Thing 18. YouTube & Other Online Video

By now, the world knows YouTube (started by a Saint Paul Central High School grad!) as the source of all things video on the Internet. And we do mean “all things.” The good, the bad, and the ugly are all there for all to see—one reason many districts and libraries block YouTube. Another reason is bandwidth—like music, video is a bandwidth hog. We recommend you complete this exercise during light Internet usage times.

YouTube revolutionized the way video is shared on the Internet by making it easy to upload and share videos. Other video sites have popped up, including Google Video. YouTube is now owned by Google, so it will be interesting to see the how the evolution/merging of the two sites happens. Right now, a search of either one returns results from both sites.

There are dozens of other video sites, but among the Web 2.0 players in this area, YouTube is currently top dog serving up over 1 million video views a day.


In this Thing, you will do some searching around YouTube or Google Video yourself and see what the site has to offer. You'll find everything from 1970s TV commercials and music videos. Plus lots of cool library stuff: library dominos, library tours, library ads, and library jokes. There's also the cult classic Conan the Librarian. See also:
• Web 2.0
•  March of the Librarians I spotted at least one Minnesota librarian in this one--can you? (Put your answer in your blog!)
• Library Musical
• IT vs Librarian

Here's an appropriate Library 2.0 video:



Of course, you’ll also find a lot stuff not worth watching, too. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t explore and see for yourself what the site has to offer.

1. Explore YouTube or Google Video & find a video worth adding as an entry in your blog. Enter a keyword or words and see what videos have that tag. Like what you find? Click on more in the About This Video box to see a list of other videos with that tag.
2. Place a YouTube inside your blog by following this instructions. These instructions show how to place other video in a Blogger post.
3. Blog about why you chose this video, any issues you had using the sites, and other thoughts.

Resources
Other popular video hosting sites:

• Yahoo Videos
• Others - top video site list

Blog Prompts

• What did you like or dislike about the sites you explored?
• Why did you choose the video that you did?
• Can you see any ways to use video--YouTube or other sites--on your library Web site?

Challenge
1. Feeling brave? Make your own video and upload it to YouTube or Google Video. Promote a program or introduce your library to the community or something else. If you do, be sure to embed it in your blog. We all want to see it!
2. Jumpcut is a Yahoo! product that lets you upload video or photos, re-mix and edit them, and produce a video. It is all online, easy to use, and with many other features, including slide shows and clips to add to yours as you build your movie. And, like most Web 2.0 tools, it offers a community of like-minded participants who want to watch your videos and share theirs with you. So jump right in and make a video to share with us. Post it to your blog and let us know just how easy it is to be creative!