Task 14-Podcasts

I listened to 3 podcasts in all. The first one was through Webinar and was on Grant Writing http://www.webjunction.org/do/LearningCenter?method=getCourseDetails&courseId=3844
This course gave very basic information on the grant writing. It actually was a powerpoint presentation with one podcast on it showing how you should conduct a grant interview. It was fine, just very basic and it cost $20 which was a bit much.
The second podcast was through Sirsi Dynix. It is called 25 Technologies in 50 minutes http://www.sirsidynixinstitute.com/seminar_page.php?sid=69 Stephen Abrahms talked about 25 technologies we should be familiar with in the Library 2.0 world. The neat thing about it is that he only had 2 minutes to talk about each one. He gave you a quick list of what you should be watching for and a brief definition. He also touched upon how they could be useful in the library. I was happy to see that we are covering almost all of the 25 technologies in our YCL 2.0. But just in case Shasta needs any ideas for the next 2.0, here are the ones we are not covering: Aggregators for Instant Messaging, Second Life, Avatars, Retrievr, Facebook, Skype, Endeca, Singingfish, Blinx and Folksonomies.
The third podcast was also through Sirsi Dynix and was called Mistakes Only Experienced Directors and Managers Make http://www.sirsidynixinstitute.com/seminar_page.php?sid=29
This one was great. I highly recommend it to any managers. It discusses the mistakes that managers often make once they have been in the same job for more than 7 years. It list the symptoms and what you should do if you recognize these symptoms in yourself. Wonderful for self-awareness.
I loved watching and listening to these podcasts on my own time without interruptions. What a great way to learn more about my job. Besides the one podcast on grant writing, the only thing it cost me was my time. It was convenient and I had many topics to choose from. If I had chosen one that wasn't giving me any new information, all I have to do is click on another one. I definitely think we should do some in-house training on various library-related topics using Podcasts. Maybe that could be part of the next Library 2.0. One task might be to watch a certain number of podcasts and do a small summary on each. We could also use podcasts to broadcasts storytimes and have teens do infomercials for the library on our webpage. Lastly, you could use podcasts of author interviews to enhance book club meetings.