Podcasts

Another 2.0 tool I'm pleased to see libraries experimenting with. I didn't see anything in the libraries listed that knocked my socks off. There seem to be three variations:

• Recording of a traditional service or program (speaker, storytime, etc.)

• Book talks or "reviews"

• Someone talking about the library and library services

These are all good thoughts, but in my opinion keep us inside self-imposed limitations. True, some people might be interested in listening to a really good RA librarian in order to find more good books to read, but we can be more creative than that.

If Sno-Isle gets into podcasting I hope we can be a more creative force. I think that having easily downloadable content, and a lot of it, on our website should be key goal for us, and podcasting is a great way to create this content. (Without having to wait for vendors to create it.) The content should do what our other services do - provide entertainment, information, education and culture.

There have got to be better ideas, but what isn't there a staff member who's a great gardener who could record a regular show with gardening tips, offering both personal experience and information cited from books the library owns? Or someone talking about great music they've discovered in the library collection, maybe even playing some tracks. They wouldn't need to promote specific library items, just, "hey - there's great music at the library!" Or two people debating the merits of selected movies.

And here's the dangerous idea - what about letting the patrons in? Couldn't a public library provide the equipment to create a podcast? The podcast could then be used by the patron who creates it, but would also be placed on the library web site. That might provide for some really exciting content creation.