LISPodcasts.com

Minutes after I came across an article in LLRX called Are You Ready for Podcasting?, I saw it had been selected as the Library Link of the Day. Ah, great minds...

Anyway, as I would have suspected, the author talks to Jim Milles of Check This Out! fame. As a podcasting law librarian, he is a logical choice. It's worth noting that Ms. Crosby also records a regular segment for Mr. Milles on his show, so it wasn't much of a stretch for her to interview him for this article.

One part that bears comment: "He quickly learned from his first few episodes that compiling notes and then talking for half an hour or even a full hour was not enough to hold an audience. Now each show is a number of segments strung together."

Now Mr. Milles, to my memory, has always had segments in his show, even in the first episodes (unless he started podcasting elsewhere first). Things like "Librarians in Film" and the "Canadian Minute." In fact, I would say that his show is somewhat less structured now than it was when he started, since those segments are gone and many shows consist of a single interview and Ms. Crosby's segment. In some ways, I think this is a good thing, because segments can come off on the gimmicky side.

However, at many levels, I found the earlier shows more interesting. Then again, I am not the target audience: "He told me his primary audience is law librarians, but also includes others from the legal academic community, such as other law professors and the law students."

But I have to disagree with the premise that talking for 30 minutes will not hold an audience. Completely depends on who's talking and what they're saying. There are a number of people who I will give 30 minutes of my time without reservation, but admittedly, you have to earn that with consistently quality content. I'm not sure I've earned that from my audience, but upwards of 300 people download each show within a week of publication, so that's telling. My point is that content always comes first.

Mr. Milles mentions that "I would love to see other librarians doing this." [Errr, ummm, cough, cough?]

"I tried to make my podcasts interesting to a wide variety of people, at least within the library community; but, I don’t try to speak for everybody. This is my own voice. I am trying to set an example or a model to show people it’s not that hard."

Lest I come off as critical, Mr. Milles does an excellent job with his podcast and clearly has reach in the circles he is targeting. And I have listened to every show religiously, for that very reason.

Incidentally, you can listen to Ms. Crosby's interview with Jim Milles as part of Check This Out! Episode 17.

Today's search podcast covers Google testing out new graphical ads in its local services; whether online mapping services offering aerial views should let you block out your own home; finding an SEM firm through speed dating; Google accidentally deletes its own company blog and more!

Tune-in by listening to this MP3 file, listening via WebmasterRadio at 11:30am Eastern and repeated at 2pm Eastern Tuesday through Friday, via our Odeo channel or through iTunes via this link (or use alternative iTunes instructions explained here) or though our Yahoo Podcasts channel. Need more help tuning in live or finding the chat room? See the Daily SearchCast FAQ.

• Google Tests New Image Ads In Google Local
   
• Google Lands Deal With Verizon SuperPages.com
   
• Infospace Launches Local Search Beta; Local.com Gets Pay-Per-Call
   
• Do Aerial Maps Violate Our Privacy?
   
• Google To Join Standard & Poor's 500 Index
   
• Google To Host Roundtable For Top Music Industry Executives
   
• San Francisco's Mayor & The Google Guys
   
• Yahoo & Microsoft To Build Storage Centers In Grant County, Washington
   
• Speed Dating Meets The SEO Business World With Speed Pitches
   
• adCenter Now Tracks Conversions By Firefox Browsers
   
• Yahoo Updates Search Toolbar; Tabbed Browsing in IE & Delicious Tags
   
• Ask TV Commercial Blitz Hits US Air Waves
   
• Yahoo & 60 Minutes Debut Tiger Woods 60 Minutes Interview
   
• Mobile Search in China
   
• Google Publication Ads Test Deemed Unsuccessful
   
• Searching BG, Before Google, And The Need To Search Better
   
• Google Recipes! Google Careers! Google Confusion! The UI Madness Continues
   
• Official Google Blog Deleted, Blogger Registers googleblog.blogspot.com
   
• Some Of Google's Most Expensive Keywords
   
• The Latest Click Fraud Roundup

Do you wish to be branded an official Carnival carny? Kelli Staley has your solution:

Kelli recommends stealing it from her site at http://www.kellistaley.com/images/carnival.jpg

She also recommends linking it to the Blog Carnival page. That's a reasonable choice, but I might recommend the Carnival wiki page as an alternative. Quite frankly, I think I update it in a more timely fashion. But y'all do with your badge whatever makes y'all happy.

Thanks to Kelli for making the badge!

Michael Stephens (who I can't wait to call Dr. Stephens) points to a David Warlick post on Conference 2.0.

Michael adds an idea of his own: A podcast booth or quiet area where podcasters could stage a discussion, conference debrief, or just get some recording done.

Yes, yes, yes. I can't begin to tell you how handy that would be for my (intended) efforts. It's nearly impossible to find somewhere quiet enough to do any group recording.

As for Conference 2.0, I once listened to Steve Dembo talk about a conference in which all of the presentations are pre-recorded and disseminated prior to the actual conference. The conference sessions themselves are then reserved for group discussion, questions, etc. Knowing that, under the current model, all the best stuff happens in the discussions that take place outside of the traditional sessions, this seems like a brilliant reconsideration of the old school conference mode.

Incidentally, if you are not familiar with David Warlick, take a minute to check out his stuff. He's a real education visionary.