With apologies to Jerry Seinfeld, I want to take a few moments to discuss what is coming for LISTen after this week’s episode being posted and hopefully enjoyed mightily.
The results so far of the demographics survey have been very interesting. Rather than being something listened to by the “Google Generation” more listeners apparently come from the ranks of early Gen-X and Baby Boomers. Few respondents reported using an iPod to listen to the podcast with Zunes coming in at zero for reported use. Quite a number of respondents work in management capacities and do not serve in front-line roles interacting with patrons, it appeared.
Do I think these survey responses are necessarily reflective of all listeners? Considering that any listener survey in this case is inherently self-selecting, my first answer is no. All I can do is provide plenty of opportunities to take the survey. Getting a grip on the demographic profile of the listeners we serve is very helpful but only obtainable when listeners take the survey.
Comments are always appreciated and can be sent via e-mail to [email protected]. Replies are indeed sent without any malice intended. I will consider suggestions but may also recommend more appropriate alternatives if possible. If something might not mesh well with the podcast but could be a different project I am willing to start to discuss such.
For example, if you have a cool idea for a short film about libraries and want to get it in the CineVegas film festival we can talk budgeting and logistics as it would only run any member of the production team $15 to enter it. The catch is that the festival runs June 12th to 28th and the submission deadline is March 15th. Such a film, while great, would not likely be something making a special episode of the podcast. Sometimes work in film/video is appropriate or perhaps putting together a website through LISHost. We are not necessarily averse to such things but do need to discuss them.
What is to come in the new season? We are working on trying to fabricate an ability to have call-in guests. We were off looking at some hardware trying to figure out how to best assemble a bridge for telephone calls to be taken. We are also going to try to explore Skype as another means of allowing for call-in guests. In keeping with this a note was put out seeking correspondents. Initially my goal is to get correspondents from Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and the United Kingdom. This would be done to bring in some original reporting from other nations that also participate in the RDA development process and share mostly common cataloging rules with what is done in the United States. Caution must be taken to remember that all of this remains subject to change.
Based upon the figures seen so far from this week’s episode, it appears that interviews are a hit. After recording over the weekend Mr. Munson did express an interest in recording some further segments. We are debating recording further segments during the hiatus to include in future episodes. Such would be a discussion of school library issues to help folks in other types of libraries appreciate that specialty more. This helps the suggestion of providing original content move forward.
Donations are sought to keep the host out of hock while issues are resolved in terms of the host’s present day job. Donations are received using PayPal. Inquiries about other ways to give can also be received via e-mail.
[Update at 1504 PST: As was forgotten in originally posting the above I should mention that another podcast that goes great with LISTen and can help fill in the gap during the hiatus is tech5, found at http://tech5.podshow.com. Directions as to getting the show into your favorite podcatcher are available at the page if you scroll down a little ways.]
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