This post is part of 23 Things for Professional Development.
I’ve experimented with a few tools for creating online tutorials (though so far, no podcasts):
- Captivate – how to renew your books online (using the now-defunct Geac Advance)
- Intute Informs – how to use the Oxford e-journals and databases sites
- LibGuides – guide to St Hugh’s College Library
As mentioned in the instructions for Thing 18, these take a lot of work.
Here’s my advice, for what it’s worth:
- Choose a small topic for an online tutorial. Setting up an online tutorial can take hours, even for a short video
- If you want to have tutorials about lots of different things, record them separately. It’s a win for users, as they only have to watch/listen to the one they’re specifically interested in, and if something changes in future, hopefully you will only have to update one tutorial rather than your 30-minute-long director’s cut über-tutorial
- Decide on a script beforehand, so that you know what to say when you press Record
- Your recorded voice doesn’t sound as cringey to other people as it does to you
The value of these tutorials is in providing a basic introduction for students at any time and in any place with internet connection. You might like to conclude your tutorials with an invitation to library users to come to the library for 1:1 support on more complicated enquiries.
Tags: Captivate, cpd23, Intute Informs, LibGuides, Online tutorials, Screencasts, Thing 18
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