Chapter 5. Opportunities for Libraries and How to Learn More
Libraries Recommending Podcasts
There seems to be plenty of information on producing podcasts (for libraries),1 and many libraries have interesting and creative podcasts that they produce for their audiences or for other librarians.2 For a few samples, see the section of this report “Podcasts by Librarians.”
But another role that libraries can play is curator of podcasts, recommending the best ones as information sources to their communities. There are a number of ways this can be done, and these tips could apply to school, public, academic, corporate, or any kind of library.
- Create guides to recommended podcasts on our websites. Just as we make guides to recommend all types of resources, we can also recommend podcasts. We can make guides about podcasts, focusing on the specific subject needs of our audiences. Here’s an example by Christine Beardsley of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center Library: http://libguides.mskcc.org/podcasts/welcome. We could also integrate podcasts into existing guides on specific topics. Here are a few examples:
- Behavioral Sciences Research Guide, Princeton University Library (http://libguides.princeton.edu/psychology/multimedia)
- Medical/Health Sciences: Podcasts, Georgia Tech Library (http://libguides.gatech.edu/c.php?g=54010&p=348935)
- Philosophy: Podcasts, Libraries of the University of Adelaide (http://libguides.adelaide.edu.au/philosophy/podcasts)
- English: Podcasts, City College of New York Libraries (http://libguides.ccny.cuny.edu/c.php?g=346751&p=2337600)
- Recommended Podcasts, Orem Public Library, Orem, Utah (www.oremlibrary.org/index.php/eresearch/legal-information/12-library/general/35-recommended-podcasts)
- Make printable handouts about podcasts on specific topics. Offer PDF versions for downloading from your website and newsletters.
- Recommend podcast listening apps. Add information to your guides and handouts about how to subscribe to podcasts and recommended apps for convenient listening. See the section of this report “Recommended Tools for Podcast Listening.”
- Put podcast listening apps on mobile devices that you loan out.
- Start a podcast discussion club. Make it like a book club, but for podcasts. Here’s an example that could spark some ideas: Podcast Brunch Club, http://podcastbrunchclub.com/about.
- Feature on your website lists of podcasts created by people in your community—people of all ages and backgrounds.
Summary
I hope this report will inspire you to find ways to include podcasts in your recommendations to your library users! I would love to hear from you about how you’re using this information, or for questions and comments. Contact me at http://nicolehennig.com/contact-me.
Additional Resources
A. Podcast Criticism and Reviews
In addition to the sites mentioned through this report, you may also enjoy these sites for reviews of podcasts.
The Timbre
If you like to read reviews of podcasts, start with The Timbre. It’s no longer publishing new stories, sadly, but has plenty of relevant content from previous stories.
Cultured Vultures
http://culturedvultures.com/?s=podcasts
Cultured Vultures is another good site for podcast reviews. This link will show you search results for stories about podcasts.
AV Club
www.avclub.com/features/podmass
This site also reviews podcasts on a regular basis.
B. Statistics
These sources are likely to publish new studies in the future. They are a good way to keep up with the latest statistics.
The Podcast Consumer 2016
www.edisonresearch.com/the-podcast-consumer-2016
This report from Edison Research is full of interesting data about podcasts and their listeners.
Podcasting: Fact Sheet, Pew Research, June 15, 2016
www.journalism.org/2016/06/15/podcasting-fact-sheet
Pew Research is a good source for statistics and is always publishing new survey results.
C. The Podcasting Industry
Hot Pod
A newsletter about podcasts. To keep up with industry news, sign up for this e-mail newsletter by Nick Quah. Past issues are available here: https://www.hotpodnews.com.
D. Reviews of New Podcast Listening Apps
To keep up with new podcast listening apps, try these sources.
The Sweet Setup
This site offers in-depth reviews of apps, and it usually chooses one top recommended app. For example, “Our Favorite Podcast Client for iOS: Overcast,” September 8, 2016, http://thesweetsetup.com/apps/our-favorite-podcast-client-for-ios.
App Advice
App Advice is my favorite site for iOS app reviews. Here’s a sample: “Find Your Favorites and Discover New Podcasts from Anywhere,” http://appadvice.com/collection/best-podcast-players.
Android Central
This is a good site for reviews of Android apps. For example, see “The Best Podcast Apps for Android,” April 6, 2016, www.androidcentral.com/best-podcast-apps-android.
Mobile Apps News
http://nicolehennig.com/mobile-apps-news.
To stay current with the best apps for educational use, sign up for my free newsletter, Mobile Apps News. It covers the best apps of all kinds for use in educational settings, offers links to real-world examples of creative use, and links to thought-provoking articles about emerging technologies.
Alphabetical List of Podcasts in This Report
Aaron’s World
ACLU Podcasts on Mass Incarceration
Alt.Latino
Another Round
AppleVis Podcast
The Autism Show
Beyond the Stacks
The BiCast—Podcast for the Bisexual Community
The Big Listen
The Bindercast
The Bipolar Family
The Blind Hour Podcast
Blind Living Radio
The Blind Sport Podcast
Bloomer Boomer
Book Club for Kids
Brains On!
Call Your Girlfriend
Changing the Face of Power
Changing the World for Deaf People
Chirp Radio Podcasts
Circulating Ideas
Code Switch
Coffee Break Spanish Step by Step
College Info Geek
Cool Blind Tech
Cyberpunk Librarian
Dear Book Nerd
Digital Accessibility Made Simple
Disability Matters
Disability.TV
The Documentary
Documents That Changed the World
Don’t Act Your Age
The Dyslexia Quest
Ear Snacks
Earning Freedom—Michael Santos
Economic Rockstar
Elder Justice Podcast Series
EOS 10
Explain Things to Me
500 Words
Freakonomics Radio
Getting In: A Podcast about the College Admissions Process
#Girlboss
Good Job, Brain!
#GoodMuslimBadMuslim
Grapple
The Guilty Feminist
Higher Ed
Higher Ed Live
The History Chicks
In Black America
In Pod We Trust
International Realness
Invisibilia
Kid Friday: You’re a Kid in a Digital World
Kids on Comics
Latino Rebels
Latino USA
Law School Toolbox Podcast
Lesbian Lounge
LibUX
Lifehacker
Lore
Loud Mute Radio
The Mash-up Americans
Math Mutation
The Naked Scientists
National Native News
Native America Calling
Native Opinion
Native Trailblazers
Nerdette
The New Middle
Nómadas
Note to Self
On Being
On the Media
One from the Vaults—Transgender History Podcast
Open Paren
Ouch: Disability Talk
Our National Conversation About Conversations About Race
Outsports—A Voice for LGBT Athletes
Oxford Children’s Rights Network Podcasts
The Pod Couple
The Podcast Digest
The Podcast History of Our World
Podcast Kid
Podcast Playlist—CBC
PostBourgie
Poverty Research & Policy Podcast
Queer State of Mind
Radio Ambulante
Radio Diaries Podcast
Radio Diaries—Prison Diaries
Radio Rookies
RadioLab
The Read
Red Town Radio
Re:Learning Podcast
Revisionist History
Sampler
Sandi Klein’s Conversations with Creative Women
Science Friday
Seminars about Long-Term Thinking
Serial
Shabam!
She Does—Conversations with Creative Minds
Short & Curly
The Short Coat Podcast: Broadcasts from the Amazing and Intense World of Medical School
The Show about Science
Slate’s Double X Gabfest
Snap Judgment
Sooo Many White Guys
Sound and Fury: The Angry Asian Podcast
StarTalk Radio
States of Incarceration
Still Buffering
Stories from the Brainreels
StoryCorps
Story Pirates
Storynory
Strange Fruit
The Student Caring Podcast for Professors
Studio 360
Stuff Mom Never Told You
Stuff to Blow Your Mind
Stuff You Should Know
TalkPoverty Radio
TED Radio Hour
This American Life
This I Believe
Throwing Shade
Tiny Desk Concerts
The Torch: The Great Courses Podcast
Transwaves
Trends & Issues in Instructional Design, Educational Technology, & Learning Sciences
Tumble
UNICEF Podcasts
UnLearned
Unprisoned: Stories from the System
Voice of Literacy
We Want the Airwaves
Welcome to Night Vale
What It Takes
What Just Happened?
Women of the Hour—Lena Dunham
World of Wonder
Alphabetical Lists of Tools and Apps
For your convenience, here is an alphabetical list of all the podcast discovery tools and apps mentioned in this report.
Podcast Discovery (Directories, Newsletters, Search Tools)
Adolescence is a Marketing Tool newsletter
Audible Feast newsletter
Audiosear.ch
The Audit newsletter
AV Club
Bello Weekly—Bello Collective newsletter
Between Two Earbuds newsletter
Earbud newsletter
Earbud—NPR
Hodgepodge newsletter
Hotpod newsletter
iTunes Charts
Listen to This, The Guardian
Pod-a-Day newsletter
Podcast Chart
PodcastLand
Podcasts Reddit group
Podcat
PodLikeThat (from Audiosear.ch)
PodRec—Facebook bot
Product Hunt
Quora Topic—Podcasts
7 on 7 Podcast Reviews newsletter
Tech Times—Podmaster
The Telegraph (UK)—Podcasts
Timbre—Podcast Playlists
Podcast Listening Apps
AntennaPod
Audible
BeyondPod
Castro
Downcast
Google Play Music
iTunes
Otto Radio
Overcast
Player FM
Pocket Casts
Podcast Republic
Podcasts (Apple)
Podcat
ShortOrange
SoundCloud
Spotify
Stitcher Radio
TuneIn Radio
Notes
- See the Library Success wiki page on podcasting, with a section at the bottom of the page on how to podcast (for libraries): “Podcasting,” Library Success: A Best Practices Wiki, last updated August 13, 2012, www.libsuccess.org/Podcasting.
- Ibid. This site includes a long list of podcasts produced by public, academic, and school libraries.
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