Thursday, March 09, 2006

Podcasting a net to a targeted audience

I know I'm a bit biased on this, but my colleague here at VCU, Pete Kirlew, has recently unveiled an ambitious project he's been working on that illustrates some important marketing principles. Pete is the creator of Librarycasting SE, which employs screencasts, videos and podcasts to deliver educational and information resources in the sciences and engineering. You can learn more about the project here.

It's a very rich resource and one that is tailored to the needs and preferences of science/engineering faculty and students, many of whom don't come to the library building itself but who still require assistance in navigating resources. Pete has even created RSS feeds for the major topic areas so that users can hone in on exactly the information they need quickly and efficiently. While I won't describe every feature of the blog in this post, I encourage you to take a look at it. I was particularly impressed with how Pete's knowledge of his audience shaped every aspect of the blog and how his delivery of information includes visual and audio content to accommodate a variety of learning styles.

Like I said, I'm a bit biased but I think you'll agree that there is a lot of inspiration to be found here. Just imagine making library lectures and other events, new resources and services, and how-to information available in these various formats, customizable for numerous audiences, and easily deliverable through RSS. What exciting marketing opportunities!

I'd also like to hear about similar projects you're working on. Please leave a comment if you'd like to share.

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