Somewhere between the "some people have too much time on their hands" videos and the "let's see if we can get away with this copyright violation" videos, there's a place on YouTube for videos that can actually be useful. Here is an example of a video (which is also embedded on our Library's Web site) from one of our library programs:
We've also used it for posting things like Summer Reading promos, and are looking at the possibility of putting up video tutorials. Certainly it's easier to post a video to YouTube and embed it than to configure our own server for streaming. But we may need to modify the release form we ask people to sign before we post videos we create: there's a difference (at least in perception, if not in substance) between putting something on our own site and putting it out on the wilds of YouTube.
But my biggest concern with using YouTube is actually the bandwidth demands. Even with a fast connection, it's been rare in my experience for a video to stream without some interruptions (depending on the time of day and so forth), and on my DSL connection at home it's out of the question: I have to let the video download completely before trying to watch it. Maybe someday these issues will be resolved, but for the time being it's of limited usefulness for anyone with less than the fastest available connection.
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2 comments:
You bring up several good points. I hope other L2NE participants are taking the time to read each other's comments.
Maybe we should have Michael Sauers go through all our blogs & extract the best & most salient comments into a wiki?
Your point about the bandwidth issues is well made. Even with my DSL connection at home, I typically have to wait ten or fifteen minutes before I can start watching a video, if I want any chance of making it to the end with minimal stops and hiccups. I still have to decide if a video is likely to be worth my time before I click on it.
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