(More than) a few thoughts on videos ...

I've just noticed the last post was on 1st April .. now why do I see that as significant ...
Those online videos:
"lego" - considerable overlap between YouTube and Google
"Liverpool plains" - the first video on both YouTube and Google was the same, of grain harvesting on the Liverpool Plains in NSW. YouTube pointed to the challenges of effective tagging - there followed about twenty videos featuring a singer at the barfly Liverpool. In contrast Google followed with a lot of Mormom Church videos that didn't appear on YouTube. Maybe there is an option for Google searching of tags? Otherwise you would bring up a lot of irrelavnt items .....
"Kogarah" - considerable overlap of content. YouTube had a video of a Kogarah High music recital in the library which is good local advertisement for both the library and the local high school. There were also several videos on the Kogarah bed races which would be a good local history resource in future years and also useful for Council/tourist promotion.

Putting in "Mosman Library" brought up nothing on YouTube and a series of "{Media personality or author} at Mosman Library" videos of 40 mins to 1 hour duration on Google. (Too long for YouTube.) In theory these videos would be a very attractve addition to a blogged Library Newsletter. However at that length only the really keen are going to watch them right through (and they would have attended the real thing at the library!) and while individually they are useful archive/library history items, in aggregate they are too much the same thing (unless one of the speakers was really controversial) and I can't see a lot of longterm usefulness. So you would be back to editing a 'teaser' and that really seems to equal a lot of work relative to the value .....

"We love our NJ libraries". This video is a reaching out to minority groups who might not otherwise hear the library gospel. It is short, well put-together and the backing soundtrack would attract a particular age demographic. It obeys the imperative of going out to meet with your target market where they are but I wonder how many YouTube browsers would search under 'library/ies'. That said, a worthy endeavour ...
"QandANJ: Now your library is open late night too!" The parallels with Maccas should strike a chord, particularly with American viewers, but the same reservation applies. It would be a good video to have shown on local TV or in cinemas or somewhere where people would be watching already.

I looked at few other videos recoverable under the term 'libraries' .... (time prevented further exploration ...)
(YouTube)"Tasty Choices @ Your Library": compares the range of services at the McCracken County Public Library with the appetising menu at a high-class diner (something very appealing to Americans with their culture of dining out)- 'succulent videos', 'flavoursome Internet usage', 'a fine selection of books' .. you get the idea. Meanwhile waitresses/library staff pile up goodies in front of the diners and the final shot shows a Guest check with 'FREE' in big letters. A genuinely witty video, well-produced and making one good point. I think it would work IF people found and viewed it.
(Google)"About get it loud in libraries" (what the people say about live music in libraries). This chronicles a live music event in a U.S. library. A cross-section of members give their opinion on such events (all favourable of course) interspersed or paralleled with views of the setting up process and ending with a sample of the performance. This is an attempt to break down stereotypes. It would be an excellent discussion starter at a seminar, staff meeting or similar professional event as well as a useful contribuition to a wiki.
"Secondary Libraries: becoming integral to school life". I can't imagine it being viewed by the general public but perhaps a useful professional tool.

As mentioned above tagging can be a problem. So can using 'Related Videos' as a location aid! Two supposedly related videos I found were "Marian the Librarian", a romantic spoof with lots of obligatiory stereotypical allusions, and "Amul Butter - Library - Advertisement" which as the title suggests is a straight advertisement for a brand of butter set in a library, very poorly shot and feeding every library stereotype there is.

Exploring:
A. "Olive Riley returns to Broken Hill". A teaser for a longer 56 min video presumably focussing on Olive Riley's memories of Broken Hill. It is only an advertisement/alerting product as Olive says very little and the main content is Olive reliving past events by dancing around an empty hall. Human interest but hardly informative.
B. "State Library of Queensland time lapse construction video 3". Speeded up sequence of shots showing contruction progress going for 2 minutes. It was hard to see, there was no voice-over offering any information and I can see why it has rating of 0.
C. "PLCMC new employee orientation". Videos are useful for training purposes as seeing something done is always a better instruction method than describing how something is done. And I guess the cosy scenes of employees doing things for people is more appealing than a written handout and would help a new employee feel and see themselves as a participant. However this video is for the most part a talking head setting out a vision statement about the goals and standards of the institution and if I was a new employee I would feel the 'boss' could say that to me personally rather than just sitting me down to a video .... Videos as instructional agents work best with specific tasks, either task sequencing or method skills rather than the vision thing.
D. "Reference and research assistance". Useful as part of an orientation programme for new members, particularly younger members for whom visual as opposed to written communication is more familiar. It is well done but even here the head of a major speaker is cut in half for a long sequence - quality of production is often an issue. But taking suffcient time/using professionals is expensive and is the cost outweighed by the benefits?....
E."William Allen White Awards Book Review: anonymous book reviews". Two children wearing masks talk about a book in turn. Gimmicky, but children would like it if only because of the masks and the reviewers being of their age. And it would be very easy to shoot - potential for library viewing and for advertising in local schools, maybe prior to Summer Reading Club?
F. "Art Express 2007". Videos really shine where the content relates to visual material. The sort of information contained here could not be communicated as well in written or even sequential pictorial form. So short videos relating to exhibitions housed in a library are a really good idea, and really multiply the usefulness and validity of such exhibitions.

In summary .... short, well-produced (or as far as possible when economics are taken into account) videos have a real and growing use in Library News blogs.
professional level videos are very useful as discussion starters at professional events and for staff training when they set out specific methodologies to which return visits may be needed. I think that viewing a short video about the State Library could be very useful preparation for staff coming to that one-day Orientation to the State Library programme for new public library staff (the name of which escapes me at the moment) because it would give them some familiarity with the layout of the building and the expectations they can bring with them so that not everything is new to be absorbed on the day.
a direction to a video (or even embedding a video link in your reply) is as legitimate a response to a reference enquiry as a bibliography or data from a book or even database. (Although how a reference librarian could ever have time to search through and evaluate videos is beyond me ...!)
videos are a very useful addition to local history collections as seeing something is always more meaningful than reading about something, and also you can see the interviewee relating to an object and being stimulated by it.
a video might be a good way of reporting for State Library Development grants or even Local Priority Projects expenditure - particularly building projects.