Erie Looking Productions

This week marks the launch of the LISNews Netcast Network. Programs were released on Monday and Wednesday. The releases for the week will wrap up Friday with an episode of Tech for Techies as a stand-alone show. This was supposed to have been a gradual process over the course of February but circumstances forced speeding this up.

The launch of the LISNews Netcast Network serves many purposes. First and foremost, it allows for more diversity of content without my having to perform hideous gyrations to cram more material within a thirty minute window. Secondly, it changes up the voices heard. I am not the only presenter on the network. Thirdly, moving to this structure helps provide for financial security.

At this point the new feeds via FeedBurner have ads in them by way of the AdSense program. Between the ads there and at LISFeeds we have already earned some money. At this point we're only at 7% of the minimum amount for a pay-out but this is a start. Revenue through these means can help keep the network running including paying for equipment repairs. Quite a bit was laid out for equipment and parts over the past week as it was to create flexibility that has been lacking for a couple weeks.

Presently we're waiting on action to allow another step forward to be taken. PRX is the Public Radio Exchange. That site serves as a licensing clearing house for NPR affiliates and others to license content for use on-air. The system is somewhat reminiscent of the freelance structures utilized by newspapers. Our goal is to get the network established on PRX so that network participants can make content available for licensing by public radio stations.

While podcasts and Internet radio may be seen as the future by some, PRX allows network participants to compete in the marketplace of ideas today. A significant hope would be to get Hyperlinked History picked up by one or more stations for broadcast as well as perhaps licensing of interviews from LISTen for use in other shows. We already had a case where a LISTen interview was under serious consideration for use by a radio station's program but due to time constraints and timeliness such did not happen.

Licensing fees are payable to content producers by PRX which makes any material the network produces. Working this way is simpler for station program directors to understand as it fits within their pre-defined world and increases chances of adoption compared to direct approaches offering material for free. The fees help provide incentive to provide more material as well as helping provide for food and shelter.

The Tech for Techies class series will likely have pieces made available via Amazon's Digital Text Platform for people using Kindles. Those would be parts of a whole available as the series proceeded. We're still planning on making available a bound, print-on-demand book at the end that includes illustrations and more. The Tech for Techies class is not just for librarians but is intended for anybody working in technical fields so librarians can feel safe sharing it outside the profession. Tech for Techies presents materials realtors, plumbers, teachers, and others can find useful as it discusses a set of technical skills that can be added to unrelated technical skills already possessed.

Libraries and librarians need to avoid a ghetto mentality. There is a wealth of talent within the LIS realm. These tentative steps are an attempt to integrate such talent into the mainstream world outside the library's walls. While such could be bigger, something like this has to start somewhere. We are hopeful that we can be up and running with PRX network so we can suggest to network listeners that they contact local public radio if they want programs shared with larger amounts of people...whether librarian or not.

The network is a home for independent programs that wish support and mutual aid. If a program already has a backer like a national library association or a major company, this probably would not be a good fit. I am actively trying to recruit talent and bring in programs that can benefit librarians and friends of libraries. Sometimes that means bringing in librarian presenters but not always. Competing in the marketplace of ideas this way requires raising capital and, considering we have no wealthy benefactors let alone any willing sponsors, requires many of the steps being taken now.

Right now we are operating without a safety net. This is neither ideal nor fun. Hopefully this can be resolved soon.

In case you missed them, direct links to MP3 files from this week's programs:
LISTen #60
Hyperlinked History- All The World Is A Stage by The Faceless Historian