ASIST SIG Blogs, Wikis, Podcasting

Podcasting: Live Online Introduction

Come one, Come All!  OPAL (Online Programming for All Libraries) will host ... and then archive ... this introduction to Podcasting.  They are committed to archiving their online training and making available via podcasts as well ... so come back later if you miss the live version.

Thursday, December 8, 2005 beginning at 2:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, 1:00 p.m. Central, noon Mountain, 11:00 a.m. Pacific, and 7:00 p.m. GMT:
Podcasting: An Introduction
Podcasting, an exciting new model for distributing audio content, is generating buzz across the Internet. But what is it exactly? And why should librarians care? We'll discuss the hows and whys of podcasting, including how to tune in, how to find interesting content and how your organization can take advantage of this powerful technology to reach more people in your community. Presented by Greg Schwartz, by day the Circulation Support Supervisor for the Louisville Free Public Library. and by night a husband, father, and blogger and podcaster extraordinaire of Open Stacks. Sponsored by the Mid-Illinois Talking Book Center.
This OPAL event will be held in the online Auditorium.

The Business Case for Wikis

From Business Week (Nov 28, 2005) where an open-source, bottom-up workplace is envisioned.

"E-Mail is So Five Minutes Ago .... It's being replaced with software that promotes real-time collaboration"

"KILLER WIKIS    Although all these tools are gaining momentum, it's easy-to-use and practically free wikis that proponents say offer the promise of collaboration beyond e-mail, even though big editing kinks remain and other quirks and security flaws are sure to surface. Internet research firm Gartner Group predicts that wikis will become mainstream collaboration tools in at least 50% of companies by 2009. At Ann Arbor (Mich.)-based Soar Technology Inc., an artificial-intelligence company that works on projects for the Office of Naval Research, wikis enable the company to slash in half the time it takes to complete projects. Soar engineer Jacob Crossman says that's because the wikis eliminate the usual flurry of back-and-forth attachments and resulting document-version confusion that's rife in e-mail. At Dresdner, Rangaswami says that among the earliest and most aggressive adopters, e-mail volume on related projects is down 75%; meeting times have been whacked in half."