Many librarians attending the American Library Association conference have been sharing their frustrations about how challenging it is to get students and faculty members to take advantage of their libraries’ resources or their own expertise as librarians. On Saturday, Richard T. Sweeney, university librarian at the New Jersey Institute of Technology, recommended today that his colleagues consider exploiting YouTube.
Mr. Sweeney, who frequently speaks about how academe needs to adjust to impatient Millennials, suggested providing students with cameras and having them produce videos about libraries that can be uploaded to the video-sharing site. “It’s an opportunity to create buzz” around the library, said Mr. Sweeney. He said Millennials watch YouTube videos as much as they watch television.
Don’t dismiss the video-sharing site, he warned his audience, adding that YouTube even contains videos on calculus concepts. —Andrea L. Foster
