Thing #21: Podcasts

This “thing” has a podcast! Check it out!

The word podcast is used to refer to a non-musical audio or video broadcast that is distributed over the Internet. What differentiates a podcast from regular streaming audio or video is that the delivery method for podcasts is often done automatically through RSS.

In 2005, “podcast” was named the “word of the year” by the New Oxford American Dictionary and with the growth of podcasting over the last few years, it’s easy to see why. To some, podcasting is old news now, but it still has very relevant uses.

Podcasts take many forms, from short 1-10 minutes commentaries, such as the one with this post, to much longer in-person interviews or panel group discussions. There’s a podcast out there for just about every interest area and the best part about this technology is that you don’t have to have an iPod or a MP3 player to access them. Since podcasts use the MP3 file format, a popular compressed format for audio files, you really just need a PC (or portal device) with headphones or a speaker.

iTunes, the free downloadable application created by Apple, is the directory finding service most associated with podcasts, but if you don’t have iTunes installed there are still plenty of options.

For this discovery exercise, participants are asked to take a look at some popular podcast directory tools. Do some exploring on your own and locate a podcast that is of interest to you. Once found, you can easily pull the RSS feed into your Bloglines account as well, so that when new casts become available you’ll be automatically notified of their existence.

Discovery Resources:

• To find out more about podcasts, let’s start with another awesome Common Craft video:
  
• There are many, many podcast directories and finding tools out there. Here are three that you can look through:
  • podfeed.net
  • Podcastalley.com
  • Google Podcast Directory
• What? You want to learn how to be a podcaster too?
  (Optional Resources for those who want to learn create podcasts)
  • How to Create Your Own Podcast: A Step-by-Step Tutorial.
  • Create Podcasts Using Your PC, from O’Reilly Media.
  • How to Podcast.

  Discovery Exercise:

  1. Take a look at one or two of the podcast directories listed above and see if you can find a podcast that interests you. See if you can find some interesting library-related podcasts here like book review podcasts or library news. Can you find other libraries that podcast on a regular basis?
  2. Add the RSS feed for a podcast to your Bloglines account. (Remember that Learn & Play uses Bloglines, not Google Reader, so if you use Google Reader and have questions, you might need to find someone who is also using it.
  3. Create a blog post about your discovery process. Did you find anything useful here? Can you see how CML might use such technology to promote programs, events, or other things?