theanalogdivide

It’s been two years since the launch of my library’s Digital Media Lab. What was once a storage room is now an active space for patrons to edit video, create music, design artwork, and archive their old media. We’ve settled into a good routine, using a mixture of experienced volunteers and Computer Lab staff to train and work alongside patrons.

But now it’s time to go bigger. If our library is going to function as this kind of creative space, it’s going to take a much larger effort on the part of all staff. We need to lead by example, creating our own media and initiating our own conversations with the public. But before we get there, we’ve got to learn the tools of the trade.

Enter Video Bootcamp.

Following the Learning 2.0 model, Video Bootcamp is a six-week experiential program designed to guide library staff through the process of planning, shooting, and sharing short videos for the Internet. While largely self-guided, it’s made to function as a social exercise, encouraging ‘Campers to share techniques and learn from one another’s mistakes.

Each week focuses on a different aspect of the video production process. The idea is for each subsequent concept to build on the previous one, until they’ve created their finished video. Here are the steps:

• Week 1 is all about The Big Idea. Participants must come up with the concept for the video, and explain how they plan to reach their intended audience.
• Week 2 focuses on the logistics of creating the video. Campers flesh out the text of their video (either through an outline or a full script), and submit a shot list or storyboard that demonstrates how the video will lay out visually.
• Week 3 is all about shooting the raw footage. Using Flip cameras, screenshots, and still images, staff will gather all the pieces for their video.
• Week 4 is designed to give everyone a chance to get familiar with iMovie. They’ll take all their raw materials and assemble a rough edit.
• Week 5 is geared toward fine-tuning. The rough cut gets trimmed, transitions and titles are added, and the finished piece finally emerges.
• Week 6 is where the finished piece goes live. Participants are encouraged to comment on one another’s work, and reflect on their own experience.

In looking at the big picture, it’s easy to take inspiration from the creative endeavors of others. There’s a slogan nestled in the backmatter of the comic book Casanova, by Matt Fraction, Gabriel Bá, and Fábio Moon. At the end of the copyright page, they leave the reader with a simple message: “Stop Downloading. Start Uploading.” It’s a strong reminder of how much potential the Internet has as a purely creative medium.With a purely consumptive device like the Kindle Fire poised to command a significant portion of mind- and marketshare, this simple statement throws down a pretty provocative gauntlet. Video Bootcamp gives my library an opportunity to rise to this challenge. As more staff start thinking visually, we’ve got a chance to engage entire new audiences. Bootcampers can become strong examples to our community, and cement the library’s role as a creative space.

All content from our Video Bootcamp is freely available to lift, borrow, or adapt for your own projects. Questions? Feedback? Please post in the comments below.

As #hcod continues to develop, it’s been refreshing to see additional voices come out of the woodwork. While there is still a great deal of concern about publishers and librarians taking an antagonistic role toward one another, other voices have emerged from the woodwork showing that both sides have a vested stake in talking to one another.

I’ve worn myself out saying it over and over again, but it continues to bear repeating: libraries and publishers have a common interest: getting as many books in the hands of as many people as possible. We take different paths to get there, and those paths may converge and separate several times in the steps taken from author to reader. But there’s a definite symbiosis here, and one that libraries need to hammer home.

I’ve been invited to participate in Digital Book World’s online roundtable discussion tomorrow, and I hope to do all I can to advocate from the library’s side of the issue. To that end, I’m looking for additional examples of ways libraries have collaborated with publishers to market their wares. What examples are you able to share? Do you have any data regarding how libraries can influence sales?

As I attempt to collect data, I have a similar question for publishers (welcome, if you’re reading this!): What data do you have demonstrating library activity as lost sales? Where are your numbers that show patron checkouts coming at the expense of book purchases?

As I work to put more of this information together, I’m hoping to share more with Library Renewal. They’ve graciously extended an invitation to contribute to their blog, and I don’t plan on letting them down.

Here are my slides from my talk at C2e2. I had a fun time putting it together, and incorporating more of my geek obsessions together. Which is probably the point – libraries need to function as these great melting pots of ideas, bringing people and ideas together in new and exciting ways. If you attended, I hope it came off in that way.

Here are the slides. Click through for my crib notes.

I’d love to continue the discussion, so if you have any questions (or comic suggestions) – please fire away in the comments.