The advent of online video sites has made possible a new and powerful way to disseminate information: the online video tutorial. The Western New York Library Resources Council (WNYLRC), in conjunction with the University at Buffalo Libraries, developed a project that sought to explore the possibilities of this tool for librarians. In WNYLRC's Knowledge Base Tutorials On-Demand Program, tutorials were researched, scripted and produced to enhance the training of librarians and professional staff, to answer general questions, and to provide detailed information about library software and platforms. This chapter will describe the design, implementation, and outcomes of this program, as means to lay a foundation for future work in the area of video tutorials, library resource sharing and information dissemination. The ramifications of platforms such as YouTube and the new kinds of literacy that are growing as a result are essential to the future of libraries in the digital era.
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Distance education is nothing new: the first correspondence school in America was founded in 1873 and utilized the United States Postal Service as a means for information dissemination (Caruth & Caruth, 2013). There were benefits to this type of learning experience, as well as drawbacks, and many of these still apply to today’s modern approach. With the advent of the Internet and its rapid evolution into the ubiquitous and multifaceted tool that it has become, the ability to find or distribute information over great distances with great speed has grown at a stunning rate. However this applies to all types of information, including the inaccurate variety, and not all educational programs are created equal. That said, the Internet as a platform for distance learning and education is unparalleled.
The advent of the Internet, and specifically the rise of Web 2.0 technology in the last decade, has fundamentally altered the ways in which individuals search for, use, and present information. These changes have paved the way for a re-contextualization of the learning experience, one characterized by interactive multimedia resources and services that are available all the time, anywhere, for anyone with an Internet connection. In just a short time, people have come to expect and demand the breadth of flexibility and convenience offered by Web 2.0 platforms in their academic, professional, and recreational pursuits.
Video is one of the major components of the Web 2.0 environment. In the context of learning and instruction, video tutorials are becoming one of the first sought and best ways to gain knowledge. Video tutorials can take many forms, but in general, they are short, narrated demonstrations of how to perform a given task. Recently, it has become common to seek out a free video tutorial to learn how to do everything from tying a Windsor knot to coding an advanced Flash animation (Buczynski, 2009). Video tutorials have a massive and widespread appeal, and are being created by the masses, for the masses.