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How
to Create and Download Podcasts
With podcasts, online users
now have the choice of listening to their favorite
broadcasts, music and interviews, or downloading them to
their media players — such as MP3 players or ipods — and
saving them for a more convenient time. It’s new
technology that advocacy and outreach groups can use to
communicate more effectively with a moving target.
Consider a “Put a Face on Recovery” podcast featuring
interviews with people in recovery. Or create a podcast
about new research. How about a weekly news update for
members? Podcasts allow you to provide targeted
information and content that reinforces your
communication goals to a very mobile audience.
What
do you need to create a podcast?
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If you do not already have an MP3 Recorder, install
the free Audacity MP3 recorder
(http://audacity.sourceforge.net/)
for Windows, Mac or Linux
-
Record a
file on your computer (you need a USB microphone)
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Save it as
an MP3 file
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Upload the
MP3 file to your Web site or blog
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Create an
RSS feed on your site. Directions for your webmaster
can be found at:
http://www.masternewmedia.org/2002/12/31/how_to_
syndicate_web_site_news_through_rss_feeds_technology.htm
Podcasts can be
retrieved into computer media players, detached from the
computer and stored on a portable digital media player
like an iPod or a Zen Micro so they can be listened to
anywhere. Listeners subscribe to a podcast just once;
content is delivered to their computers whenever new
content is ready. There is a cost involved, which is
bandwidth consumption, but there are services, such as
LibSyn
that accommodate podcasters.
What do you need to
download a podcast?
Podcasts can be downloaded to a
personal computer and transferred to a portable device.
To automatically sync files to a portable device, a
podcast client or software application is needed.
There are several to choose from, like
iPodder Lemon a free,
open-source client available for most operating
systems. For Windows,
iPodder.NET is a media
aggregator that automatically downloads content to your
machine. All you have to do is subscribe to RSS feeds,
and your machine handles the rest for you. Sites like
Podcasting News provide links to the latest audio files
from popular podcasts.
Most
portable devices have between 32MB and 128MB of on-board
data storage. Some podcasts can be up to 50mb each, so
it is recommended that listeners invest in a removable
media card. Removable media comes in various formats and
can increase storage (up to 4GB)
Here’s how downloading works:
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The podcaster
records a show as an audio file
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It adds a
hyperlink for the show to an RSS feed on a Web
server
-
The podcast
software checks RSS feeds at set intervals,
downloading and adding new shows to a playlist
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When the listener
docks (connects) their portable player, it updates
with the latest content
Podcasting Resources:
Jake Ludington, who publishes
audio and video tips at
MediaBlab.com, offers
step-by-step guides to receiving as well as recording
and posting podcasts.
Receive Podcasts Using
Your PC:
www.windowsdevcenter.com/pub/a/windows
/2005/03/15/podcasting_pc.html
Create Podcasts
Using Your PC:
www.windowsdevcenter.com/pub/a/windows/2005/04/05/
create_podcasts_with_pc.html
A host of online resources are
available to help improve your use of technology. It’s
well worth your time to visit these sites and find out
about the tech resources they offer. To name a few:
www.techsoup.org
is the technology place for
not-for-profits. The “how-to” section offers helpful
articles to answer your technology questions.
Also,
www.networkforgood.org
offers information in its Nonprofit Resources
section for strengthening your online donation capacity,
and
www.poynter.org
provides a Resource Center
for new media.
In addition to creating an RSS
feed on your Web site, consider submitting your feed to
a podcast directory. Robin Good offers a solid list of
55 places to submit your feed at
www.masternewmedia.org/rss/top55/.
Some popular podcast directories
include:
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