A Few Good USB Podcasting Mics

The topic of USB podcasting mics has recently come up on the LStech listserv and during a training that I did on podcasting with Liz Keith and David Bonebrake, so I wanted to share a few mics that Wired recently reviewed in its January 2009 issue:

• Alesis USB Mic Podcasting Kit (8 out of 10)
  
• Audio-Technica AT2020 USB (8 out of 10)
  
• Marshall Electronics MXL Studio 1 (7 out of 10)
  
• Blue Microphones Snowball (6 out of 10)
  

All of these except for the Blue Snowball are cardioid mics, so they record only what’s in front of them. The Blue Snowball also has an omnidirectional polar pattern option, so you can record around the mic (if you are doing an interview with someone sitting across from you, for example).  Another mic that’s not mentioned here is the Blue Snowflake, which is more compact and less expensive than the Snowball.  In doing a little research for this post, I also noticed that Blue has a new portable iPod recording device called the Mikey,  a USB converter and mic preamp that allows you to connect an XLR mic directly into your computer, and a nice video on getting started podcasting.  -M

NTEN Loves Their Members. Don’t You Want To Be Loved?

It’s more than halfway through November, and I’ve neglected to point out a very important fact: it’s NTEN Member Appreciation Month. Members have the chance to win prizes, get discounts on tech-related products, and attend free webinars.  A few items that you might be interested in:

• Podcasting 4+1 Webinar (Session materials and recording are available.)
• Ask the Expert – Andrew Turner on GIS (Session materials and recording are available.)
• 10 Tactics for Growing Your Online Community (Live on 11/20/2008 at 2 pm Eastern.)

All of these materials are free for NTEN members. Isn’t it great to be loved? – K

Cross-Cultural Communication Isn’t Always Easy

In a recent podcast, Lisa B. Marshall, the host of The Public Speaker: Quick and Dirty Tips For Improving Your Communication Skills, covered a topic that trips up most attorneys at some point in their career- communicating with people who have different expectations for how conversations and communications should proceed. – K

Article on Reasons for the Non–Adoption of OpenOffice.org

The October 2008 edition of First Monday includes an interesting article entitled “Reasons for the non–adoption of OpenOffice.org in a data–intensive public administration” by Philip Huysmans, Kris Ven and Jan Verelst:

“It appears that although OpenOffice.org can be a viable alternative for the average organization, its functionality may not suffice for advanced users … Based upon our results, it would appear that the increasing standardization of document formats, and the support of the ODF format — and OpenOffice.org — by third party vendors will be important in order for OpenOffice.org to become a viable solution in advanced environments.”

First Monday has also launched a new podcast called Openness 2.0,  a “five–part ongoing series brought to you by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and the University of Illinois at Chicago Libraries. In Part 1: The State of Openness, Sandra Braman, Mary Case, and Steve Jones breakdown the current state of openness in policy, culture and academics.” -M

The Hippest Law Librarian on the Block

I’ve always been a big fan of librarians. When I was younger, they would let me wander aimlessly through the stacks at Mayville State University, and they never said a word when I checked out a huge pile of books at the end of the day. However, I never necessarily thought of them as hip. (Note: I blame this on general librarian stereotypes, and the fact that to children of a certain age, adults are never hip.)

Last week at the Court Solutions Conference, I met a librarian that you couldn’t help but call hip. Laureen Adams, from the Dougherty County Law Library, has taken the time to podcast so that the public has access to understandable legal information. Given the fact that she is the only staff person and is responsible for everything from watering the plants to reshelving books to helping patrons, this shows how dedicated she is and that she’s thinking about how to incorporate new methods for providing the public with library services. Go, Laureen! – K

Technology, Plain English, and Whiteboards

Technology has a lot in common with law. Both are complex fields that use a lot of jargon. Fortunately, CommonCraft, a husband and wife business in Seattle, is working to make technology more accessible to the masses. They create Paperworks videos — think whiteboard crossed with paper dolls — to explain current popular technologies in plain English. Their videos cover a range of topics, including social media, podcasting, blogs, wikis, zombies, and RSS. Now if we could just get them to start creating segments on evictions, name changes, and orders of protection. -K

Disability Law Lowdown

Allison McDermott pointed out the Disability Law Lowdown Podcast to me. As its name suggests, this podcast brings you information about the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and other disability law topics. Check out the past episodes with full-text transcripts and remember to subscribe so that you don’t miss new content as it is posted. – K

This American Life Episode on the Foreclosure Crisis

For those of you who aren’t regular listeners to This American Life or, like me, are still getting caught up on this year’s episodes, I would encourage you to listen to an excellent May 2008 episode called “The Giant Pool of Money” on the foreclosure crisis, which was done in collaboration with NPR News. Also available is a shorter companion version of the story that appeared on NPR’s All Things Considered. -M