Week 9 & 10 - BoobTube on the internet

My username on youtube is akgonz. I have to say I usually peruse YouTube as an afterthought or a distraction. I usually get into it when I hear of a video clip that’s a must see. Or if there’s a song I want to listen to, but I don’t have it on hand or it’s not playing on the radio… no problem… youtube it then play it on the computer. It is not one of my regular and daily stops. I like it a lot for it’s entertainment value. I do have to concur with something that Garo posted on his blog about videos disappearing. Sometimes I want to go back to it, but the original is gone. Like I said, I normally use YouTube as an afterthought or to listen to a song. So for my purposes, if the video is gone, no big deal. If the original is no longer available, there will be lots of other people posting their vids with the same song playing through it, specially if it’s a hit song…. Serves my purposes.

Here’s one of the videos I like a lot. It’s from a prison camp in the Philippines. It’s nice to see that there are still places that trust their prisoners enough to get something like this together. I have to say, if I have to ever serve time, I’d like to be in a place like this. Encarcerated dancers!



For this assignment, I opted not to try any other video hosting sights. YouTube seems to be the biggest one out there. And I really like the way it works for me and serves my purposes. Yes, on occasion I want to be able to watch something that won’t be available, but it won’t be available anywhere else either without hours of scouring the internet.

Components for APL, or how APL might use YouTube? Well, like MySpace, it would be nice to be able to use YouTube to publicize some of our events. Perhaps even a vid clip on YouTube that would give somebody a tutorial on some of our services (online catalog, renewing materials online, a how to clip that was done during a teen program, even crafts from Children’s storytime). Like MySpace, if an upcoming performer, like the Kaleidoscope Concert series or a Children’s performer has a clip on YouTube, why not link it to our homepage as a preview of what’s to come.

And podcasts... Ok, so this is one I am not completely sold on yet. I figure, theoretically, I can download the podcast on an mp3 player and listen to it on the go. Or, if I want to listen to it on my computer, I can have it run while I do other things around my computer so I can hear the podcast? Since I don’t have a video player, I’ll treat this as an audio experiment… which then kinda makes it nostalgic. Like the old days when people would listen to a radio program instead of watch TV. But I suppose once I catch up to the times, I can get a video podcast and view it anywhere I want. It did give me a chance to catch up with some guys I used to listen to on NPR, Click and Clack with Car Talk. 2 guys discussing funny stuff that happens to them, usually pertaining to cars. This is one I’ll have to experiment with further since I’m not so sure I’m ready to podcast, yet. I will however add that one of our programs last year, it was a back to school program, was very well attended. Unfortunately it was at the same time one of the schools had open house so many people missed it. The big highlight of the evening was showing how Tutor.com worked. On our website it is currently a PowerPoint presentation. Perhaps others might find it beneficial as a podcast that they can follow while using the site. Maybe even as a story time for the Children's room. I noticed that Denver Public Library has children's books on podcasts. I think it can be entertaining and education for kids to be able to read along with their books..... kinda like our kits.