Podcasting

I think podcasting is a lot like audiobooks. Either you're a big fan, or you just don't get it. I'm afraid I fit into the "just don't get it" crowd (with both audiobooks and podcasting).

Maybe it's just because I can read a whole lot faster than I can listen to things. I would much rather read a website or blog entry than have to listen to the same information. (Also, I have a ten-minute commute to work. I barely have time to hear the news on NPR, much less listen to a book or podcast.)

All that being said, I do subscribe to the weekly podcast of Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me. It's a great way to keep up with a radio show that you can't usually hear live. (OTOH, I'm three weeks behind, which lets you know how much time I spend listening to podcasts.)

Anyway, folks who like podcasts are very enthusiastic about them. So how could the library use podcasts? Same ways we've all mentioned for blogs, rss, and video: to keep patrons informed of what's going on in the library, for instruction, for entertainment, to showcase the talents of staff, for "Not Checked In" -- part of the lesson I'm learning is that we should present information in as many formats as possible.

If there was a monthly library podcast, featuring news, upcoming events, book reviews, some entertainment...would regular listeners be ready to spring to the library's defense when we need them (say, in a difficult budget period, to pick an example totally at random)? Podcasts (and videocasts) can be so much more intimate than print. When NPR and PBS appeal for donations, they get money...why couldn't we have a brief appeal for donations to the Foundation on every podcast/videocast?