NOBLE has been using Jing for a few years to make screenshots and
screencasts. We found that the five minute limit and fact that you
couldn't edit the screencasts was a plus for us -- it made us break
things up into short, manageable pieces, and work quickly without trying
to make to make things perfect. We post screencasts as documentation,
and use them to show new features, etc. We also often send people
custom screencasts when we're answering their support questions -- it's
sometimes easier for us to just show them how to do something rather
than write out the step-by-step directions. Sometimes this helps us
discover that what we're seeing is not what they're seeing for some
reason, which is helpful.
Some library staff use Jing to send us screenshots with their support
questions and development ideas -- they like adding big red arrows
pointing to whatever they don't like! Some people have started making
their own quick screencasts to report a problem because, like us, they
find it easier to show something than to explain it in writing. Being
able to instantly upload to screencast.com (part of the service) and
send a URL makes this a simple process.
We recently upgraded to Camtasia to be able to do some other kinds of
screencasts, but as a simple utility, it's hard to beat Jing.
Jing, Camtasia and Screencast.com are all products of Techsmith:
http://www.techsmith.com
We also have used GoToMeeting for a few years. We don't really use it
for meetings the way we thought we would, we usually use it one-on-one
with someone in a library who needs individual training/consulting on a
process. We also use it for support issues when we can't quite figure
out what's going on and want to watch them perform a process on their
own computer.
More recently we added GoToTraining which adds more structure for
training sessions, including registration, polls, quizzes, etc.
Here's a comparison chart of GoToMeeting and GoToTraining:
http://www.gotomeeting.com/fec/web_conferencing_comparison
--
Elizabeth Thomsen, Member Services Manager
NOBLE: North of Boston Library Exchange
26 Cherry Hill Drive
Danvers MA 01923
E-mail: [email protected]
