#21 Wide world of podcasting

 

What are podcasts and vidcasts?

Watch the short video to get an overview of podcasting.

The word podcast is used to refer to a audio or video broadcast that is distributed over the Internet. Sometimes people call the video broadcasts vidcasts.

You don’t have to have an iPod or a MP3 player to listen to podcasts. You can listen to them right on your PC or Mac. You’ll need headphones or a speaker and the ability/permission to download – check with your tech support.

Who creates podcasts?

• Traditional radio broadcasters like NPR and BBC
• Television stations like CNN for news and lots of t.v. shows have official podcasts where producers, directors and actors give insight into the show (Here’s ABC’s official Ugly Betty podcast, as an example.)
• Libraries and library systems: Librarian Live is a weekly podcast produced by the North Texas Regional Library System, Central Texas Library System, Alamo Area Library System, and the Northeast Texas Library System. We make it just for you!
• Anybody with a microphone, a computer, and an Internet connection that has something to say and share. The possibilities are endless when you think about all the wonderful authors to be interviewed, museum exhibits to discuss, scientific advancements to share, live music to listen to (KUT 90.5fm does a Texas Music Matters segment that they’re calling a feed, but it’s an audio podcast. They have more out there “feeds” out there, too!)

Discovery Exercise
 

1. Take a look at one or two of the podcast directories listed below and see if you can find a podcast that interests you. Hint: you can type in the word library to find library podcasts.

• Podcast.com
• Podcastalley.com
• Yahoo Podcasts - but what an unhelpful interface!
• Educational Podcast Directory
• Or if you have iTunes installed on your computer (free to do), look them up through the iTunes store. The podcasts are still free even though it’s a “store” — or just about all of them, anyway! (More on iTunes below.)
• You can also go directly to a site (like NPR or CNN or Scientific American) and look through their treasure trove of podcasts there

    2.   Listen to one (or more) podcast that you find.
    3.   Blog about the podcast. Did you find anything useful?

If you find a podcast you enjoy, you might want to subscribe to it, so that you don’t miss an episode. Use RSS or one of the podcast subscription services software services listed above to subscribe.

Why should you know about podcasts and vidcasts?

With the introduction of mobile devices like the iPod, mp3 player and and phones like the iPhone, the world of the web is becoming more and more portable. People want:

• Opt-in
• Mobile
• On demand

Podcasts fit the bill perfectly!

• I subscribe to what I want (opt-in)
• I can take it with me (mobile)
• I get updates automatically through a subscription, or grab off the web 24/7/365 (on demand)

Think about it! People could subscribe to a podcast about library events that comes out once a week or today’s events that comes out every day (I realize that’s way ambitious). They can get the podcast automatically through software specially designed for this (see next section), and they can listen to it on the go.

About Podcast Subscription Software

For convenience, you can subscribe to your favorite podcasts and have them automatically downloaded to your podcast subscription software (see below) each time a podcast is updated.

iTunes is one way to subscribe to podcasts. iTunes is a free download, and works on both PCs and Macs. Some other free software player options include Juice and Odeo. Once you select and download your software, follow the instructions on how to subscribe to podcasts. After the podcast files are downloaded, they can be transferred to your mp3 player, if you have one.

You can also subscribe to a podcast in an RSS reader, so that you are alerted when a new podcast is posted on your favorite site. Find out more about RSS & RSS readers here.

Library pod/vidcasts

• Stories for kids on Denver Public Library’s site
• Library events for teens by teens on Seattle Public Library’s site
• Educational lectures on Kentucky University Libraries‘ site.

 

More information for the curious

Make your own podcasts!
Want to make your own podcast and share it on the web? Look at these sites for free software and hints on creating podcasts. As always, add any podcasts you create to your blog.

• How to Podcast
• Create Your Own Podcast
• Audacity is a free cross-platform software for recording and editing sounds–podcasting!

YouTube
The video on this page was embedded from YouTube, which allows you to subscribe to their favorite channels, which makes YouTube a podcasting (or vidcasting) service. And to make YouTube even more fabulous, you can embed video from YouTube to blogs, wikis, websites, and social websites, like Facebook.

Why “podcast?”
The word “podcast” comes from the combination of iPod + broadcast. iPods were the first portable devices that had scripts that allowed podcasts to be automatically transferred to the device.