http://lrbrivox.blogsome.com The Spoken Alexandria ProjectCreative Commons Audio Books http://www.spokenalex.org Telltale WeeklyMP3. Ogg Vorbis, and A A C Audiobooks http://www.telltaleweekly.org Teleread: Bring the E-Books H o m e http://www.te I eread.org/b I og/2004_09_26_arch ive.htm l# 109662898601456733 Tame the Web: Libraries and Technology: Implications of Podcasting in Library Land http://www.tametheweb.com/ttwblog/archives/001 132.html

history and genealogy, and health and wellness topics. Individual librarians who have been contributing to professional discourse through blogging are turning to podcasts as another means of distributing content. Greg Schwartz, who is known for his blog Open Stacks (which promotes information access and literacy for all), has hegun podcasting. Perhaps the best way to describe these podcasts is to quote his own description of one of them^Open Stacks #15 which he said was "13 minutes of unscripted Greg." For those of us who missed the last Gomputers in Libraries conference, there is a recap show in his archives.

"PODCASTS CONTAINING VIDEO. SOMETIMES REFERRED TO AS -VODCASTS: ARE BEGINNING TO APPEAR."

Thomas Ford Memorial Library Teen Audio Reviews http://v^ww.fordl i brar y. org/yarevi ews Listen Up! http://gpclibraryradio.blogspot.com Learning The Lessons of N i x o n 4 Minutes About Podcasting http://www.cadence90.com/wp/index.php?p=3548 The Handheld Librarian: Podcasting roundup http://handheldlib.blogspat.com/2005_03_0l_handheldlib_archive,html Macworld: Podcasting http://v/ww.macworld.com/toplcs/podcasting iPodder.org http://www.ipodder.org PodcastAliey.comThe Place to Find Podcasts http://www.podcastalley.com Playlist: playlist vodcast #1 http://playlistmag.com/weblogs/todayatplaylist/2005/08/vodcastl/index.php

There are several library-related podcasting projects. LibriVox, which defines itself as the "acoustical liberation of books in the public domain," is an open source project to record and distribute podcasts of public domain books. Volunteers read and record chapters from .selected works, and LibriVox distributes these recordings. The LibriVox blog describes the project in greater detail and provides links to the available podcasts. A similar program is the Spoken Alexandria Project, which is subtitled Creative Gommons Audio Books Fueled by Telltale Weekly. This project aims to create a free library of spoken word recordings including both works in the public domain and modern works for

One Minute Tip

http://radio.weblogs.eom/0141930

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which permission has been granted. Telltale Weekly describes itself as the fundraising side of the project. Some of the recent entries on the Spoken Alexandria Project site include an informational brochure from the National Institute of Mental Health titled Men and Depression, Kelly Link's short story "Most of My Friends Are Two-Thirds Water," and President John F. Kennedy's inaugural address.

Should W e Become Podcasters?

By now Tm sure that you're beginning to think about using podcasts as a marketing tool. David Rothman, posting on the TeleRead blog, discusses some ideas for library-related podcasts. In an entry on his Tame the Web blog, Michael Stephens sounds a note of caution, urging librarians to plan properly

College has begun a monthly podcast entitled Listen Up!. When I wrote this column. Listen Up! #6 was available; it featured library news, chat reference information, and lists of new books. For those who are interested in the possibility of library podcasting, some background material may be helpful. Lisa Williams has prepared an entertaining short film that explains the basics. It's called "Four Minutes About Podcasting"; you can view it online using RealPlayer. The Handheld Librarian blog has a list of electronic resources on podcasting, including links to tutorials on how to create one. Since this is an archived

that sound professional. There is "history" on Adam Curry's ipodder.org site,

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and Podcast Alley is a must-visit spot. Since podcasting is less than a year old, it is continuing to evolve. Podcasts containing video, sometimes referred to as "vodcasts," are beginning to appear. Macworld's Chris Breen has created an experimental vodcast and explained the process on the Playlist Web site. A podcast I recently discovered (One Minute Tip) offers quick technology hints and has a format tbat also includes video. Since video can be viewed through iTunes, I sampled a few of these vodcasts and picked up some useful tips. This medium is so new that not even the podcasters themselves claim to know how it will evolve, or even if it will survive as a free media format. I will not try to predict the success or failure of podcasting in general or in libraries specifically. All I can say with certainty is that I enjoy listening to podcasts. and I will continue to watch the development of this technology and consider its use in the lihrary. W Janet L. Balas is library information systems specialist at Monroeville (Pa.) Public Library. She can be reached by e-mail atjbalas@telerama.com or balasj @einetwork.net.

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before jumping into podcasting. Some librarians, however, have already started experimenting. The Thomas Ford Memorial Library has posted some teen audio reviews as podcasts. The Decatur Campus Library of Georgia Perimeter

post on a Weblog, I found that some of the links were no longer valid, but others were quite useful. The Macworld Web site has a topic page devoted to podcasting with the latest news and a set of instructions for creating podcasts

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