Tubin'

I hope all of you loyal Project Play readers listened to Henrietta Pussycat and donned your favorite sweater in honor of Mr. Rogers a few days ago. The sound of Trolley at the start of that YouTube clip brings me instantly back to about age 3 or 4 - my favorite Mr. Rogers moment was always when he fed the fish in his fishtank.

But, YouTube is so much more than fond childhood memories! One can really get lost in watching video after video, one leading into another, until an easy hour has gone by and you are left wondering where you started. I imagine this is how many people still feel after trying to find answers from the average google search. YouTube could be a way to record and make available events in the library such as author visits/talks, children's storytimes, and lectures. Then people who could not attend the event could still sort-of experience the program. One would have to obtain approval from the person being recorded of course.

At one of our library book discussion groups, a staff person found a YouTube clip of some sperm whales to share with the discussion group (Title that month was In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex). It was a wonderful and easy way to add another feature to the discussion. Another fun way library staff could use YouTube as part of a discussion group would be to show clips of whatever author is featured doing a reading or a lecture. I found a bunch of clips of one of my favorite authors Toni Morrison - I remember watching a video of her being interviewed when I was studying her writing in college and I found it facinating to hear her voice, tone and inflection, as she discussed works that I had been pouring over for months. What a great and easy addition to student research when one can simply find this type of thing on YouTube rather than (or in addition to) searching and submit ILL video requests. I'll have to look into how to correctly cite YouTube videos in a bibliography ... I'm sure this question will come up at the Reference Desk sooner rather than later!