Library Videos and Webcasts

Citation

Calvert, P. (2011), "Library Videos and Webcasts", The Electronic Library, Vol. 29 No. 2, pp. 283-284. https://doi.org/10.1108/02640471111125285

The use of video by libraries is a small but growing topic of interest. By creating a video and putting it online, generally on a web site, librarians are communicating with customers in a new and direct way. This book is aimed at those librarians who have decided to use video and webcasts but are looking for some practical guidance on how to go about it. Robinson does not tell us much about the “why” but he gives a lot of immediately practical advice on the “how”. After a brief chapter on planning, he then works through all the basics of choosing the most appropriate equipment and how much it is likely to cost. He gives brief yet pertinent guidance on cameras, microphones, lighting, tripods and booms, and the necessary editing hardware and software. He explains how to create scripts and storyboards, find locations and actors, and put together a shooting schedule. When explaining how to start he suggests techniques for a basic video then how to add quality features one by one.

The chapter on implementation is probably where the most sophisticated advice is located, including checking lighting and audio levels, camera angles, writing “artist release forms”, the basics of captioning, editing techniques, and so on. There are unexpected chapters towards the end of the book: one on marketing and one on how to measure success. The marketing chapter brings no surprises, just a common‐sense approach to developing a “story” and pushing out the news via email, social networks, and, the part that some will find new, using a video hosting service such as YouTube. Measuring success methods include using tools such as Google Analytics. This book is highly recommended for any librarians thinking of making videos at work, for while short of some technical detail, it is a highly practical guide to getting started. There is a short bibliography and a collection of useful web sites to visit.