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!

An iDog For Me

Seriously, I think I'm going to pick up one of these since Sequoia doesn't groove around when I hit play on my mp3 player. I know he'll dance or change color depending on the type of music but I wonder how the iDog would react to a podcast of book reviews or various community radio shows? I'll report my findings at a later date...after I find one of these nifty little guys.

Podcasts were fairly new to me before I began this Project Play lesson. I realized after reviewing some of the suggested podcasts that I have, in fact, listened to podcasts before from OPAL on my PC - I just didn't realize that was the name for what I was listening to. Ah-ha moment! Now that I have been introduced to this larger world of listening, I am going to need even more time in my day. Wouldn't it be nice if Leap Year days could be designated for catch up on all of the reading, and listening, that one has gathered in the previous four years (or maybe four months is more reasonable!)

I am in awe of the huge variety of classes offered by Orange County Library System. I like that they have podcasts of their programs as well as a link to thier class on how to create your own podcast. I imagine such a class would be especially popular with our YA crowd. I also think classes and space to try podcasting, and other cool techie things, would be popular, relevant, and of interest to the retiring Baby Boom population.