DEVELOPING ONLINE PATRON TUTORIALS

E-book tutorial from the Carmel Clay library.

Online patron tutorials are a way to teach patrons about our resources in a way that they can access from home at any time. They are also used by patrons who are reluctant to ask for help. Usually they are created using a video camera or screencasting software ware such as Captivate or Camtasia.

Online tutorials should be available in several places on the library web site: on a banner with rotating "tutorials of the day", on a dedicated page, next to the resources it discusses (databases, e-books, etc.). They should be promoted on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. Libraries can partner with other agencies. Dallas Public Library offers a tutorial on applying for a job with the city of Dallas. Screencasts can be done in multiple languages, and the software usually has closed captioning.

Requirements for screencasting:

• Time to do it


• Training-can learn screencasting in an hour


• A good microphone


• Screencasting software (there are free options)


• Subject expertise--staff should have this, they train patrons every day!
  


• Hosting--some libraries pay to have tutorials hosted on their own web site, however there are free sites like YouTube that will do it for you.

Screencasts shouldn't be more than 3 minutes, and they should be light and informal. They don't have to be perfect or have fancy production values.


Should your library use online tutorials?

• Do you have commonly asked questions?


• Do you have resources accessed remotely?


• Do you have excellent resources that aren't getting enough attention?

Then the answer is yes!




Handouts and an archived version of the webinar are available here.


--Andrea @Central

LIBRARY TECHNOLOGY CONFERENCE, PART 2: Best practices for creating online tutorials

If created properly, online tutorials can convey critical information to your library’s users. HTML tutorials are more interactive, but creating video tutorials or screencasts are easier.


Online tutorials are:

• Asynchronous --Can watch them at any time, but it's also easy for users to be distracted.


• Broadcast--Less interactive than face to face.


• Responsive & Scalable-- Many can do it at the same time or when it's convenient.


• A multimedia experience.


• effective for multiple learning styles.

Tutorials are most effective for:

• Chunks of info (they can't be exhaustive).


• Reaching a large or distant group.


• Encouraging multiple ways of learning.


• Tasks, processes or steps, not broad concepts.

Best practices for online tutorials


Design:

• Look at it through a local lens.


• Plan design before you do it. Design should be transparent--be clear about audience, outcomes, content (concept may need to be broken into several videos)


• Visual piece has to be engaging--think visually so users will be engaged mentally.


• Make content interactive--include things like quizzes.

Production:

• Break up content into chunks.


• No more than five minutes, tops --2-3 minutes is better.


• Do storyboarding ahead of time--50% scripting, 50% production.


• Use editing tools to make it more dynamic (this is an advantage Captivate, Camtasia or Screenflow has over free software)


• Everything should be consistent-- same shape of window, file type, text, contact info, and intro screen.


• Record short clips --stop any time you click a link or go to a page--that way you don't have to redo the whole thing if you mess up.

There are many free screencasting options available such as Screentoaster, Screencast-o-matic, Jing, Wink and Camstudio. They don't have editing options, but you could edit the screencasts later in another program like iMovie or Windows Movie Maker. For free public domain music check out the Internet Archive or Jamendo.


For hearing impaired patrons, Camtasia & Captivate can have closed captioning.


Handouts for the presentation are available here.

IT PLAYGROUP, MAR. 3, 2008

IT PLAYGROUP, MAR. 3, 2008

For this IT Playgroup, John L., Melissa and Pioneer Press technology reporter Julio Ojeda-Zapata discussed their experiences with the Kindle e-book reader. Ojeda-Zapata also brought in a Macbook Air and John discussed the free screencast software Jing.

The Amazon Kindle is an e-book reader that uses the Mobipocket format and e-paper. E-paper is easier on the eyes than a computer screen, but it is not back-lit. You can buy a night light for an extra charge. The Kindle costs $400, but that includes free cell-phone style Internet access that works anywhere and with no monthly fee. As a web browser, it is clunky. The controls are clunky too, especially compared to an iPod, and it is easy to hit the "back" button by accident while reading. The Kindle is not compatible with older e-book formats, but many publishers are offering e-books in the Kindle format. It is easy to use the software on your computer to buy books, or to buy them online using the device, and you can save your whole e-book library on the computer while only having some items on the Kindle. You could save money by downloading free public domain e-books from sites like Project Gutenberg, but buying on Amazon is so easy that consumers may prefer it, as they do with iTunes. The Kindle also can be used for e-audiobooks. Whether libraries can loan out Kindles is currently unclear.

The MacBook Air is a notebook with a normal-size screen and keyboard, but very, very thin. It can fit into an interoffice mailing envelope. Because of the lightness, it is slower than other notebooks and there is very little hard drive space and no CD/DVD burner. The owner is expected to have external storage of some sort. It seems like it would be best for a second computer for people who travel a lot, or for students with limited space and access to networked storage. If the MacBook Air or similar notebooks take off, web-based applications may become more popular.

Jing is free software for creating screencasts. It captures video and sound of what you are doing on a computer screen. You can also draw on the screencast for for emphasis. This would be great for making instructional videos that staff could watch when and where they wanted. Previous screencast software was quite pricey. Jing will upload screenshots at screencast.com (there is a monthly fee for hosting), or you can host them on your own Internet server for free.

--Andrea