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Presented by Angie Locknar locknar@mit.edu and Darcy Duke darcy@mit.edu of the MIT Libraries.

Angie

demo Camtasia and Captivate
compare tools
show capture of PowerPoint 

Other tools:

 What are we using it for? MIT Libraries Video Tutorials

  • general "how to use library services and resources"
  • quick how tos (Tracy's)
  • also targeted for classes
    • 3.091 - specific tools used for assignments
    • 2.75 - captured a session while it was taught.

Darcy

Staffing/Training

Statistics

 We use Google Analytics to gather statistics on the use of our videos:

What information can we get from Google Analytics?

  • Which are the most popular videos?
  • Are there spikes in usage based on the class schedule or promotions of specific videos?
  • Where are people linking from when they come to the videos?
  • Where are they located physically?  Are we reaching off-campus users? 
  • What is their screen resolution?

What information can't we get from Google Analytics?

  • Are users actually watching the whole video?  We just learned about a way to do this - see this video: Google Analytics and .swf tutorials by Paul Betty.
  • Who are they? MIT or not, grads or undergrads, etc. Also, are they library staff?  There is a way to exclude internal traffic.
  • Are short, quick instructional videos are better than long ones?  The stats don't give us a clear answer, except to imply it's contextual.  Both short and long videos are among our most popular - either length seems to be appropriate if it meets what users are expecting.

Managing the files

  • Camtasia can produce videos in many formats, including Flash and QuickTime.  We were adviced to produce Flash videos as the most ubiquitous platform. 
  • Flash files are fairly large: 1.5 minute video = 2.5MB, 10 minute video = 10MB
  • We store all the files in a central location, which helps manage the special issues these files can have and to help gather use statistics.
  • We also centrally store all the production files so they are available if we need to edit the videos.

TechTV 

We are also putting our videos into MIT's TechTV

Originally we were going to use TechTV as the place our videos lived, but we had technical problems that delayed our ability to put them up (and so embedded them on .html pages on our own site).  Camtasia doesn't just produce a single Flash file, it produces multiple Flash files (for tables of contents, the controllers, etc.).  Camtasia 5 has an option to produce  single Flash file, so we are putting them all up now. 

Costs

No IT staff directly involved in project, outside of purchasing and installing software. 

Software fairly intuitive but lots of details, so hard to use if not a regular tool.  We designated certain staff for training - if others want a video made, they write scripts and work with trained staff.  Gave several training sessions and run monthly drop-in sessions to work on projects and get advice. 

Purchased though connect.gov at bulk discount ($?)

have upgraded software once @ cost of $?

MIT Libraries Video Tutorial Guidelines

Headsets: had intermittent problems with USB headsets, ended up recommending those with direct audio plug-ins, $?? headsets seem to do fine



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