The final assignment for 23 Things is podcasts. I've listened to several podcasts over the years and they can be a lot of fun. I'm glad to see the VHS has also embraced this medium. With all the lectures that take place here, putting them up in digital form is a natural extension for us. We need to make sure the podcasts we create are picked up by the major podcast indexers, however. I tried to find some examples of our podcasts through podcastalley and podcast.com and didn't get a single hit for the VHS.
Some people have said they'd like to see audio podcasts of tours up. I would go further -- we need
video podcasts. We should have our own channel on YouTube with a collection of short (10 minutes or so) tours of the Silver collection, the Mural Gallery, and on each section of The Story of Virginia and for Virginians at work. The curators could write the scripts and Bob could narrate them (the voice of the VHS
). The Education department has been struggling to extend services to more schools and students. Video-casting the tours and lessons would be a great way to do this. Unlike a traditional tour, they could also highlight rare and fragile items that aren't on display. We could show off all kinds of treasures. Some people might this this would discourage people from actually coming to the VHS, but I think the reverse is true. I think seeing what we have might encourage people to come if they have a chance to come to Richmond (or live here). And there's a huge audience that's interested in our collections, but live across the country and will probably never set foot in Virginia. That's an audience too, and one that can only be served digitally.
And thus endeth the lesson .
1 comment:
That is a really good idea Julie. Sometimes when I see stuff on line or on tv, it makes me want to go see it in person. Maybe putting a video podcast on line would make more people come visit when they do come to the area.
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