The zombies have returned to Georgia State University's library and are keeping students from the reference desk. Thankfully students can use the Ask a Librarian service to get the help they need and avoid hungry zombies. Cute video!
Showing posts with label video. Show all posts
Showing posts with label video. Show all posts
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Zombies in the Commons
Here's a fun promotional video from Georgia State University's Learning Commons:
They've also posted a video tour of their commons.
They've also posted a video tour of their commons.
Monday, April 27, 2009
If you can type, you can make movies
When our writers behind Saving Student Brian first described their vision for the video, they imagined software that would easily animate cartoon-like characters. We'd be able to manipulate the characters within an environment and maybe just add a voice track over the top.Imagine my delight today when I saw a library promotional video produced using xtranormal. While the computer-generated audio track is a little creepy, the Playmobil-like characters are pretty cute. This is definitely a technology I plan on following. When I think of the hours and hours it took to create two minutes of animated video, I am really excited about the future of services like xtranormal.
Tuesday, April 07, 2009
Help Desk: One Call Does It All
From the creative team who brought you The Hub: The Video, I'm delighted to announce a new production advertising our campus help desk:
The video is to further promote the Help Desk (IT Customer Service Center), particularly as that group takes over support of Blackboard. IT, TASC, and the Libraries have been partnering together more frequently over the last two years. This is another example of collaboration between these groups, in this case IT and TASC, as they work more closely together on providing Blackboard support.
The video is to further promote the Help Desk (IT Customer Service Center), particularly as that group takes over support of Blackboard. IT, TASC, and the Libraries have been partnering together more frequently over the last two years. This is another example of collaboration between these groups, in this case IT and TASC, as they work more closely together on providing Blackboard support.
Tuesday, December 09, 2008
SLA Centennial Video Contest
While the majority of my posts are commons-focused, I do post from time to time about my primary professional organization, SLA. This is a particularly exciting time as SLA will be celebrating its centennial celebration in 2009. I've been fortunate to serve on SLA's Centennial Commission and may share announcements about some of our activities in the coming year, particularly those with a technology focus.One of the activities we recently launched is the SLA Video Contest. This is a great opportunity for SLA members (including student members) to submit a video focused on "the information professional of the future." What a great excuse to experiment with video, have a little fun, and maybe win a very nice cash prize. The winning entry in each category (Student and Professional) will be awarded:
* $1,500 cashIf you are a member of SLA, you really should consider submitting a video to this contest. The deadline for entries is January 23, 2009. Visit the SLA Centennial website for complete rules and entry information.
* Up to $1,500 to attend the Centennial conference in Washington, DC, 14-17 June 2009
* Up to $1,000 for Chapter programming
* Up to $1,000 for Division programming
Sunday, September 07, 2008
New Ways to Reach Students
The University of Kentucky Libraries have completely revised the way we do library orientation (part of UK101). Last year, we created an orientation video, "Saving Student Brian," to replace an orientation PowerPoint. It was well-received by students and even recognized by librarians. This year we're launching three new elements to the program:
Question of the Week
Each week students are encouraged to answer the Question of the Week (the first one's a gimme) in order to be eligible for some terrific prize drawings. The first drawing, on September 29, is for 8 GB flash drives. Drawings later in the semester will include a Nintendo DS Lite and a Wii. We're hoping this will be plenty of incentive for students to stick it out and hopefully learn a few things about using library resources in the process.
Passport
To encourage students to visit various library service points across campus, the Passport game requires students to visit five service points in the Young Library and a choice of three branch locations. Students who return a completed Passport by October 30 are eligible for a drawing for a Sony PSP.
Your Research Tool Box
Finally, the biggest project: we moved from our version of the TILT tutorial (FindIT!) which we had been using for several years to a completely new tutorial we created in-house called "Your Research Tool Box." The tutorial consists of four parts:
The first part of the tutorial is a combination of video and narrated PowerPoint. The other three parts are all PowerPoint with voice-over. I think all four balance information and humor pretty well--it's hard to be funny when talking about your library catalog, but I think our writers succeeded!
Question of the Week
Each week students are encouraged to answer the Question of the Week (the first one's a gimme) in order to be eligible for some terrific prize drawings. The first drawing, on September 29, is for 8 GB flash drives. Drawings later in the semester will include a Nintendo DS Lite and a Wii. We're hoping this will be plenty of incentive for students to stick it out and hopefully learn a few things about using library resources in the process.
Passport
To encourage students to visit various library service points across campus, the Passport game requires students to visit five service points in the Young Library and a choice of three branch locations. Students who return a completed Passport by October 30 are eligible for a drawing for a Sony PSP.
Your Research Tool Box
Finally, the biggest project: we moved from our version of the TILT tutorial (FindIT!) which we had been using for several years to a completely new tutorial we created in-house called "Your Research Tool Box." The tutorial consists of four parts:
The first part of the tutorial is a combination of video and narrated PowerPoint. The other three parts are all PowerPoint with voice-over. I think all four balance information and humor pretty well--it's hard to be funny when talking about your library catalog, but I think our writers succeeded!
Thursday, September 04, 2008
Wednesday, September 03, 2008
The Hub: the Video
At the University of Kentucky, we just launched a video about our information commons, the Hub. As part of a group focused on student and faculty support, the video was a collaboration between the library and the teaching and academic support center. The video takes a humorous look at what the Hub has to offer students. We worked with student actors over the summer (I paid them in vending machine snacks--also made great props). It was so much fun to film!
We're planning to show the video on UKTV as well as in the Hub and on the web. We ended up with two versions:
30 second version (which you'll see below)
Full 3 minute version
I'm so pleased with the final result. Thank you so much, Kirk and Patsy!
We're planning to show the video on UKTV as well as in the Hub and on the web. We ended up with two versions:
30 second version (which you'll see below)
Full 3 minute version
I'm so pleased with the final result. Thank you so much, Kirk and Patsy!
Monday, July 21, 2008
Summer Projects: Hubbub, New Tutorial, etc.
As with last summer, I've been too busy to post much to the blog. I've picked up a few readers so I thought it might be nice to summarize a few of the big summer projects I'm currently working on. As time permits, I'll write up much longer posts on each of these projects--the usual what worked, what didn't, what I'd do differently next time. Whoever said summer was quiet on a university campus?
The Hubbub/10th Birthday of Young Library
Last year we launched our Information Commons (the Hub) to students with a big party (The Hubbub) during freshmen orientation week (K Week). Our second annual Hubbub (Monday, August 25, 6-8 pm) conveniently coincides with the 10th anniversary of the William T Young Library, so what better idea than to make this year's Hubbub birthday-party themed? Some of the fun stuff on tap:
Video games. This year I've been more focused on my backup plan more than on anything--some of you may recall that our video game provider failed to show up for last year's party. Thankfully free pizza kept the crowd calm.
The Palm Reading Librarian. This was a wildly popular activity last year which we definitely plan to bring back for the Hubbub, Part Two.
Zumba dancing. We've got to keep it fresh, so we're trying a Zumba demo/instruction/dance class rather than bellydancing this year. Some of you may know that I'm a Zumba freak so it seemed appropriate.
Photo booth. We considered this last year but just ran out of time to get it together. Basically we're planning a blue screen setup where students can get their pictures made with various silly props and then we'll Photoshop 'em like crazy. Upon signing a release, we'll post to a photo gallery online.
Pimp my Avatar. We did this last year and I expect we'll have an even bigger audience now that UK has its own island. Two UK library staff are also Second Life fashionistas who will help students with the hottest new avatar looks.
Cariacature artist. An art student is going to draw cariacatures for us (one of many birthday party-inspired ideas).
Balloon artist. Who wouldn't want to take a cute little Kentucky wildcat back to the dorm? Everyone loves balloon animals!
Board games, cornhole, ladder golf. These are all easy things to throw together pretty quickly thanks to staff lending us games, and I plan to have them spread around the area. I have a feeling that Scrabulous mania might translate over to the real deal.
Whiteboard art. When you prepare your information commmons for at least 500 students, the furniture has to go somewhere. Even if you use a bunch of the whiteboards for signs, what do you do with the rest? Have a silly whiteboard art contest, of course!
Makeover counter. I really wanted to do this last time, and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the opening of a new cosmetics store in the mall will give us the opportunity to do this. So far, they are interested but not yet committed. Can you imagine how exciting a free makeover would be to the average 18 year old (or any woman, really--I've already had staff asking me if they could partake!). Wish me luck on this one.
Free pizza, cupcakes, snacks, and prize drawings. This is a lot of work to coordinate, let me tell you, especially trying to get prizes for the drawings (thank you, Krista!).
With that many activities, you can imagine all the planning going into it. I haven't even mentioned staffing or publicity yet. I'll save that for a series of lengthy posts after the event.
New Library Tutorial
You might recall last year that we redesigned our library orienation PowerPoint to a video, "Saving Student Brian," filmed partly in Second Life (more about this project). This year we decided to tackle our library tutorial and do something different.
Basically we're taking a series of PowerPoints and video clips and editing them in Camtasia to create a series of videos. How's it going? Ask me again in a week.
New Video Content for Welcoming/Orienting Students
The Hub's video windows are a perfect venue for orienation information, at least for the first few weeks of class before our art exhibits begin. Where are the vending machines? How do I put money on my account for printing? What the heck is a core? It's also a good opportunity to remind students what exactly librarians and IT staff can help with, since we still get that "help with what?" question at our library/IT desk in the Hub. Several of us will be working on this and I hope we'll have the new displays up a week before classes begin.
Speaking Engagements
I was a little crazy busy this spring with a state conference, AISTI, LOEX, and SLA within just a few weeks of each other. That will pick up to a lesser extent this fall as I already have a few things lined up or in the works on various topics: cloud computing, information commons, technology planning, and Second Life.
So that's a little bit of my summer so far and a preview of what's to come. I expect the next few weeks are going to be far from leisurely. Hope everyone out there is having a good summer!
The Hubbub/10th Birthday of Young Library
Last year we launched our Information Commons (the Hub) to students with a big party (The Hubbub) during freshmen orientation week (K Week). Our second annual Hubbub (Monday, August 25, 6-8 pm) conveniently coincides with the 10th anniversary of the William T Young Library, so what better idea than to make this year's Hubbub birthday-party themed? Some of the fun stuff on tap:
Video games. This year I've been more focused on my backup plan more than on anything--some of you may recall that our video game provider failed to show up for last year's party. Thankfully free pizza kept the crowd calm.
The Palm Reading Librarian. This was a wildly popular activity last year which we definitely plan to bring back for the Hubbub, Part Two.
Zumba dancing. We've got to keep it fresh, so we're trying a Zumba demo/instruction/dance class rather than bellydancing this year. Some of you may know that I'm a Zumba freak so it seemed appropriate.
Photo booth. We considered this last year but just ran out of time to get it together. Basically we're planning a blue screen setup where students can get their pictures made with various silly props and then we'll Photoshop 'em like crazy. Upon signing a release, we'll post to a photo gallery online.
Pimp my Avatar. We did this last year and I expect we'll have an even bigger audience now that UK has its own island. Two UK library staff are also Second Life fashionistas who will help students with the hottest new avatar looks.
Cariacature artist. An art student is going to draw cariacatures for us (one of many birthday party-inspired ideas).
Balloon artist. Who wouldn't want to take a cute little Kentucky wildcat back to the dorm? Everyone loves balloon animals!
Board games, cornhole, ladder golf. These are all easy things to throw together pretty quickly thanks to staff lending us games, and I plan to have them spread around the area. I have a feeling that Scrabulous mania might translate over to the real deal.
Whiteboard art. When you prepare your information commmons for at least 500 students, the furniture has to go somewhere. Even if you use a bunch of the whiteboards for signs, what do you do with the rest? Have a silly whiteboard art contest, of course!
Makeover counter. I really wanted to do this last time, and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the opening of a new cosmetics store in the mall will give us the opportunity to do this. So far, they are interested but not yet committed. Can you imagine how exciting a free makeover would be to the average 18 year old (or any woman, really--I've already had staff asking me if they could partake!). Wish me luck on this one.
Free pizza, cupcakes, snacks, and prize drawings. This is a lot of work to coordinate, let me tell you, especially trying to get prizes for the drawings (thank you, Krista!).
With that many activities, you can imagine all the planning going into it. I haven't even mentioned staffing or publicity yet. I'll save that for a series of lengthy posts after the event.
New Library Tutorial
You might recall last year that we redesigned our library orienation PowerPoint to a video, "Saving Student Brian," filmed partly in Second Life (more about this project). This year we decided to tackle our library tutorial and do something different.
Basically we're taking a series of PowerPoints and video clips and editing them in Camtasia to create a series of videos. How's it going? Ask me again in a week.
New Video Content for Welcoming/Orienting Students
The Hub's video windows are a perfect venue for orienation information, at least for the first few weeks of class before our art exhibits begin. Where are the vending machines? How do I put money on my account for printing? What the heck is a core? It's also a good opportunity to remind students what exactly librarians and IT staff can help with, since we still get that "help with what?" question at our library/IT desk in the Hub. Several of us will be working on this and I hope we'll have the new displays up a week before classes begin.
Speaking Engagements
I was a little crazy busy this spring with a state conference, AISTI, LOEX, and SLA within just a few weeks of each other. That will pick up to a lesser extent this fall as I already have a few things lined up or in the works on various topics: cloud computing, information commons, technology planning, and Second Life.
So that's a little bit of my summer so far and a preview of what's to come. I expect the next few weeks are going to be far from leisurely. Hope everyone out there is having a good summer!
Monday, May 12, 2008
Library Orientation Video: Saving Student Brian
I've written about our video Saving Student Brian before, but I wanted to mention it again as we just presented on the experience of creating the video at the LOEX Conference last week. If you missed it, we'll be doing an online encore for the LOEX Conference on Wednesday, May 21. We are also featured as the April 2008 ACRL PRIMO Site of the Month which includes an interview with me about the video. We also may be speaking on a panel at ACRL 2009 about the video if the proposal is accepted. Who knew we'd get so much mileage out of Brian!
With summer here, we've already started drafting the next script for the further adventures of Brian. Yes, it's time for a sequel. Stay tuned!
With summer here, we've already started drafting the next script for the further adventures of Brian. Yes, it's time for a sequel. Stay tuned!
Sunday, February 03, 2008
Saving Student Brian
Back in November, I wrote a bit about the orientation video several of us here at UK created, "Saving Student Brian." I'm delighted to report that the video has been recognized twice in the last few days: not only were we selected to present about it at the 2008 LOEX Conference, the video was selected as an ALA/ACRL Peer Reviewed Instructional Material Online (we're not in the database just yet--still working on the form). We've already started talking about an update to the video for the fall (my editing skills have improved, we have access to a better camera, plus we have we have the reaction of ~1500 students to consider what worked and what didn't). Yet another busy year ahead!
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