Week 12: Media Sharing

The realm of media sharing is so large, and the possibilities so great,
it would be impossible to do it justice in a single week. After all, the
Internet, even the old text-based, Web 1.0 Internet, was about media
sharing (mostly in the form of text). With the advent of sites like
Flickr and Youtube, the technical barriers to sharing wide varieties of
media have been removed. But it doesn't end with video and photos -
Googledocs, slideshare and scribd all provide new ways for users to share
media.

Flickr and Youtube are notable for how simple they are to use, and this
seems to be a key ingredient to success. DivX had a video sharing site
called Stage 6, with much, much better quality, but it contained more
pirated material than user-created content, and failed as a result.
The message for other tech startups seems to be that allowing the user to
form their own experience is a must. Libraries should also take this
seriously. As librarians, we have to carefully tread the line between
control and total freedom. We want to ensure bibliographic control, but
there are benefits to the user-generated points of access that
predominate in Web 2.0 media sharing platforms.

The case studies this week have some great examples of how libraries can do amazing things with Flickr. The Duke, U of M, and LOC collections on Flickr were incredible, and they give new life to these photographs that might otherwise have remained in a closed book on the shelf. The U of M collection is also notable for artistically representing the library as a place.

McCracken County's Youtube channel was my favourite of the lot, but I suppose it's a little easier to let your creativity fly when you're aiming at a younger audience. OCLS has managed to create some very funny and interesting content, too. I find it a little hard to get excited about Georgia Tech's content, but given the number of views, there's clearly room for these types of instructional videos. 

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