SOLIS at WSU

Wednesday, October 03, 2007

Library Science Related Podcasts

So, you're done with class for the day, finished studying, read your latest edition of American Libraries, along with your favorite library blogs, and you are STILL craving information on the latest trends and news in libraries? How about listening to the several quality library related podcasts that have made their way to the Internet. These are a few that I have been listening to; each cover different aspects of librarianship:

Longshots is a podcast hosted by Sarah A. Long, Director of the North Suburban Library System of the north/northwest suburbs of Chicago. She was also President of ALA in 1999-2000. Each week Sarah interviews a leader in the field on innovative services they are providing at their libraries as well as different issues that their libraries face. She has recently included video to some of these interviews. Most of the interviewees are librarians, managers, or directors of public libraries. The interviews last about 15-25 minutes.

LibVibe is a great way to catch up on library news from around the country. The host, Marv, presents brief news stories about libraries and librarians, such as the recent story about the prison library that was purging religious book, ALA's plans for banned books week, or the latest library closing. The podcasts sometimes include commentary from librarians involved in the story. Each podcasts is usually less than 1o minutes long.

Library Geeks is an hour long podcast hosted by Daniel Chudnov, Information Technology Specialist in the Office of Strategic Initiatives at the Library of Congress. The podcast focuses on every thing involving information technology from Web 2.o to FRBR and OpenFRBR. The latest installment features WSU LIS Program alum, Gary Price of ask.com and resourceshelf.com.

Library Luminary Lectures are hosted by San Jose State University's ALA Student Chapter. Each program is a lecture given by an expert in the field on topics such as outsourcing, community outreach, open access, and what hiring libraries look for in candidates.

These podcasts can be downloaded to your computer from the links I've provided or you can search for them in iTunes. If you have any other library related podcasts to recommend, I'd like to know about them.