Westerville Public Library Videocasts (well, sort of videocasts…)

Posted on July 12, 2006
Filed Under Video Casting, Videoblogging |

Westerville Public Library is shooting video! I just saw this (via Library Stuff): Westerville Public Library is doing a few pretty hip things:

  1. They have created something called castr, that they claim is their “podcast delivery system” (more on that in a sec). So far, they have three videos (a zoo visit, story time, and spanish class).
  2. They have made their castr page look like a web 2.0 site, complete with large text, a simple design, a gradiated image for the page background, and a large image (and they have also left out the “e” in castr, and given it a flickr-like color combination).
  3. They are using Ajax (cool geek web coding language)
  4. They feature one of the videos in the large ad on their main page, with a big “watch this movie” link (in fact, their whole site looks nice… I might have to do another Cup ‘o Java review of it)

This is the second attempt at library videocasting I’ve seen - the first one being Manchester Public Library’s Teen Matrix site. See? I’ve been saying video will be coming… and it is… and it’s pretty cool!

OK - so why am I saying “attempt at videocasting?” Because, technically speaking, Westerville hasn’t really created a podcast/videocast. They have created a blog that links to videos. Sounds picky, but it’s not - a true videocast/podcast has the video/audio file embedded with the blog post, so a podcast aggregator can automatically download the media file. That’s what makes a pod/videocast so cool. So I’d humbly ask Westerville Public to go that one extra step - then they’d be extremely cool (and have their wording right, too).

Update: Aaron, the guy who created Castr, emailed me and commented on this post. Castr is now a true videocast. Cool beans!
All that aside, I find it exciting to see online video slowly becoming part of a library’s digital outreach tools. We’ll definitely be seeing more of this type of service!

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Comments

6 Responses to “Westerville Public Library Videocasts (well, sort of videocasts…)”

  1. Aaron Bedra on July 12th, 2006 11:56 am

    Wow! I am very sorry about the whole mess. I had included the actual podcast feed in the application and it somehow didn’t make it’s way into production. That is my fault, but now it is really a “podcast”. Thanks for the press!

  2. Jo Ann Sampson on July 12th, 2006 2:30 pm

    The Orange County Library System in Orlando, FL has been offering vodcasts since March 2006 in the OCLS Events podcast feed. People can subscribe through iTunes as well as the library’s website http://www.ocls.info/Programs/podcastAndRSS.asp
    It’s great to see other libraries entering the vodcast world!

  3. David Lee King » Blog Archive » Library Videoblogs So Far on July 13th, 2006 4:28 pm

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  4. David Lee King » Blog Archive » Library Videoblogs So Far on August 15th, 2006 5:24 pm

    [...] Westerville Public Library, which I mentioned yesterday. They seem to be focusing on videos of programming right now. [...]

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