(Guide time: 40 minutes to 1 hour.)

What are online videos?

Online videos are videos stored on a video hosting site, not on your computer. Video hosting sites allow users to search for and watch videos, without the need for a television - they can be played back on your computer or mobile phone.

For example this clip about the introduction of the book:

Example

YouTube is currently the most popular video sharing site in the world. Users can upload, share, view and comment on videos that other people have added to the site.

You can also bookmark videos as favourites, create play lists and channels. This is useful for bringing related videos together to create, for example, reviews of books, library events and collections of videos by subject. YouTube also allows you to add your videos easily to other sites. Remember if you do embed a video into your blog or website (like above) to also add a link to the site where the clip is hosted. This is because sometimes the embedded video does not display properly.

Creating a video is beyond the scope of this wiki, but if you wanted to do this, you would need

• a video camera
• the ability to transfer the video to your computer
• video editing software, such as Windows Movie Maker or iMovie.

Other sites

Vimeo , Dailymotion and Yahoo video are similar to Youtube and allow users to add and share their videos on the site.

ITV Player and BBC iPlayer are slightly different. Users cannot upload their own videos but can watch programmes that have been broadcast on ITV or BBC channels over the previous few weeks. (You'll probably be aware that people can't watch live TV over the internet in libraries, because most libraries don't have a TV licence.)

Why do this?

Video sharing sites enables users to access information that would otherwise have limited availability. Video content on these sites provides as broad a range of subject material as is available in libraries, including "how-to" films and educational videos. Online video provides a new medium for libraries in teaching, learning and marketing services to library users and staff.

Some of the ways in which libraries have used online videos:

• Newcastle Library Services recorded the memories of local people.

• Westminster Library Services produced a promotional video of their services.

• The University of Liverpool library created a users guide to electronic resources: Goggle Vision: using electronic resources

• Training: Cataloguers can find simple to follow instructions on MarcEdit – a tool for bulk editing and importing Marc records. This is extremely useful if, for example, you have a huge batch of eBook Marc records to import.

• Tower Hamlets have used online videos to promote their author visits. Borrowers who missed the event can catch up via the libraries website.

• Lancaster Music Library use videos to promote their musical activities for teenagers. This is part of their
  award-winning project 'Get It Loud' which brings live rock gigs into the library.

• We Love Libraries was produced to support the Friends of Somerset Libraries. It's a fabulous bit of advocacy for public libraries.

• There's some really good promotional library videos out there. Have a look at this one from Harper College Library.

Activities:

• Create a YouTube account. Search for some interesting videos, rate them, add comments and make some of them your favourites.

• Subscribe to another users account that you are interested in - you'll be informed when new videos are added to their account.

• Blog about your experience and its relevance to libraries.

Recommended followups:

• If you are feeling adventurous, embed a video into your blog. Instructions on how to do this can be found here.
• For those of you who still have time left or would like to know more about this topic, Wikipedia have a brief article on video hosting. It includes comments on copyright and future developments using mobile phones, as well as comparisons of video services. Video hosting article on Wikipedia
• The Legal Bit module contains some information about rules and regulations governing the use of YouTube and videos.
  

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