So, I recently discovered 12 Seconds. I'd heard the name over and over for months but had never taken the time (how much time can it take to learn about something called 12 Seconds, anyway?) to find out what it was. As it turns out, 12 Seconds is, in a nutshell, Twitter via video. You can post a video to your 12 Seconds account (go ahead and guess how long the video can be) and then it will automatically post to your Twitter and Facebook accounts if you want it to. Your 12 Seconds account also has an RSS feed to which other folks can subscribe.
My first response to this site was, "Wow, this is fun!". Then I started thinking about how one might make good use of this in the library world. Since libraries are starting to make good use of Twitter and RSS as methods of keeping customers informed about what's new at the library, why not take advantage of this by making those online interactions a little more human through the use of video?
One obvious use of 12 Seconds in this regard is the book review:
A recent study published by OCLC explained that one of our customers' primary expectations from library catalogs is a bibliographic record enriched with supplemental data that allows for an easier time determining if a given item is worth requesting. Now, even though the ILS that my library uses won't allow for video embedded into search results (that would be ideal), we can still meet the need of our customers for more information regarding our collection in other ways. So, sending out 12 second book reviews to our customers via Twitter and RSS could clue them in to titles they might have otherwise never found on their own. Besides, the challenge of writing an intriguing book review that can be shared in 12 seconds is just plain fun!
What are some of your ideas about how libraries could use 12 Seconds to provide enhanced services?
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
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