Week 21: Video Sharing

This week you’ll learn about YouTube. Listen to the podcast and read the info below, and if you have any questions about anything along the way, be sure to contact us — we’re happy to help!

What is YouTube?

YouTube is a popular video hosting & sharing service that was founded in 2005, and was bought by Google in 2006. YouTube lets people view videos, and allows registered users to upload videos. In addition to hosting videos, YouTube lets users rate videos and add comments, turning it into a social networking service.

There are other places to find videos on the internet, but YouTube has become the most popular central location to find videos.

To watch a YouTube video you don’t need to install special software, figure out your bandwidth setting, or sign up for an account. You don’t even have to visit the YouTube web site to view a video. Videos are easily embedded in blog postings or on web pages — like those Common Craft videos we’ve provided here in the Adventures in Technology blog!

When you explore YouTube it’s possible to find comedy, cute pets, music videos, notices of videos that have been removed due to copyright infringement, and people making fools of themselves. There’s everything from 1960’s TV commercials, to library dominoes, to the most annoying dog in the world.

In a January 2008 Pew Internet Project data memo Lee Rainie reports, “The audience for YouTube and other internet video sites has risen sharply the past year. Nearly half of online adults now say they have visited such sites.”

How are people using YouTube?

Besides watching and uploading videos, YouTube provides social networking features for those who set up a free account. These features include the ability to…

• create a profile, like this one for Racine Public Library
  
• customize your profile with favorites, playlists, and subscriptions to channels & tags
• upload & tag your videos
• “friend” other YouTube users
• send messages, and even broadcast messages to all your YouTube friends
• rate and add comments to videos

How can libraries use YouTube for marketing?

Here are some great examples of creative ways libraries are using YouTube:

• Calgary Public Library Story Time (no, it’s not the kind of storytime you’re thinking of!)
• Tour the Harper College Library (this one is a hoot!)
• iACPL 4.0 (Allen County Public Library’s homage to the “I’m a Mac; I’m a PC” commercials)
• QandANJ: Now Your Library is Open Late Night Too! (this ad originally aired during the 2007 MTV Video Music Awards)
• The Best of Library 2.0 Playlist on YouTube

How can library staff use YouTube as a reference tool?

Have you ever needed to help a student find a famous speech or a news clip? You can find videos of Martin Luther King Jr.’s ‘I Have a Dream’ speech, the first moon landing, and John F. Kennedy’s “ask not what your country can do for you” speech from his 1961 inaugural address.

How can I create a video to share on YouTube?

You’ll first need a device that can capture digital movies. This could be a camcorder, a digital camera, and even a cell phone that has this capability. YouTube accepts a wide range of video file formats such as .WMV, .AVI, .MOV, and .MPG. You’ll then copy the movie to your computer and upload it to YouTube; or you could edit it with software like Windows Movie Maker or iMovie (for Macs) to add titles or special effects before uploading it. For details, visit YouTube’s help center and Video Toolbox. This 3 minute video explains it all (and is especially funny if you’ve seen an episode of the 1983-1995 Bob Ross “The Joy of Painting” TV show.)

Another way is to create a screencast using Screencast-O-Mati, then export it as Quicktime video in .MOV format (watch this screencast to find out how), which you can then upload to YouTube.

How else can I get a video onto YouTube for our library?

Consider setting up a YouTube contest! Here are some examples:

• OWLSnet ran their InfoSoup YouTube Contest in January 2008, and you can see all the entries at http://info.infosoup.org/youtube/
• AskAway is planned a YouTube contest as part of the Fall 2008 AskAway Awareness Week
• The Director’s Chair video contest to promote Florida’s Ask a Librarian service
• Denver Public Library Evolver
• I Love My Library video contest top five finalists

There’s even an entire section of YouTube just for Contests.

Assignment:

Watch some of the library videos linked to above, or use this link http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=libraries&search=tag to find other videos tagged “libraries”.
Explore YouTube to find a video on any topic that interests you.
Create a blog post about your experience:
a. Write about what you liked or disliked about YouTube.
b. Add a link to a video, or embed a video in your blog post.
c. Write your thoughts about libraries’ uses of YouTube.

Not sure how to embed a video in a blog posting? I used Screencast-O-Matic to create a 1-minute screencast that shows how to do it.

Optional assignment:

1. Sign up for your own YouTube account at http://www.youtube.com/signup. (Good news for those of you with too many usernames & passwords already -– if you have a Google account, you can use your existing Gmail address to create a YouTube logon.) Create some playlists, “favorite” some videos, subscribe to some tags, explore & have fun!

2. If you have access to a device that can capture digital movies, create your own YouTube account at http://www.youtube.com/signup and upload a video clip. If you feel so inclined, link to or embed your video in this week’s posting on your blog.

Fun Extra:
Enjoy some of my favorite book/library/literary YouTube videos:

• My Baby Loves a Bunch of Authors by Moxy Früvous
• Library Girl by Bôyzvoice (a mock boy band)
• The Zombie Survival Guide
  
• Conan the Librarian
• Betty Glover Library Workout Tape (“The only medically-approved workout for librarians.”)