Course Materials: Course Guide 3: Collection Production

After examining the assignment for Project 2 (Below) for your Collection Production Project, continue down this page to explore a number of student projects completed in previous L552 classes. For those projects that you can examine online, keep in mind that they may not meet all of the required criteria for this course, but they do contain stellar elements and give some framework for thinking about your own work.

Project #2: Collection Production Project

Before jumping into this project, explore the materials in the Collection Production section of the course.

Develop your own audio and/or video production(s). You may do this independently or with another student or interested patrons. The final product must be in a digital format and shared on the web. You can do video, audio, or both. All projects must be shared on the web.

Your project may be an informational, instructional, educational, or entertainment product. For instance, you might develop a "how-to" page on a topic for an industrial technology, art, or home economics class. Then, use short audio or video clips to illustrate procedures. OR, you might develop a virtual field trip or library orientation video. Another option is to create a series of short videos or audios such as 30 second book blurbs as part of a library blog.

This project should be substantial. In other words, rather than a 30 second video introduction to family history, your project might include three short videos: a promotional video to encourage people to participate in the family history weekend program, an introduction to family history resources in the library, and a tutorial on using the family history subscription database.

Video. The videos can be produced in many ways. You could use your still camera to record 30 second to three minute videos. Or, you could use a tool such as PhotoStory or VoiceThread (See a sample VoiceThread project that I created to show my recent swimming-related vacation) to combine still pictures and/or video with audio narration using a microphone hooked to your computer. The topics are endless. You could develop a documentary on war vets or the history of a local church, a "how-to" video on frog dissection or gardening, or a virtual field trip to a local park or museum. You could also do a school or community television program. Do NOT simply record a school play, sporting event, or other activity. The project must include organization and analysis.

A note about VoiceThread... It's quite simple to use, as evidenced by my first experimental one put together in the sample linked above. Once you have your media (video or still images) it takes very little time to load the media and get a barebones project up and running. The audio on mine is impromptu, done without a script. There are a significant number of vocal pauses. But, it's a good example of what can be done with this tool.

Audio. If you choose audio, you may wish to combine it with print materials, photographs, or other materials. For example, you might narrate a center tour or ask students to record their poems and draw matching pictures. If you develop a "audiobook", it should be an original work rather than a book from your library.

We strongly recommend that you use the free, open source software tool Audacity for audio recording and editing. This tool is VERY easy to use. The directions are very clear.

Web Sharing. There are many ways you can share your video or audio productions on the web.

First, you need to locate a place to upload and save your video on the web. If you develop a project for the web, consider using a free web service such as YouTube, SchoolTube, or TeacherTube to share your project.

Second, you must create a web page where you can link to or embed the video. This page must provide background information about the project (i.e., your production plan) as well as a context for your project (i.e., an introduction to your media, how it might be used). For instance if you were doing a book review blog you might include a picture of the book cover, a description of the book, then a link to the audio you recorded.

Choose ONE of the following three options:

(1) Build a web page using a tool such as Google Pages or your own web service.
(2) Share your video as part of a podcast or videocast on a blog. For instance, you might use a free tool such as Blogger, Edublogs, or Wordpress.
(3) Create a wiki using a free tool such as wikispaces or pbwiki.

Third, you can either link to the media files stored in another service such as YouTube, embed the media files by copying the code from a service such as YouTube, or upload and link to the media files directly to your blog service.

Special Notes
* Be sure that you have permission to use any of the materials that you post. For example, you need permission to record musical events or sporting events. A statement should be included on the website containing this copyright and use information as needed.
* An audio or video project can be daunting for some people. You may team with another student in the class for this project. However if you choose this option, your project should be "twice" the size of a regular project.

Requirements (Project 2 - Collection Production: 20 Total Points Possible)
* Production Plan on Web Page (Need, purpose, setting, audience, description / overview) (2 Points)
* Context Web Page (Introduction to your video) (2 Points)
* Content logically detailed and presented (4 points)
* Technical aspects: quality of audio/video, image, effects, etc. (6 points)
* Content appropriateness and scope of the audio/video components (4 points)
* Layout and design of components; i.e., professional and attractive appearance, logical structure, etc. (2 Points)

Project Review
You are responsible for conducting peer reviews. First, provide suggestions for at least two other class members before their projects are posted. Second, provide feedback for at least two different students after the projects have been posted. The cohort group forums are the most efficient way to conduct this sharing activity.

Project Sharing / Submission
Keep in mind that this project should be developed for the global audience, not just for your instructor. Sharing is an important part of this learning. You should share your projects and get feedback from classmates before submitting the final version to your instructor. Classmates can help find errors, missing elements, and provide valuable formative feedback. By reading and viewing the projects of others, you often gain ideas and insights that improve and enhance your own work. Remember this is not a competition; all projects are graded with the same checklist.

When you're ready to share, be sure to write a short narrative describing the reason you chose to create this project and how it fits with your interests as well as the needs of your patrons or students. Include your narrative along with the web address (URL) of your project in a message to the Oncourse Discussion Area.

Collection Production Projects
This selected list of projects is intended to give a sense of the types of productions that were completed in previous classes.

Baking with Anastasia by Anastasia Guimaraes
http://www.nd.edu/~aguimara/L552/L552project2.html
This weppage includes a recipe of a favorite dessert along with a number of photographs taken at different stages of the recipe preparation and short video clips that demonstrate "how-to" steps.

Creating A Panomoranic Image by John McDonald
http://fayette.k12.in.us/%7Emcdonald/l552project2/index.htm
The goal of this project was to create a usable 360 degree panoramic image of the media center. The website details the process and results.

You are ready to move on to the final section of the course: Course Guide 4: Collection Use.