#17: Podcasts

Podcasting is another topic that I've been interested in but haven't had the time or inclination to really throw myself into. Much like blogging, it requires time and commitment, whether one is creating a podcast or simply listening to it. While I subscribe to many blogs, I usually skim most entries unless something catches my eye. It's much more difficult to 'skim' a podcast, and also requires you to be somewhere where you can actually have audio playing, or where you can have headphones in. This makes podcasts more difficult to subscribe to than blogs. However, they do have some advantages. For those who learn best aurally, podcasts can help more than written blogs. I can see this being used with certain lessons. Additionally, certain subjects lend themselves to podcasting more naturally, for instance, learning a new language. Being able to listen to native speakers and teachers makes it easier to learn than trying to read. A great site for learning these languages for free is the Radio Lingua Network. I subscribe to the Coffee Break Spanish podcast; there is also Coffee Talk French and a lot of OneMinute versions (including Danish, Romanian, Russian, German, Norwegian, Mandarin, and Japanese).

A former colleague of mine at USF, Drew Smith, is one of the Genealogy Guys, who have a weekly podcast. They're up to number 167, and they are the "oldest regularly produced genealogy podcast in the world"! Drew is also the Library Guy, of Library Guy & Library Gal, where they discuss using the library's resources.

Books are another medium that can benefit from podcasting and audio. Two sites, Lit2Go and Podiobooks, have free audio versions of books that you can download to your MP3 player and take them wherever you go. For those that take the bus or have to wait in long lines but don't necessarily want to whip out a book, these could be a viable alternative.

Another great use for podcasts is for fun extras. Some TV shows have the writers blogging, which is great, but others take it a step further with podcasts for each episode where those involved in making a show will talk about certain aspects of that episode, including trivia, though processes, and more. One show that did that is Battlestar Galactica; while it's over now, fans can still listen to these podcasts.

I can see my library creating audio help files as podcasts, but I think I prefer video tutorials to audio-only, and I'm not sure if I will take steps to implement podcasting here.