[Web4lib] recording videoconferenced discussions about books

[Phil Shapiro]

hi web4lib community,

    last week when i was walking thru our public library it suddenly dawned upon
me that libraries are all about books. and not only that -- people like to talk
about books that they love. 

     and then i realized that there ought to be a way to capture in video form
people talking about the books they love -- so they we can all learn from one
another.

     so i searched google for: people who love to talk about books that have
moved them in both subtle and not subtle ways and would like to now talk about a
book in a videoconference for sharing on web4lib and a lot of other places

        google immediately brought me to steve borsch, in eden prairie,
minnesota, who is a big fan of the book: Now, Discover Your Strengths
 
       i used some videoconferencing software called Sightspeed Pro to record
our videoconference, which turned out to be about 30 minutes in duration.  our
conversation strayed from talking about books, but we covered some interesting
related topics nonetheless.

        i've uploaded the video to the internet archive in mpeg1 and h.264 video
formats. the mpeg1 format is about 200 megs in file size and looks and sounds
the best.

        the internet archive provides a version of this video in flash, too.

           you can view these at 

http://www.archive.org/details/SteveBorsch102007

          i'm pretty sure the h.264 version of the file (about 100 megs in file
size) will play on an iphone or any video-enabled ipod.

           if there's anyone else on this list who loves books and would like to
talk in a videoconference about a book you love, do send me an email off-list.
my most free time is weekends, but i'm sometimes free on some weekday mornings
and some weekday evenings.

           i'll be collecting such videos into a show called Book Whirled.

                 phil shapiro, public geek
                 takoma park maryland library

i'll be blogging about the above project on PCWorld.com in the next few days at
http://blogs.pcworld.com/communityvoices


-- 
Phil Shapiro  pshapiro at his.com
http://www.his.com/pshapiro/briefbio.html
http://www.his.com/pshapiro/stories.menu.html

"Wisdom starts with wonder." - Socrates
"Learning happens through gentleness."