videoconferencing in the library

[Donald Barclay]

Our library set up a videoconferencing room about a year ago, and the
responsibility for managing it fell to me. (Quick show of hands, how many
webmasters are also videconference-facility managers? Is there a connection?
Are we way off topic here?) It's been an interesting experience.

Videoconferencing is not cheap. The initial equipment is costly as is
connecting the equipment to a video network. Then there is a cost for each
videoconference. This always includes a time-based connection cost and may
include a conference participation fee.

We have served as a host site for several library-traning videoconferences,
such the recent SLA/ACRL videoconference on electronic licensing. We charge
a small fee to attend conferences of this type and invite librarians from
all over the area to attend. One nice benefit of this is that we've gotten
to meet lots of librarians (including corporate librarians) who we would
have never met otherwise. We always load up our new friends with plenty of
propaganda about our library. (-:

We also rent out our videoconference room to non-library groups. For
example, a neo-natology seminar that meets twice a month in Houston and
Dallas has been using our videoconference room for over six months and has
it booked for another six months.

We has yet to use our facilities to export library instruction or training
from our library to other sites. The biggest hang up here is that the sites
we most want to reach don't have videoconferencing facilities.

Hope this information is of some use.

Donald A. Barclay
Houston Academy of Medicine-       always the beautiful answer
Texas Medical Center Library           who asks the more beautiful question
donaldb at library.tmc.edu                                   -- e. e. cummings