1. Can anybody add content to the ANTS site?

Answer: Yes. Although ANTS initially started out as a COPPUL initiative, it was opened it up to non-COPPUL librarians in the Fall of 2006. Anyone can register to be a member of our COPPUL Wiki and anyone can get a DSpace account and upload content to our repository.

2. Are you only asking people to develop tutorials for the e-resources currently on the list.

Answer: No. Anyone working with e-resources knows that databases are aquired by new vendors, old vendors go out of business, new e-resources are continuously being born, and that old e-resources (that were previously not that popular) can become popular. Hence, we anticipate that many people will want to develop tutorials for e-resources not on our initial list. That is why we chose a dynamic wiki - that anyone can add to - as our home for all e-resources identified for development. All we ask is that you add the name of any e-resource you want to develop a tutorial for onto the Wiki (it is very easy to do using Easy Edit). This way others will be made aware of the fact that (a) a tutorial needs to be created for a specific e-resource or (2) that you are creating one (so they do not need to create one locally).

3. I noticed that ANTS seems to be dedicated to creating tutorials for e-resources. Do you accept other types of library tutorials as well such as Information Literacy ones?

Answer: Yes. Although ANTS was originally conceived as being a method or enabling development of e-resource tutorials across institutions, we have recieved a lot of questions from people who would like to see other types of tutorials included as well. These include Information Literacy Tutorials, Literacy Tutorials (for Public Libraries), Data & GIS Tutorials, Tutorials for Handicapped users, and any other type of tutorial that there is a demand for in the library world.

We welcome all ideas and all content. Ideas for new types of tutorials can be added onto the Wiki under How To Contribute. Ideas for Specific Content under one of our identified tutorial groups, can be added to that page for the group (i.e. you could indicate there is a need for a plagarism tutorial in our Information Literacy Tutorials page.)

4. Is there any restrictions in the types of software used to create tutorials? Do you recommend that people use one vendor's software?

Answer: We do not tell people that they have to use Captivate, Camtasia, Viewletbuilder or Wink. We leave that decision up to our creators. All that we do ask is that whatever you use, it can be converted into a Shockwave Flash File (SWF) or Flash File, and that this includes audio (as general consensus is that it makes for a better viewing experience.)

5. I have never used audio in my tutorials. As it is new to me, do you have any recommendations?

Answer: We do have a few simple suggestions that work well when recording audio. First of all, you do not have to enter some sophisticated recording studio to get good audio. Instead, make sure (1) that you are in an office that does not have a lot of noise (such as music, construction sounds, etc) and (2) that you use a Headset recorder (the speaker rests close to your mouth when you are recording and as such, it picks up your voice and eliminates a lot of white noise - such as the sound of an Air conditioner blowing)


6. Do you know of any good online training that I could take to learn how to create Animated Tutorials?

Answer: Organizations such as ALA, ACRL or The Partnership (in Canada) are always offering online courses. So will your local library association. In addition, one of our team members - Paul Pival - did a Webinar on using Viewletbuilder that is freely available for anyone to view (the password is ANTS). You will need to download the Elluminate Live Software to view it, but Elluminate is freely available.