Back on the bandwagon

Well it's a new year and much has happened since these previous posts. Two things in particular:

• Forget QTPro...
• podOmatic is pod.O.licious!

All the agony and stress in the saga to get all my library instruction podcasts posted and working is gone (for the most part). I'm now using Camtasia 4.0 to create the audio+PPT files (M4V) and then uploading them to my podomatic site: http://rclemens.podomatic.com/ and they are working beautifully! podOmatic is an unbelievable service - they "tweak" the M4V files somehow, do all the RSS updating and even host the files. So both the vodcasts and podcasts are linked there and I can then check all kinds of usage statistics. I went ahead and signed up for the $10/month service to avoid any advertising on my site. But it's free otherwise. So podOmatic - you are right up there with JetBlue, priceline, and Interlibrary Loan in making my life more enjoyable. Keep up the good work.

MP4 and QuickTime Issues

After creating my instruction modules in Camtasia, I exported them as .mov files. Then in QuickTimePro I converted them to MP4 files (supposedly the new format for video podcasts) and posted them on my site. But I'm having the darndest time with them. Approximately 60% of the time QuickTimePro encounters an error and shuts down the browser completely. Sometimes if you open the browser and file again it will work - but sometimes not. This is extremely frustrating because I don't see a pattern. The error message is: An error occurred inside a plug-in contained on this page Maybe this relates to MIME or mismatched versions of QT extension for .dll file. So I am just going to throw out these MP4 files and stick with .mov files and .MP3 files only. But it leaves me asking what is the MP4 format for? What benefit does it have over an .mov file? More compression? (I don't think so). Any thoughts welcome

Follow-up from LACASIS Program

Greetings LACASIS Enthusiasts : If you can find this blog - you can find my sample podcasts. Three video and one audio-only podcasts are uploaded and should be announced in an RSS feed if you've subscribed.

• Module 1 - Welcome
• Module 1 - Wecome - audio only
• Module 2 - Course Reserves
• Module 3 - Nursing Literature

I hope we all enjoy the program this evening - and come away with some new ideas. -Rachael

Problem solved! It seems iTunes requires a specific XML tag identifying the type of file (audio/mpeg) along with its specific URL and length. Whew. Not sure why iTunes requires this and other RSS feeds don't seem to require it. In any event, I can now submit these podcasts to iTunes for inclusion. But now I'm not sure if I need to provide two RSS links - more to come.

Live from LibraryLand Having the darndest time submitting my podcasts to iTunes! I keep getting the "this feed has no episodes" message. But the RSS seems to work fine in Yahoo reader and the Google reader. To be continued...

Live from LibraryLand Podcast ready: Welcome to the Pollak Library

Live from LibraryLand I am working on an empirical study to determine the feasibility and effectiveness of library instruction delivered via podcast to both traditional on-campus students and distance education students. As the library liaison to the Nursing Department here at Cal State Fullerton, I work closely with the faculty to help meet the information needs and expectations of their students through efforts like library instruction sessions, online research guides, electronic handouts, and personal reference assistance with students in person, on the phone and via email. But most of our Nursing students are RNs working in the field and may not come to campus very often (if at all for those distance folks). So I am putting together some online modules that describe and demonstrate some of the resources and services available through the Pollak Library. These can be viewed online with any media player or downloaded to an iPod for the more mobile student. I have chunked the information into sections so that users can select which components they want to learn more about – or can repeat a specific section if needed. During the summer I surveyed the faculty in the Dept. of Nursing to solicit their input on the content of these modules. And I have created these podcasts based upon faculty feedback. I will promote these to the faculty and students in the department throughout the fall semester. About October I will offer an online survey to nursing students asking them about their experience with the podcasts (successes, shortcomings, etc.). I should note here that the CSUF Dept. of Nursing has been very forward-thinking in terms of technology and opportunities - in fact they have been our participants for several pilot projects. So my thanks to this fine department. I’ll post my progress on this blog and provide links to the podcasts. If you have any comments or suggestions, I’d be delighted to hear them!