YouTube

I very much enjoyed watching the YouTube videos that the 23 things team have put up on the 23 things blog.  I think my favourite was the one with the dinosaurs: very educational and bizarre, though perhaps a tad long. When trying to find some more entertaining/educational library YouTube videos, I found a mixture of good ones and dreadful ones.  This highlighted to me that like all of these tools, YouTube can be used for both good and evil.  If used in the right way, YouTube can provide a funny and interesting way of educating students.  If used in the wrong (dry and boring) way, it may put students off from ever watching a library YouTube video ever again (perhaps evil is a bit of a strong word!).

When it comes to information literacy, I think many students don't even realise they need it.  YouTube provides libraries with a useful tool to educate students in the ways of information literacy, though I think this is most effective if the video is short and entertaining, as otherwise, it may be difficult to persuade a student to even watch it.  I think it complements other teaching tools very well, and the more ways a library can use to get the message across the better!  I think for some, a short video can be a more effective way of learning than reading lots of instructions.  I know when it comes to crochet, YouTube has often been my refuge when all my books have befuddled me!