Casting the Net: Podcasting and Screencasting

摘要

The twin advantages of information and communication helped fuel the Internet's rise in popularity. While most librarians focus on Web searching and the information resources available on the Net, it is the communication side that has made the Net so important to end users, who spend far more time with e-mail, instant messaging, chat, discussion forums, blogs, and social networking than with Web searching. Broadcasting on the Net is one important confluence of information and communication. Two specific types of online broadcasting increasing in popularity are podcasting and screencasting. Podcasting has become one of the latest Internet buzzwords and a hot technology on the Web. Frequently mentioned at conferences and on blogs, podcasts are available on a wide variety of topics. Meanwhile, the less-well-known technology of screencasting is attracting attention for its use in online instruction and tutorial creation. Both of these online technologies are a means of broadcasting information to an online community. Personally and in my work environment, pod-casting is not yet a very compelling technology, while screencasting has many uses. Other information professionals may find the exact opposite.