# Welcome to SMIRK Unit
7 - Electronic
communication

- Blogs and social networks
- Virtual reality and Podcasting
- Planning your podcast
- Crafting your message
- What sticks
- What you need
- And finally...
- Back to main index

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SMIRK by Imperial College, Loughborough University and the University of Worcester, modified by Marion Kelt Glasgow Caledonian University is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Based on a work at http://www.gcu.ac.uk/library/SMILE/

# Blogs and social
networks

#### Blogs

Blogs can be described as online journals. There are blogs on every subject, at every level, and in many languages. Many Universities have official bloggers. At Glasgow Caledonian University the Librarians have a blog called Library news to keep students informed. One of the easiest ways to create a blog is via a site like WordPress which offers free blog spaces. Blogs are usually informal and written in the active voice. A blog is easy to start, can reach a very wide audience, can be used as a reflective journal and can bring you in contact with similarly minded people. However, they can also be time consuming to maintain, can bring you unwelcome responses via comments, and are often opinion rather than fact.

#### Social networks

Your digital footprint looks at some of the pitfalls of social networking. The main sites are FaceBook and Twitter, where posts are limited to 140 characters. The style on all of them tends to be very informal, although some use is made by organisations. The library has two Twitter accounts, @SaltireCentre for what's new in the Saltire Centre and @ASKGCU for student enquiries. The main thing to remember is that you may not own the content and may not be able to remove it in the future. Many people prefer to use instant messaging (like MSN and BBM) to keep in touch. There are many examples of problems in the press but social networks also have many advantages. They are a good way to keep in touch with friends, they can showcase individual and organisational talents, and they can create new communities.

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SMIRK by Imperial College, Loughborough University and the University of Worcester, modified by Marion Kelt Glasgow Caledonian University is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Based on a work at http://www.gcu.ac.uk/library/SMILE/

# Virtual reality and
Podcasting

#### Virtual reality

SecondLife is perhaps the best known virtual world. It is used by organisations and individuals and has its own economy which uses its own currency. This can also be converted into real world currency. Users create personal avatars and retain their intellectual property rights in their Second Life creations.

Other virtual worlds are used for online gaming. Sites like WorldofWarcraft also allow users to interact using avatars or equivalent.

#### Podcasting

#### What is a podcast?

- A multimedia file distributed over the internet for playback on portable media devices, personal computers or portable computers such as netbooks and tablets.
- One recording or a series of regularly updated episodes.

#### What is so good about them?

- Listeners control what they listen to, when and where they listen
- Makes good use of available free time
- Great for aural learners

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SMIRK - Podcasting by Alison Aldrich, Technology Outreach Coordinator, Narional Network of Libraries of Medicine, Pacific Northwest Region modified by Marion Kelt, GCU is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Based on a work at http://www.slideshare.net/aldricham/how-to-make-a-podcast-1819201

# Planning your podcast

#### Plan before you begin. Think about:

- Technology requirements
  - software to create and edit the podcast
  - microphone, built in or plug in?
- Your production team (do you have one?, do you need one?)
- Your intended audience
- The purpose of your podcast
- Content
  - Permissions and consent if using content created by other people. Creative Commons have a useful guide to legal issues in podcasting
- Frequency, format and length

Get support from those who matter. This will vary depending on your intended audience. Mostly, you should ask your tutor for further advice.

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SMIRK - Podcasting by Alison Aldrich, Technology Outreach Coordinator, Narional Network of Libraries of Medicine, Pacific Northwest Region modified by Marion Kelt, GCU is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Based on a work at http://www.slideshare.net/aldricham/how-to-make-a-podcast-1819201

# Crafting your message

#### For any podcast:

- Brief introduction
- Introduction if there is a guest
- Brief description of what will be covered
- The actual content
- Brief "outro"
- Optional music for intro and outro

#### Top tips:

- Write down what you want to say, either a full script or bullet points
- Don't use jargon!
- Have someone else listen to it
- Practice, practice, practice!
- Educate but don't bore

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SMIRK - Podcasting by Alison Aldrich, Technology Outreach Coordinator, Narional Network of Libraries of Medicine, Pacific Northwest Region modified by Marion Kelt, GCU is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Based on a work at http://www.slideshare.net/aldricham/how-to-make-a-podcast-1819201

# What sticks

#### What people will remember:

#### SUCCESS

- Simple
- Unexpected
- Concrete
- Credible
- Emotional
- Stories

###### From Made to Stick. Heath, C. New York: Random House, 2007

#### Before you start. Checklist

- A plan
- Some content
- Computer with internet connection
- Hardware
- Software
- Web hosting
- Now, let's make a podcast!

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SMIRK - Podcasting by Alison Aldrich, Technology Outreach Coordinator, Narional Network of Libraries of Medicine, Pacific Northwest Region modified by Marion Kelt, GCU is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Based on a work at http://www.slideshare.net/aldricham/how-to-make-a-podcast-1819201

# What you need

#### Microphone options:

- Built-in audio - test before you start, some of these microphones are not very effective
- Headset - remember to adjust the fit! You don't want to record every breath you take.
- Standalone USB microphone

#### Software:

- Audacity - cross platform free audio recording and editing software
- LAME encoder - for converting audio to MP3 format
  - Download: http://audacity.sourceforge.net/
- GarageBand - audio recording software for Mac
  - Download: http://www.apple.com/ilife/garageband/

#### Web hosting:

- Free web sites - many availabe for example http://www.podbean.com

####

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SMIRK - Podcasting by Alison Aldrich, Technology Outreach Coordinator, Narional Network of Libraries of Medicine, Pacific Northwest Region modified by Marion Kelt, GCU is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Based on a work at http://www.slideshare.net/aldricham/how-to-make-a-podcast-1819201

# And finally ...

#### Promoting your podcast

- Submit it to a podcast directory
- Talk it up!
- Use podcasting symbols - available at podcastlogo.lemotox.de
- Web pages, newsletters, posters and so on

#### Other ways to podcast

- By phone - Gabcast, Hipcast, TalkShoe, Skype
- Text to speech - Odiogo
- Screencast - Camtasia (30 day trial), Captivate, Jing (free download)
- Find an existing series of podcasts serving your audience and record an episode

Try and try again. Remember nobody gets it right first time! You can either edit your podcast or make another version. Good luck!

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SMIRK - Podcasting by Alison Aldrich, Technology Outreach Coordinator, Narional Network of Libraries of Medicine, Pacific Northwest Region modified by Marion Kelt, GCU is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Based on a work at http://www.slideshare.net/aldricham/how-to-make-a-podcast-1819201/