Libraries are already using video to reach out to patrons. Check out these great examples: a book trailer for Meg Cabot’s Airhead, a Library PSA done by teens (funny), a book talk for John Green’s Paper Towns (by a teen, and very cute).
You can do it, too. Really! Do you have a video camera? Webcam? How about a digital camera or cell phone? (None of the above? Don’t worry, you can still do it! Keep reading.)
Once you have your recording, you might need to edit it. If you’ve got a PC, you’ve got Windows Movie Maker. There are also some open source (free!) options that are compatible with Windows, Mac, and Linux: Avidemux, Jahshaka, and ZS4. If you don’t want to download software, JayCut is a good browser-based video editor (also free!).
You’re might want to record audio separately, in which case you’ll need a mic and some sound editing software. Windows comes with Microsoft Sound Recorder, which is pretty basic. Another option is Audacity, a great open-source digital audio editing and recording application that works with Windows, Mac, and Linux.
If you don’t have a way to record video and you’re still reading, your patience has paid off. Just get some free stock or Creative Commons licensed photos from stock.xchng and Flickr Commons, respectively, and some CC licensed sounds or music from The Freesound Project or ccMixter (or record your own), then mix ‘em up using your video editing software.
But wait, there’s more! Animoto creates music videos for you, right in your browser. Just upload pictures (or retrieve them from your favorite photo sharing site), pick music or upload your own, and viola: a 30 second music video. With Animasher, you can easily create animations in your browser. Slideshare includes a feature called Slidecasting: sync an mp3 to a slideshow. See what one of our fellow 23 Thingsers did with it. Finally, Slide, Rock You!, and Picture Trail let you set your photo slideshows to music. All of the above services are free.
Now it’s time to unleash your creations on the world. You can share your videos on YouTube, but there are other video sharing sites out there, too. A few you might want to check out: Vimeo, Veoh, Blip.tv, Ourmedia, and Motionbox (which has some video editing capabilities).
There’s a lot of advice out there for making videos. This YALSA blog post gives tips on shopping for a digital camcorder. The author also wrote this post on the intersection of teens, books, libraries, and online video. It includes some good examples. Blip.tv has a great guide on creating, producing, and distributing online shows; probably more information than you’ll need, but there are lots of useful tips in there. This infodoodads blog post about trends in and tips for using video in libraries is the first in a month-long series on video in libraries. The next post discusses a ReadWriteWeb post about using YouTube as a search engine (an interesting and thought-provoking piece that I recommend reading).
To complete this Thing, I searched for “zombies” in YouTube. Guess what I found?
Zombies + The Common Craft Show = Awesome!
Here’s my attempt at challenge #1. I recorded the video using my digital camera, edited it in Windows Movie Maker, and uploaded it to Vimeo. I chose Vimeo over YouTube or Google Video because I prefer the way the embedded Vimeo video looks. I also like the Vimeo community more. Vimeo forbids uploading content that you weren’t involved in creating (e.g., movie and tv clips), as well as commercial videos, though video makers, musicians, writers, and even independent production companies can promote their work on Vimeo. You can see how this would create a different environment. Anyway, watch my little video.
The videos I mentioned at the beginning of this article are but a few examples of what you could do with video in a library. The manager of my department has recorded librarians throughout the district presenting Story Time programs. She uses the video for training staff, and we’ve discussed sharing them online so our patrons can watch them, too. Video can be a great tool for overcoming time and staff limitations to reach a wider audience. A couple of coworkers and I gave book talks at a local middle school. The teacher recorded it so she could show it to the rest of her classes. It would be great if those book talks were available online for teachers, librarians, parents, etc., to download and show to their kids.
