Optional Exploration: You Tube and Podcasts

I experienced a first earlier this month. A teenager motioned me over to his computer and asked "Can you show me how to put something from YouTube on my MySpace page?" My initial thought was that this question HAD to be a ringer (is it DLDS unobtrusive survey time again? Or maybe the Web 2.0 Exploration committee doing a surreptious check of my skills?), but no, it was a real patron asking a real question with the real expectation that I would know how to do this.

Wow. This was the first time in my experience that a teenager chose to ask a librarian such a question rather than turning to one of his peers. And thanks to doing 23 Things last summer, I was able to help him without too much floundering around. I hadn't been to YouTube since August 2007, and I was pleased that it's even easier now to share files.

So far there aren't many aspects of the Web 2.0 training that transfer from the library world to my largely non-technology-based home life, but podcasts are the exception. I've enjoyed having access to various author and singer/songwriter interviews, a nice change from reading the transcripts. And my favorite Spanish instruction site now has podcasts available, an obvious advantage when learning a language.