Last week, I became the leader of my library’s e-book/e-reader project. This week, I started a group on the CUNY Academic Commons for everyone who’s involved in similar projects on other campuses. (Was this move selfish? Slightly. I want to know how others are managing their programs but I also want everyone else to benefit from such a space. At the LACUNY Dialogues event this past Tuesday, it was obvious that others agreed.) So now when I’m not working on LibGuides or RefWorks, covering the reference desk, teaching (or preparing to teach) classes, combing through book catalogs, attending workshops and meetings, planning instructional tutorials/videos, writing/answering emails, or managing the library’s knitting group (which I started so I have only myself to blame), I have this new project to occupy my headspace.

One of the things that’s making things easier is my whiteboard! The part of the eLibrary project that’s the most time-consuming and worrisome for me is marketing. (Read all about my grand marketing plans on the group’s blog!) So this is me, storyboarding the stop-motion promo video I’m planning:

Storyboard paneling on whiteboard

Each panel is explained below:

  1. Student is stuffing books into her bag at the circulation desk. The amount of books she’s checked out is obscene and her bag is growing large and lumpy.
  2. Student is walking to class, struggling under the weight of her bulky bag.
  3. Student is sitting at her desk in class when she reaches for a book she needs.
  4. Instead of finding the books she’d borrowed, she finds an e-reader. Confused, she pulls it out and looks at it quizzically.
  5. Camera approaches student. It stops behind her, looking over her shoulder. E-reader is seen up close, screen showing the hefty list of books loaded on the device.
  6. Title card sequence explains the library’s e-book/e-reader project.

I seriously love my whiteboard. My ideas can just be thrown up there and taken down with ease. I had to make a special request because the library didn’t have any whiteboards lying around for me to snag. I’m very glad my Chief Librarian approved the request (especially in these harsh economic times when budgets are rapidly shrinking) so I can have this tool to aid me in my work.

Since I’ve already found a photographer (and because he’s my boyfriend, he’ll do the job for free!) and the storyboard is more or less completed, the next step in making this video a reality is finding a model to pose as the student. Let’s hope that process will be smooth.

Are you entrusted with creating videos (whether instructional or promotional) for your library? How do you approach the process of creating an original piece of media?