Week 12: Media Sharing

This week's readings and case studies show that media sharing offers interesting possibilities for libraries. I had some previous exposure to YouTube as instructional video before this week, but had not yet put real thought into its potential uses.  YouTube is a really interesting way for libraries to advertize or recap events and not only does this keep communities informed, but it increases patron interest and raises the profile of the library. To tap into these advantages, a solid knowledge of the intended audience and how aware they are of these tools is important. Promotion of these tools is necessary or the library's efforts will go unnoticed. Librarians are again placed in the role of learning and evaluating new technologies for their effectiveness at enhancing services to patrons and sharing this technical knowledge with the community.

YouTube could be an effective way of delivering library instruction to patrons, especially because it can reach such a wide audience. Many people are hesitant to approach librarians for help and these videos can deliver much needed instruction without this stress, not only to teach important skills but to make patrons more comfortable with the library, introduce the staff, and open the lines of communication.

If library staff time is limited and there is not enough staff to have someone step away from the service desk and do many extras, then videos might be a good option for providing more value to patrons. For example, in-person booktalks are great but videos could also be made and this would be much more engaging than an online write-up of a book. Many more people would be able to access the booktalks than if they were scheduled in-library. Using online media sharing is another great way to grab patron attention, drawing them to the library where they can see what else the library has to offer.

It was fun this week to see how the different libraries are representing themselves and their events through media sharing tools. There were some great examples of how libraries are using video to deliver information and these ideas can be used and built upon by other libraries. The albums of old photos were also a nice offering and the Duke University Archives' baby lemur sure was interesting . I like the idea that by collaborating online and sharing content, libraries can all learn new skills and develop their expertise with social software.