Intellectual Freedom - Broadly Speaking

I almost bought a Kindle text reader the other day. I decided to wait for version 2.0, and possibly for the price to drop, but it got me thinking... I now own two iPods and a little cheapie mp3 player that I use for downloadable audiobooks at the library (not compatible with iPods). The iPods have changed the way I get information. Sure, I have some great music and audiobooks on them, but that's not the real treasure.

The real treasure is in the podcasts. These are like on-demand radio broadcasts, and most are free. Because podcasting is so new and not too expensive to produce, there's still lots of room for the little guy. I get lots of NPR and C-SPAN programs, news and all the politics I can stand - all on my schedule. But also I can hear Nancy Pearl's books reviews, wine reviews, lunch hour Spanish lessons and thousands of other things. And I've also learned that I LOVE science! I never knew that. Oh, I don't look at it in an incredibly focused way, but in my reference librarian way. That is, with a knowledge base that's a mile wide and and inch deep. There's plenty to keep me entertained and informed. There's the Naked Scientists, a group of scientists podcasting weekly from Cambridge University, in England. They're funny and educational. And no, they're not nudists, but are "stripping" down science. And there's The Science Show, from Australia. And I can't function without my weekly update from The Skeptics' Guide to the Universe, a science-based group who love to debunk everything from Bigfoot and UFOs to the children's vaccine controversy and alternative medicine. The host is a Yale neurologist, and I always learn something.

So, what has this to do with intellectual freedom? Well, not only are podcasts entertaining, but they are another way to customize and expand the delivery of information. For those of us who like getting our information in an audio format it's another source of news and education, both for traditional and alternative sources. Some things, such as my science and language podcasts, lend themselves very well to the spoken word. And have I mentioned that this information is available when we want it, in whatever time chunk we want it? It's like blogging, but for the ears. And just as bloggers have served at times to keep the traditional media on its toes, and to get information (both good and bad) out to the masses, so can podcasts. Bloggers have kept important stories alive when the fast-paced news cycle would bury them. Podcasts can do the same.

This is a medium we should keep our eyes on and our ears tuned to. Some libraries are doing their own podcasts, and ALA's Office of Intellectual Freedom is using it as a means to broadcast information. If your library is podcasting, or if your patrons are asking about it I'd love to hear about it.