I had very little expectations going into this course. I knew I wanted to take a Maymester course my last year and this one fit the bill. A coworker of mine went through the Valdosta program and said he really enjoyed this class. But I had no idea the kinds of things we would be learning or the amount of work that would be involved.
Oh boy, was I in for a ride.
I have learned about everything from social media campaigns to website design to wikis to trying to wrap my mind around semantic web. I have a blog, a Twitter, a website, and a poster to show for my efforts, as well as a group of friends I got to know very well "in the trenches" of Twitter late at night as we all struggled to finish our assignments alongside each other.
The only thing I would have done differently about this course would be to make it a full length summer course and to add a bit more material. I know it sounds crazy, but the compact nature of this course actually helped me focus a bit more on the subjects for each week, but maybe spreading it out a bit more would help me enjoy it in the moment more. As for topics, I would love to have been able to talk about some of the more library-specific technologies that are popular in libraries currently - such as Electronic Resource Management software or Discovery layers. I realize these probably have their own course and that's why we didn't cover them, but all the same while we were on that path, let's dive in! I also wish we had been able to get a bit more into website development and had more time to really make our sites shine - maybe have a period of a "rough drafting", followed by instructor and classmate feedback, and then a polished "final product" stage.
All in all, I have enjoyed this Maymester experiment and wish you all a happy summer! I'll be taking Academic Libraries if anyone wants to "hang out" again :)
Screen casting and screen capturing software are dynamic
tools that can be applicable in many settings, from professional to personal,
but are also a great fit for libraries.
Screen casting is the process of recording what is happening on your
computer screen, allowing you to demonstrate mouse movements, menus opening,
and so on (Resources – screencasting).
Screen capturing is the process of taking still pictures of your screen,
usually in a series that demonstrates a process. With good screen casting or capturing
software, these videos and images can be annotated with voice-over, text,
circles and arrows, or other symbols that help highlight steps in a process. There are many versions of screen capturing
and casting software, such as free or paid ones, web-browser based or desktop
download, Mac-friendly or Windows exclusive software (Resources –screencasting). This software opens up a
world of possibilities for libraries to reach patrons where they are – whether
as distance education students or simply patrons on the go using their mobile
phone.
Example of an instructional video using screen casting
Literature Review
Much of the literature on screen casting and capturing
focuses on the choice of a software.
There is a variety of functionality in screen capturing and screen
casting software. Common features
include the ability to record audio commentary over the pictures or video, the
ability to insert text or symbols such as arrows or circles, and the ability to
edit out or move around video footage or pictures to create a more cohesive
narrative (Wales & Robertson, 2008, p. 374). Some software, such as Adobe Captivate or
Camtasia Studio, allows the screen caster to only record a predetermined
section of the screen (Wales & Robertson, 2008, p. 374). Jing is a popular free program, however it
limits videos to five minutes in length (Resources – screencasting). Many of the programs are free, however full
versions of programs like Camtasia Studio can cost around $300 (Carlson, 2009,
p. 154) and Adobe Captivate costs almost $700 (Resources – screencasting). In addition to the software, libraries might
also purchase a headset with a microphone for recording (Carlson, 2009, p.
154).
There are several technical considerations for cast or
capture creation. Video should be
recorded at a screen size small enough to be viewed comfortably and without
scrolling on a variety of screens. Wales
& Roberston (2008) recommend resizing screen casts to 800 x 600 pixels for
this reason (p. 375). Most of the
surveyed screen casting or screen capturing software used Adobe Flash Player,
but could also output files in formats suitable for Windows Media Player,
Quicktime, DVD-ready AVI, iOS devices, RealMedia MP3, or animated GIF formats
(Carlson, 2009, p. 154). Some software
such as Jing offers hosting of videos for easy sharing, however several
libraries have found YouTube works just as well for this purpose (Resources –screencasting). For some of the more
technical software such as Camtasia or Adobe Captivate, it’s useful to collaborate
with IT department staff in using the software (Carlson, 2009, p. 156). However, it is best if librarians produce the
actual videos, as librarians know best how their users navigate the website and
have a better pedagogical understanding for how to instruct users (Wales &
Robertson, 2008, p. 371).
The literature also discovered several best practices for
planning out the production process for more advanced screen casting
projects. Production time for videos can
be reduced by planning detailed storyboards in advance, as well as creating
videos in small chunks that can be interchanged in other videos (Wales &
Robertson, 2008, p. 372). For example,
the same segment of video demonstrating how to navigate to the library’s web
page can be used in nearly all videos.
The literature suggested several variations of steps, but nearly all
included some stage of preproduction (creating the script, mapping out the path
of the mouse and the images to include), production (taking the screen captures
or recording the screen cast), and post production (editing the footage,
annotating with voice, text, or symbols) before publishing the final product
(Notess, 2012; Carlson, 2009).
Use of Screen Casting and Capturing in Libraries
The most obvious use for screen casting software in the
library is during remote interactions with patrons, such as those that occur
through virtual reference chats or emails.
One of the challenges of virtual reference is the length of time
necessary to conduct a thorough reference interview, walk a patron through the
problem, and help them find their answer – all over text messaging. The use of videos, images, or audio can
enhance the reference experience and cut down on the amount of time spent typing. According to Brietbach & Demars (2009),
“…it is often less time consuming and easier to ‘show’ a patron how to use a
database than to provide instruction with static text,” (p. 86). At the time of the virtual reference chat, a
librarian can use screen casting software such as Jing to create short videos
in response to patron questions on the fly (Brietbach & Demars, 2009).
With more thought and planning, libraries can create
asynchronous videos for library instruction or demonstrations of common library
webpage processes such as requesting a book through interlibrary loan. Libraries can use more advanced software
such as Camtasia or Camstudio for these projects (Brietbach & Demars,
2009). Because of the length of time
involved in creating one of these videos, the literature advises that these
types of videos be general in nature and use interchangeable video segments.
Challenges and Issues
The major issue with using screen capturing software to
communicate with patrons remotely – either in real time or asynchronously – is
that of technical difficulties. Many of
these problems are with the patron’s computer itself, resulting from the way
the patron set their up their personal computer (Breitbach & Demars, 2009). Another technical problem is the size of
video files created by screen casting and capturing software. Wales & Robertson (2008) advocate using a
series of many screen capture still pictures strung together with annotations,
voice over, and simulated mouse clicks instead of a real video recording (p.
371). This results in a much smaller
file type. Another general problem is
the use of FlashPlayer, which is not compatible with Apple iOS mobile
devices. A possible workaround for this
would be to upload the completed video to a common video sharing service such
as YouTube, which works across a wide variety of platforms.
Another issue with using more sophisticated screen capturing
software such as Camtasia is the length of time and technical expertise
necessary to create them. According to
Wales & Robertson (2008), “The storyboarding and production phases combined
took 100 [hours] over a period of six months to produce 6 [hours] of study
material,” (p. 375). Because of this, videos of this caliber are often general
in nature to reduce production time (Brietbach & Demars, 2009, p. 86). Wales & Robertson (2008) found that audio
commentary was onerous to create and modify, as well as unnecessary in cases
where text commentary on the screen would suffice (p. 371). Another cause of wasted time is overlap with
general reference videos already made by the database vendor or other
librarians that are freely available online.
Libraries should always check YouTube or other libraries’ websites for
content that can be repurposed to answer general reference questions to avoid
duplicated efforts (Brietbach & Demars, 2009, p. 87).
Conclusion
Screen casting is an attractive addition to a library’s
technology repertoire because it is usually easy to do, costs very little, and
greatly enhances the instructional value for patrons at a distance or using
mobile devices (Screencasting: Basics). Though deciding which software to use can be
overwhelming, nearly all programs offer the same functionality of screen
capturing and annotation. This type of
software would be an easy addition to any library type, and with a little
practice could make a significant contribution to the library’s virtual
reference and instruction.
References
Breitbach, W. & Demars, J.M.
(2009). Enhancing virtual reference: Techniques and technologies to
engage users and enrich interaction. Internet Reference Services
Quarterly, 14, 82-91. DOI: 10.1080/10875300903256571
Carlson, K. (2009). Delivering
Information to Students 24/7 with Camtasia. Information Technology &
Libraries, 28(3), 154-156.
Wales, T. & Robertson, P.
(2008). Captivating Open University students with online literature
search tutorials created using screen capture software. Program:
Electronic Library And Information Systems, 42(4), 365-381.
This class has been an ever-present, humbling reminder of how little I know about technology.
Sure, when we started out I was feeling calm. I'd blogged before and used to have a Twitter. I continue to be an active Facebook-er, so social media wasn't really an issue for me. Even when we started drifting towards web development, I at least knew the parts I didn't know. I knew ish what CSS and HTML were in so far as I knew what they did and that I didn't know how to make them do those things. I could manipulate images for website headers and logos and compose some content -- no problem.
But then some of the things in the articles stopped making sense. I could no longer smile and nod as I read along, neatly brushing under the rug the few things that didn't make complete sense to me before (Oh sure... those server things... those get hosted, right?). Suddenly the entire article stopped making anything but the smallest modicum of sense to me. Open-source software, something about SQLs -- just plain forgetsemantic web.
Prior to library school I was under no illusion that I know a lot about technology, but this class has been a helpful reminder that I need to push myself to step outside of my comfort zone and learn new things. One of the articles we read this week about millennials overestimating their knowledge of technology really resonated with me. I have to remind myself that I don't know as much as I should know to be the best at my job that I could be. Libraries are run on complicated systems, databases, and codes. And someone out there has to run them. Not saying it has to be me, but the least I can do for the people who do is understand what it is they have to do to run them.
One area I would like to learn more about is website development, particularly HTML and CSS and such things. I enjoy the creative aspect of it as well as the opportunity to incorporate my graphic design hobby (which is very, very fledgling) and writing. Does anyone (who knows about these sorts of things) have any books or web courses they would recommend on the topic?
