iPod tour project
In 2005/2006 the University of Sheffield Library created an new service for student induction, the iPod tour, which was a virtual tour of the main Library building which students could follow by listening to mp3 files on an iPod at designated points around the building. For more information on the project, read the article by Mawson, Moore and Pacheco referenced below.
However, significant changes to the Library building mean the tour needed a huge amount of updating, and since usage had waned significantly, during the summer of 2007 the decision was taken to remove the iPod tour and replace it with a set of screencasts, created using Adobe Captivate 3, which visually demonstrate the answers to typical enquiries that we receive from new students, to help them to start finding information in the Library. For more information on why we replaced the iPod tour, read the article by Mawson referenced below.
The screencasts which we now use for induction with students can be seen on the Library website, under Using the Library > How can I find my way around? From this page you can access the virtual library tour screencasts, as well as our virtual enquiry screencasts.
Journal articles on the project, available from White Rose Research Online:
Mawson, M., Moore, H. and Pacheco, J. (2006) Creating an iPod library tour. ALISS Quarterly, 2 (1). pp. 20-22.
Mawson, Maria (2007) iPod tours: a new approach to induction. New Review of Information Networking, 13 (2). pp. 113-118.