1-2-3-4! Must-Listen Podcasts for Tech-Curious/Savvy Librarians

I was sitting in a meeting a few weeks ago, and a colleague mentioned his jam-packed schedule. He talked about that 30-minute commute as the only time when he could actually focus on reading an article or catching up on a podcast. For me, podcasts are both a source of entertainment and information -- and sometimes both. While the average person supposedly watches upwards of 20 hours of television each week, I get pretty close to clocking that much time with my podcasts. With that in mind, I wanted to single out a couple that I think are particularly useful for those of us trying to make sense of new technologies in the context of our libraries and the patrons/students/communities we serve. Each of these podcasts is accessible enough to be a useful introduction to a lot of issues while also being sufficiently rigorous enough to promote interesting conversation.

Digital Campus: released bi-weekly, this podcast is a project of the Center for History and New Media at George Mason University. The show features "discussion of how digital media and technology are affecting learning, teaching, and scholarship at colleges, universities, libraries, and museums." It's first on this list, because it's consistently solid.

TechTherapy: Produced by the Chronicle of Higher Education's Scott Carlson with tech consultant Warren Arborgast, TechTherapy covers technology triumphs and tribulations on college campuses. Recent episodes have covered technology costs, green IT, hiring a CIO, and more.

First Monday: First Monday Podcast, a project of one of the first peer-reviewed journals on the internet, celebrated its one-year anniversary recently. FM Podcast takes a monthly swing at "feature stories on all aspects of the Internet examining the trends and standards, technical issues, educational uses and political and social implications of the Internet." More than just a mouthpiece for the authors published in each issue, FM Podcast benefits from hosts Joy Austria's and AJ Hannah's keen awareness of the issues and ability to engage their guests on a critical level.

MediaBerkman: A project of Berkman Center for Internet and Sociey at Harvard Law School, this podcast features "conversations with and talks by leading cyber-scholars, entrepreneurs, activists, and policymakers as they explore topics such as the factors that influence knowledge creation and dissemination in the digital age; the character of power as the worlds of governance, business, citizenship and the media meet the internet; and the opportunities, role and limitations of new technologies in learning." This is a recent addition to my playlist, and it looks like the feed has been a little slow over the summer. Catch up on back episodes while we wait for new installments.

Any others I'm missing? Leave links in the comments.

Comments

[Maura Smale]

Thanks for the heads up on these, Jason. I've listened to the First Monday podcasts before, but I hadn't heard the others. Perfect timing, too -- I was just thinking the other day that I needed to find some new podcasts, and I listened to Digital Campus on the way to work today.

[Jason]

Thanks, Maura! I hope you liked Digital Campus. I've really been enjoying the TechTherapy (thanks, Stephen Francouer!) lately.