Thing 8 – Explore podcasts & vodcasts

A podcast is just a series of audio files available over the internet – but what makes podcasts special is the way that they’re distributed. A podcast comes via an rss feed, just the same way that blog posts come to your feed reader! You subscribe to podcasts in the same way too, so there’s no need to visit websites to check if a new program has been released.

Vodcasts, or video podcasts, also work in the same way, but have correspondingly larger files sizes. (Use caution if you have a slow connection or download limits.)

Both podcasts and vodcasts can be played on compatible portable media players (eg. iPods) or simply on your computer. There is absolutely no need to have a portable media player to listen to podcasts!

Serious podcast users will install specialised software, but you can use your existing feed reader account to subscribe. You may have noticed that one podcast was included in the rss feeds that you subscribed to using the opml file in Thing 6. It was a weekly library news program from the US called LibVibe. A small player appears in the blog post in your feed reader, and all you have to do to listen to the podcast is click on play.

Your task

Find a podcast that interests you using Google, or a directory such as Podcast.net or PodcastAlley.com, or from the links in the Resources section below.

Subscribe to it in your feed reader and listen to an audio file or two.

There are a number of library related podcasts out there (in addition to LibVibe). For example:

• SirsiDynix Institute
• Uncontrolled Vocabulary
• Talking with Talis

Don’t forget to write up your experience as a blog post!

Resources

• PodcastAlley.com – podcasting resource and directory of podcasts
• PodShow.com – access to music, videos, and episodes
• Aunty ABC – podcasts of shows from the national broadcaster
• “What’s new in Podcasting” Sirsidynix Institute online seminar from June 2007

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Credit: Adapted from the PLCMC Thing posted by HeleneB, under a Creative Commons BY-NC license, and from the Swinburne University Thing posted by TRR (task by Fiona O’Donnell), under a Creative Commons BY-NC-SA license. Video from Common Craft.

Original content by Jason Peart for the Chisholm Institute Library.
© Chisholm Institute 2008, released under a Creative Commons BY-NC-SA license.