[Web4lib] Video projects

[Thomas La Foe]

Robert - 
 
Didn't mean to upset you by bringing up things that are happening in academic libraries, but my goal was to explain that the students who use the library's equipment don't need specialized products for their video needs. This was the idea we were chasing when we ended up with expensive paperweights. We had a very simple solution right in front us with the Pinnacle systems we were already using, but we felt we needed to stay "competitive" and upgrade to more professional systems to add that perceived value you were talking about. We were wrong. The students just needed an easy method of capturing/transferring video, editing out the bad parts, putting in title cards/credits, and exporting a file to be uploaded to YouTube, MyCourses, or emailed to a professor. Also keep in mind that I'm not talking about broadcasting or film students, they usually have their own equipment at home or use the equipment provided by their departments; these are education, business, and marketing majors who are creating video projects for a teacher who is integrating that technology into their curriculum. I know that a student who walks in with a VHS tape in-hand and says, "I need to put this on YouTube," is not going to be invested in learning how to use some complicated program.
 
My main point is this: Don't overspend because you think bigger is better. Address the needs of your students. If you are catering to film/broadcasting students you may want to amp up your equipment and get top-of-the-line hardware and software, but for the rest of the student body they most likely will need something fast an easy. I still recommend Pinnacle and Dazzle. Our students prefer it to trying to decipher the industry standard programs just to cut a mistake out of their videos. 
 
Hope this clears things up on where I'm coming from. No "whining" this time. Just facts from our experience.
 
Thomas
 
Thomas La Foe
Instructional Technology Specialist
Instructional Media Center
Mississippi State University Libraries
(662) 325-6781

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