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As more people realize how easily content can be published in Web 2.0, consumers need ways to receive information without being attached to a computer screen.

Like blogs, podcasts enable anyone with something to say a relatively simple way to get a message out, but the consumer has more flexibility in where and when that message is heard. Tracey Amey, Digital Initiatives Librarian at the Pennsylvania College of Technology Madigan Library, explains, “A podcast is an audio file that is available on a web site. You can download a podcast to your computer or to your mp3 player. You can also subscribe to a podcast, meaning you can automatically download the news edition of a weekly podcast to listen to whenever you want.”

No longer do you need to be shackled to your computer to consume content, which is what the Madigan Library staff had in mind when they created an audio tour to help students acclimate to the library and its services. The tour is accessible from www.pct.edu/library.

Podcasts fill a personal need as well. Amey says, “Someone who is stationed in Iraq can download and listen to a podcast and make a connection to home with just one click.” Suddenly, letters become much more personal.

Whether instructional or personal podcasts need a purpose. Jason Van Orden, social media consultant, provides some prompts for choosing a topic in his “How to Podcast” tutorial at www.how-to-podcast-tutorial.com:

• “What are your areas of expertise?”
• “What do people ask you for help with on a regular basis?”
• “What things would you do whether or not you got paid?”

Van Orden highlights the value of podcasting for niche markets. “Podcasting is powerful because it can do what can’t be done with broadcasting. Podcasting is great for reaching small, focused and under served topics of interest (niches).”

Before you record your own podcast, you should listen to a few to get a feel for the style of the content. Leo Laporte produces a series of technology based pod casts, which can be accessed at www.twit.tv. Laporte also does a syndicated call-in show, which he then releases as a podcast illustrating the point that traditional broadcasting medium does not necessarily exclude new mediums.

Like to listen to poetry? The Poetry Foundation will release a poem a day at www.poetryfoundation.org in podcast format to celebrate National Poetry Month in April Need news? Try the Discovery Channel Radio Podcasts at www.discovery.com/radio/podcasts.html.

An easy way to find podcasts is to search Google for your topic of interest along with the word “podcast.” For example, a search for “political podcasts” will turn up over 16 million results, and as the presidential election draws closer, this number will certainly rise.

Recording a podcast does require some additional skills, but Van Orden’s “How to Podcast” tutorial provides a beginning to end primer.

Amey summarizes, “The technical part went quickly. We used a Mac with Garageband software and a USB microphone. Certainly not your high tech studio.” Recording the script only took an evening, but creating the script took the Madigan Library staff approximately two months.

Obviously, time to create a quality product is the biggest expense, but you can reduce your software expense by using Audacity, a free, open source sound editor from audacity.sourceforge.net. Audacity is also cross platform and works on Mac OS X, Linux, and Windows, whereas Garageband only works on a Mac OS X.

What advice does Amey have for would-be podcasters? “Try it. Make a small investment in time and money and go for it. Talk about anything. Something you are interested in, a service you think is valuable to others.”

Originally published in the Williamsport Sun-Gazette on March 04, 2007.