Saturday, April 26, 2008

Week 6 - Explore + Attempting the Adventure

Firstly, I did a search for "Mosman Library" in YouTube but didn't find any results as such, but then did the same search in Google Video and found 19 results! What a brilliant way to not only present the 'special guests' but also highlight the fact that these well-known identities have come to Mosman Library! Our Friends of the Library hold literary lunches for FOTL members and guests; yet if you aren't able to attend for whatever reason, you may recall that the particular author attended your local library, but it will become a distant memory. Now, if you could search for your local library in YouTube or Google Video and 'rediscover' the literary guest - wouldn't it create a great feeling (hopefully the guest was successful!). And it wouldn't just have to be a literary guest, it could be anything 'special' - even a launch of a new collection, new concept etc - the idea still reaches plenty of people, even years down the track.

I did notice in the James Valentine video, the option on the right hand side of Embed Video - I clicked on it and received coding (similar to HTML) and I've copied the tagging and I'm going to paste it and I will discover whether I have successfully embedded a video into my blog....

James Valentine at Mosman Library

Fantastic! It works - so now I'm going to try to embed a You Tube video....I'll embed the longer video for AskWhyKY.org - I viewed the video, on the right hand side is the coding under Embed - I highlighted the coding and copied it and now it will be a straight paste into my post and tada!!!



Fantastic!

Some of my thoughts about libraries using You Tube and Google Video include:
Promoting the library - what it has to offer; if you have never been to this library - what would make you step inside; what would entice you to become a member - people are members of libraries for various reasons - but what would entice potential members - have an enticing video/promotion on You Tube and Google Video - voila! Reaching more people. Reach not only people in your local community but also visitors to the area - day visitors, travellers, backpackers.
A library could also do what Mosman has done - include special guests - the special guests are unlikely to disagree as it means that they too are being promoted.
You wouldn't have to limit it to special guests but use your resources - your staff (if they are willing) to highlight different aspects/activities etc your library has to offer.
I think it is Redcliffe Library in Queensland that has a Virtual tour on their website - perhaps the video tools such as You Tube and Google Video could offer a 'virtual tour' of your local library?
Just a couple of ideas to think about....

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