Thing #21: Podcasts

Well, it's clear in my explorations on the topic of podcasts, that they may have just been a passing fad. Judging by the write-up on the 23 Things page, they were quite the rage 5 years ago, when "podcast" became the word of the year in the New Oxford English Dictionary. Now, in 2010, of the three links to podcast directories that 23 Things gave us to look at, only one (http://www.podcastalley.com/) still works. 23 Things included a link to podcast.net, which is now non-functional, but I did find that there's usable directory at http://www.podcast.com/. Of the two, podcast.com is easier to browse through via the category listings and podcastalley.com seems easier to search using the search box. Searching in podcast.com didn't seem to bring me very reliable results when I tried looking for library-related podcasts. Podcastalley.com brought me much better results with the same search. Unfortunately, one has to wonder how long these podcast directories will last. In doing my searches and in browsing, I found that other major news organizations (ABC, NBC, CNN, FOX, NY Times, etc.) there were few recent podcasts to be found. Even SirsiDynix and ALSC (Association for Library Service to Children) don't seem to have created updated podcasts since at least 2008. (Maybe the directories just aren't finding them?) I could see that a few libraries (college and public) tried them early on, ca. 2006-2007, but most didn't last long. Perhaps it was easier for people to read their websites for information about upcoming events and the like rather than listening to a podcast.