ANTS - Animated Tutorial Sharing - Recently Updated Pages

Uploading and Downloading Tutorials

paulbetty — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 17:47:33 CDT

The Tutorial's Home: COPPUL DSpace In order to make Animated Tutorials easy to identify and share, COPPUL librarians felt it was important to house all shared Tutorials in one location. A home for these Tutorials was found in the spring of 2005 when the University of Calgary opened its Institutional Repository - DSpace - to the project. DSpace is an Institutional Repository that can handle a wide variety of file types. It also met all of the other standards set out for the Tutorials' home as it:

Is accessible to any librarian who registers with DSpace.
Is archival in quality.
Allows for the incorporation of Metadata
Is Searchable and Browseable

DSpace also contains a Creative Commons License that asks that all depositors make their creation publicly accessible as a condition of depositing any learning object in it. In so doing the author retains copyright, but ensures that their creation remains in the Public Domain. Anyone wishing to learn how to use D-Space can do so by viewing Uploading Tutorials to the DSpace Shared Tutorial Database . This will tell you how to register for D-Space, how to upload files, and how to subscribe to D-Space so you can be notified whenever new content is added. Those adding Camtasia files will also wish to view our How to Load Camtasia files to DSpace Tutorial as well.

ANTS also recently introduced a second site where you can get source code, shockwave flash files and html code for embedding tutorials in Web Sites or Blogs. It is at our Screencast.com site. This site has also proved to be more reliable when it comes to viewing tutorials that do not display on DSpace, so use it if DSpace will not display a tutorial for you.

Registering for D-Space

To register for D-Space go to https://dspace.ucalgary.ca and select Sign On to My DSpace. If you do not have an account you will be prompted for information. Follow the prompts and an account will be created for you. Alteratively, you can also contact our DSpace administrator - Paul Pival (ppival@ucalgary.ca) - and he will create an account for you. If you wish to learn more about registering, please consult Uploading Tutorials to the DSpace Shared Tutorial Database.

Including Relevant Metadata

In order to ensure that all relevant information about the Tutorial is included when you submit your Tutorial to DSpace, please ensure that the following information is included:

Author of the Tutorial
Name of the Tutorial
Name of the Database or E-book / E-journal Collection the Tutorial deals with.
Name of the Database Vendor
When it was Created / Updated
Keywords
Abstract
Description of the Tutorial
File Type
Optional Information such as Contact Information, Viewing Time and Intended Audience (i.e Undergrads)

DSpace will prompt you for most of this information whenever you upload your Tutorial and will also include a listing of the File Size. What it will not prompt you for is any Optional Information, Database/Collection Names and Vendor Information. Consequently, this information must be listed in the Abstract or Description Fields.

Optimizing your Adobe Captivate projects for use in the ANTS project

For use in the ANTS project, you'll need to create a single Shockwave Flash .SWF file that includes all the necessary content for your tutorial. However, I've noticed a couple default settings in Adobe Captivate that will result in multiple .SWF files when you publish your projects. These are summarized in the following post:

http://blogs.adobe.com/silke.fleischer/2007/08/creating_a_single_swf_with_ado.html

As alluded to in the post above, Captivate 3 records any scrolling of pages done with the mouse as a seperate Fullmotion .SWF file. For any of you who have updated from version 2 to version 3, you may have noticed this when you publish your projects. If you capture lengthy web pages with lots of scrolling, then your published project can end up with many small Fullmotion .swf files. These Fullmotion .swf files are separate files that are called into the larger project at the appropriate places when they are viewed. The advantage is that the core .SWF file and the Fullmotion .SWF files are split up, minimizing file size for enhanced streaming. But for the ANTS project, we ask that you supply us with a single, all inclusize .SWF file we can convert to other formats for distribution. So how can you publish a single .SWF file in Captivate 3:

1.) If you've selected to include playback controls for your tutorial, deselect the option to "Show Borders" under the Project -- Skin -- Borders menu. This will include the playback controls in the main .SWF file.

2.) Instead of using the mouse to scroll up and down, use the keyboard arrow instead. Click the scroll bars with the mouse to gain focus first, but rather than click and drag, use the arrow keys. Captivate will capture this movement as typing instead of a separate Fullmotion video.

I've created a short screencast that walks through these steps:
Adobe Captivate and ANTS Opimization screencast

Of course, if you do not include playback controls, or you do not have any scrolling or fullmotion included in your project, then you do not need to make any adjustments. But the idea here is to get a single .SWF files to share with others. If you have any questions, you're welcome to contact me at pbetty@regis.edu

Access ANTS Files and Embedding Code

Kazakoff — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 10:18:14 CDT

ANTS provides people with access to Shockwave Flash Files, Tutorial Source Code (Camatisia, Captivate or Viewletbuilder Files) and Embedding Code for SWF, FLV and AVI files.

To access the Source code or Shockwave Flash Files, go to our DSpace location at:

https://dspace.ucalgary.ca/handle/1880/43471

To access the Embedding Code or Files for FLV (Flash Movie Files) or .AVI Files (Window's Media Player Files) go to our site at LION TV:

http://liontv.blip.tv/

To access Embedding Code for SWF Files, go to our Screencast.Com site at:

(http://www.screencast.com/users/ants

NOTE: This site was made freely available to us by Techsmith who renewed their sponsorship for another year as of September 25, 2008. Special thanks to Techsmith for their continued support.

E-Resources: A

Kazakoff — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 15:07:00 CDT

ABI Inform Global

Name of Vendor: Proquest
High Priority? Yes
Under Development? (Include Name and Contact Info)
Completed?

ABI Inform Global Trade & Industry

Name of Vendor: Proquest
High Priority? Likely (2 indicated usage at time of survey but likely more now.)
Under Development? (Include Name and Contact Info)
Completed?

Academic Search Elite

Name of Vendor: EBSCO
High Priority? Yes
Under Development? (Include Name and Contact Info)
Completed?

Academic Search Premier

Name of Vendor: EBSCO
High Priority? Yes
Completed? Yes- Academic Search Premier (ASP) Basic Searching - by Richard Baer of Camosun College [baer@camosun.bc.ca]
Embedding Code: See Screencast.com site, click on name of e-resource, and select its Share Icon

Academic Search Premier - Version 2.0 - Visual Search

Name of Vendor: EBSCO
High Priority? Yes
Under Development?Richard Baer of Camosun College [baer@camosun.bc.ca]
Completed? Yes, June 16,2008

Academic Search Premier - Version 2.0 -Basic search

Name of Vendor: EBSCO
High Priority? Yes
Under Development?Richard Baer of Camosun College [baer@camosun.bc.ca]
Completed? Yes, June 20,2008

Academic Search Premier - Version 2.0 - Timesavers

Name of Vendor: EBSCO
High Priority? Yes
Under Development?Richard Baer of Camosun College [baer@camosun.bc.ca]
Completed? Yes, June 20,2008

Academic Search Premier

Name of Vendor: EBSCO
High Priority? Yes
Under Development? Ann Tenglund, St. Bonaventure University, NY (ateng@sbu.edu)
Completed?

Academic Search Premier

Name of Vendor: EBSCO
High Priority? Yes
Level Advanced
Language French
Completed? Yes
Embedding Code: See Screencast.com site, click on name of e-resource, and select its Share Icon

Academic Search Premier

Name of Vendor: EBSCO
High Priority? Yes
Level Basic
Language French
Completed? Yes
Embedding Code: See Screencast.com site, click on name of e-resource, and select its Share Icon

ACM Digital Library

Name of Vendor:

High Priority? (Rate it as a priority)

Under Development? (Include Name and Contact Info)

Completed?

Agricola

Name of Vendor: EBSCO
High Priority? Yes
Under Development? (Include Name and Contact Info)
Completed?

Agricola

Name of Vendor: USDA
High Priority? Likely - 3 said they used it and it is free.
Under Development? (Include Name and Contact Info)
Completed?

Alexander Street Press

Name of Vendor:

High Priority? (Rate it as a priority) High - its part of new National Site License (Carmen Kazakoff-Lane)

Under Development? (Include Name and Contact Info)

Completed?

America History and Life

Name of Vendor: ABC-CLIO
High Priority? Yes
Under Development? Yes. The ones below were for ABC CLIO and they need to be done in EBSCOhost. I am waiting for EBSCO to release its EBSCO 2.0 version, and then redo. However, Camtasia and Captivate versions are also needed.
Completed? --- Completed the America: History and Life Basic Search Tutorial for EBSCOhost 2.0. Also Developing Advanced Search Tutorial that has yet to be completed. Developer Carmen Kazakoff-Lane (Kazakoff@brandonu.ca)
Embedding Code: See Screencast.com site, click on name of e-resource, and select its Share Icon

Anthropology Plus

Name of Vendor:

High Priority? (Rate it as a priority) 10 COPPUL Libraries subscribe to it. Carmen Kazakoff-Lane

Under Development? (Include Name and Contact Info)

Completed?

Applied Contemporary Medicine Database

Name of Vendor: Ovid

High Priority? (Rate it as a priority)

Under Development? (Include Name and Contact Info)

Completed?

Applied Science and Technology Abstract

Name of Vendor: Wilson
High Priority? Yes
Under Development? Diane Clark, Science and Technology Library, University of Alberta Libraries, phone:780.492.7907 email: diane.clark@ualberta.ca
Completed? Yes

Art Abstracts

Name of Vendor: Wilson
High Priority? Unsure - 3 indicated usage, likely more.
Under Development? (Include Name and Contact Info)
Completed?

Art Index

Name of Vendor: Wilson
High Priority? Unsure - 3 indicated usage, likely more.
Under Development? (Include Name and Contact Info)
Completed? Yes - by Richard Baer. Art Index
Embedding Code: See Screencast.com site, click on name of e-resource, and select its Share Icon

ARTbibliographies

Name of Vendor:

High Priority? (Rate it as a priority) High - Many listed in COPPUL list of licenses0 Carmen Kazakoff-Lane

Under Development? (Include Name and Contact Info)

Completed?

ArticleFirst

Name of Vendor: OCLC
High Priority? Yes
Under Development? (Include Name and Contact Info)
Completed?

ArtStor

Name of Vendor:

High Priority? (Rate it as a priority) High - part of new National Site License (Carmen Kazakoff-Lane)

Under Development? (Include Name and Contact Info)

Completed?

arXiv.org

Name of Vendor:

High Priority? (Rate it as a priority)

Under Development? (Include Name and Contact Info)

Completed?

Astrophysics Data System

Name of Vendor:

High Priority? (Rate it as a priority)
Under Development? (Include Name and Contact Info)

Completed?

ATLA Religion Database

Name of Vendor: EBSCO (2.0 Platform)

High Priority? Yes
Under Development?

Completed? Yes. William Badke, Trinity Western University, ATLA Religion Database
Embedding Code: See Screencast.com site, click on name of e-resource, and select its Share Icon

E-Resources: L - N

cchartman — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 15:34:58 CDT

LegalTrac

Name of Vendor: InfoTrac

High Priority? (Rate it as a priority)

Under Development? (Include Name and Contact Info)

Completed?

LeisureTourism

Name of Vendor:

High Priority? (Rate it as a priority) 6 COPPUL Libraries Subscribe to it. Carmen Kazakoff-Lane

Under Development? (Include Name and Contact Info)

Completed?

LexisNexis Academic Search Canada

Name of Vendor: Lexis/Nexis

High Priority? (Rate it as a priority) 5 COPPUL libraries subscribe to it. Carmen Kazakoff-Lane

Under Development? (Include Name and Contact Info)

Completed? Lexis-Nexis Academic Search Canada - Part 1: Introduction, Lexis-Nexis Academic Search Canada - Part 2: Finding Canadian Legal Information, Lexis-Nexis Academic Search Canada - Part 3: Finding Business Information
Embedding Code: See Screencast.com site, click on name of e-resource, and select its Share Icon

LexisNexis Environmental

Name of Vendor: Lexis/Nexis

High Priority? (Rate it as a priority) 5 COPPUL Libraries subscribe to it. Carmen Kazakoff-Lane

Under Development? (Include Name and Contact Info)

Completed?

LexisNexis Statistical

Name of Vendor: Lexis/Nexis

High Priority? (Rate it as a priority) 5 COPPUL libraries subscribe to it. Carmen Kazakoff-Lane

Under Development? (Include Name and Contact Info)

Completed?

Library & Information Science Abstracts (LISA)

Name of Vendor:

High Priority? (Rate it as a priority) 4 COPPUL Libraries currently subscribe to it; however, EBSCOhost recently made it available for free so everyone has access. I doubt library school candidates need a tutorial, but maybe eduation students (taking school librarianship) might want to use it and could benefit from a tutorial. Carmen Kazakoff-Lane

Under Development? (Include Name and Contact Info)

Completed?

Literature Online

Name of Vendor: Proquest

High Priority? (Rate it as a priority)

Under Development? (Include Name and Contact Info)

Completed?

MathSciNet

Name of Vendor: National Site License Version

High Priority? Yes

Under Development? (Include Name and Contact Info)

Completed?

Medline

Name of Vendor: EBSCO

High Priority? Yes

Under Development? by Virginia Bender, West Virginia University; Virginia.Bender@mail.wvu.edu

Completed?

Medline

Name of Vendor: Ovid

High Priority? Yes

Under Development? (Include Name and Contact Info)

Completed?

Medline

Name of Vendor: OCLC

High Priority? Yes

Under Development? (Include Name and Contact Info)

Completed?

Medline

Name of Vendor: Pubmed

High Priority? Yes

Under Development? Yes, by Virginia Bender, West Virginia University; Virginia.Bender@mail.wvu.edu

Completed?

MLA International Bibliography

Name of Vendor: EBSCO

High Priority? Yes

Under Development? Yes: I will be redesigning these for the EBSCOHOST 2.0 release. I am doing them in Viewletbuilder. Camtasia and Captivate tutorials would also be welcome.
Completed? Yes --- but they are about to become dated as I mentioned above. For now, they are still current and include Modern Language Association International Bibliography Tutorials for (1) MLA Basic Searching https://dspace.ucalgary.ca/handle/1880/44661 , (2) MLA Advanced Searching https://dspace.ucalgary.ca/handle/1880/44662 and (3) MLA Visual Searches https://dspace.ucalgary.ca/handle/1880/44663
Embedding Code: See Screencast.com site, click on name of e-resource, and select its Share Icon

Mental Measurements Yearbook

Name of Vendor:

High Priority? (Rate it as a priority) 9 COPPUL libraries currently subscribe to it. Carmen Kazakoff-Lane

Under Development? (Include Name and Contact Info)

Completed?

Mergent Online

Name of Vendor:

High Priority? (Rate it as a priority)

Under Development? Likely needs new tutorial but the Author is no longer working on it. New person needed to complete it.

Completed? Yes but for 2005 database. Mergent Online - Advanced Features Tutorial
Embedding Code: See Screencast.com site, click on name of e-resource, and select its Share Icon

Nature Academic Journals

Name of Vendor:

High Priority? (Rate it as a priority) 6 COPPUL Libraries subscribe to it. Carmen Kazakoff-Lane

Under Development? (Include Name and Contact Info)

Completed?

Nature Research Journals

Name of Vendor:

High Priority? (Rate it as a priority) 11 COPPUL libraries currently subscribe to it. Carmen Kazakoff-Lane

Under Development? (Include Name and Contact Info)

Completed?

Nature Review Journals

Name of Vendor:

High Priority? (Rate it as a priority) 7 Libraries Subscribe to it.

Under Development? (Include Name and Contact Info)

Completed?

NCJRS (National Criminal Justice Reference Service

Name of Vendor:

High Priority? (Rate it as a priority)

Under Development? (Include Name and Contact Info)

Completed? Yes. Two Tutorials. One is called Searching NCJRS and the other it called How to Use the NCJRS Thesaurus. Developed by Richard Baer in Camosun College.

NetLibrary

Name of Vendor:

High Priority? (Rate it as a priority) High - Most COPPUL libraries subscribe to it (Carmen Kazakoff-Lane).

Under Development? (Chris Hartman, Fort Lewis College, hartman_c@fortlewis.edu)

Completed? Yes. https://dspace.ucalgary.ca/handle/1880/46716

E-Resources: O - R

badke — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 15:07:45 CDT

Oxford Reference Online

Name of Vendor:

High Priority? (Rate it as a priority)

Under Development? (Include Name and Contact Info)

Completed?

Oxford University Press e-Journals

Name of Vendor:

High Priority? (Rate it as a priority) 11 COPPUL Libraries subscribe to them.

Under Development? (Include Name and Contact Info)

Completed?

Project Muse

Name of Vendor: John Hopkins University Press

High Priority? (Rate it as a priority) High - as most libraries subscribe to it (Carmen Kazakoff-Lane).

Under Development? (Include Name and Contact Info)

Completed?

OmniFile Full-text Mega

Name of Vendor:

High Priority? (Rate it as a priority)

Under Development? (Include Name and Contact Info)

Completed?

PAIS International

Name of Vendor: OCLC

High Priority? Yes

Under Development? (Include Name and Contact Info)

Completed?

Philosopher's Index

Name of Vendor: Ovid

High Priority? Yes

Under Development? (Include Name and Contact Info)

Completed?

Proquest Education Journals

Name of Vendor: Proquest

High Priority? (Rate it as a priority) Moderate - COPPUL lists 3 libraires using it. Carmen Kazakoff-Lane

Under Development? (Include Name and Contact Info)

Completed?

Proquest Nursing Journals

Name of Vendor: Proquest

High Priority? (Rate it as a priority)

Under Development? (Include Name and Contact Info)

Completed?

PsycARTICLES

Name of Vendor:

High Priority? (Rate it as a priority) High - COPPUL lists four libraires subscribing to it. Carmen Kazakoff-Lane

Under Development? (Include Name and Contact Info)

Completed?

RefWorks

Name of Vendor:

High Priority? (Rate it as a priority) 12 COPPUL Libraries subscribe to it. Carmen Kazakoff-Lane

Under Development? (Include Name and Contact Info)

Completed?

PsychInfo

Name of Vendor: EBSCO

High Priority? Yes

Under Development?

Completed? Yes, by William Badke, badke@twu.ca), in 4 sections using Viewlet Builder 4. Sections are: Basic, advanced, thesaurus, indexes. http://hdl.handle.net/1880/43721
Embedding Code: See Screencast.com site, click on name of e-resource, and select its Share Icon

PsychINFO on EBSCO 2.0

Name of Vendor: EBSCO, 2.0 platform

High Priority? Yes

Under Development?

Completed? Yes, by William Badke, badke@twu.ca, PsycINFO EBSCO 2.0
Embedding Code: See Screencast.com site, click on name of e-resource, and select its Share Icon

PsychInfo

Name of Vendor: EBSCO

High Priority? Yes

Under Development?

Completed? Yes, by Richard Baer. PsychInfo: Using the Thesaurus
Embedding Code: See Screencast.com site, click on name of e-resource, and select its Share Icon

PsychInfo

Name of Vendor: Ovid

High Priority? Yes

Under Development?

Completed?

RILM Abstracts of Music Literature

Name of Vendor: NISC

High Priority? (Rate it as a priority) 3 COPPUL Libraries Subscribe to it. Carmen Kazakoff-Lane

Under Development? (Include Name and Contact Info)

Completed?

RILM Abstracts for Music Literature

Name of Vendor: OCLC

High Priority? Yes

Under Development? (Include Name and Contact Info)

Completed?

RIPM: Retrospective Index to Music Periodicals, 1800-1950

Name of Vendor:

High Priority? (Rate it as a priority) 4 COPPUL Libraries subscribe to it. Carmen Kazakoff-Lane

Under Development? (Include Name and Contact Info)

Completed?

RISM: International Inventory of Musical Scores after 1600

Name of Vendor:

High Priority? (Rate it as a priority) 4 COPPUL Libraries Subscribe to it. Carmen Kazakoff-Lane

Under Development? (Include Name and Contact Info)

Completed?

FAQ

Kazakoff — Fri, 30 May 2008 11:10:50 CDT

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 asking people to only 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.

If you see a need for an e-resource tutorial that not on the list, all we ask is that you add it to 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 (b) whether you are creating one (so they do not need to create one locally). Adding these e-resource to the list, keeps the list both current and relevant, so please feel free to (a) add to the Wiki, and (b) to upload a tutorial for an e-resource not on our initial list.

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 by cobtacting us and we will add a new page for that type of tutorial. 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) , (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) and (3) that you save your file on High or CD Quality in order to get a good sound on your tutorial.

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.

Another option is to visit (1) our Best Practices in Screencasting page or (2) specific blogs dedicated to discussing tutorial development. Some include The Distant Librarian and Libcasting. They will keep you up-to-date.

7. I registered for RSS Feed updates. The feed sends me the page but I want to see the changes made to the page. How do I do this?

To see the changes, go to the ANTS page sent to you in the Feed. At the bottom of the page is a grey area with the words: Latest Page Update. Select the Complete History link and you will see a history page. To view the changes select the + sign beside the day and time for the page you want to view (which is likely the most recent.) It will display the Changed Text (with additions in Blue Text and Deletions in Red with a strikethrough.) You can also look at how the changes altered the previous page by selecting View Changes from Previous Version. You will then see the entire pages with previous and changed text.

8. I know that ANTS is designed to be a tutorial repository, a place where we all contribute our finished products...and then others can ccess and modify the file to suit individual needs. My question is this: what if the tutorial is generic enough that it doesn't require any modifications? Is it legal, ethical, acceptable to send students to the (already completed..by someone else) tutorial as part of a web quest?

Answer: You can do whatever you want with our tutorials - provided you give attribution to their creators. You can link to them as is; you can download them to your site and have people use them from there; or you can modify them and use them locally. We allow people to modify, but this is just an option we felt some people might want in order to make it (1) desirable to participate and (2) make our tutorials desirable to use (as some people may wish to add link to their serials list, or add their branding.)

9. I work with Distance Education Students and was told that instead of using Animated Tutorials, that I should use Powerpoint Slides as they take less bandwidth. Are animated tutorials using Flash significantly larger than Powerpoint?

Answer: No they are not if they are kept short (which is the recommended practice anyways.) In comparing the two we discovered:

Powerpoint Presentation with 28 screenshots was 2.26 MB
SWF File created by Qarbon Viewletbuilder with High Audio and 3-4 minute in lenght was 2.75 MB (MLA Advanced Search Tutorial)
SWF File using Captivate was about 3 minutes long and 3 MB (CINAHL Headings Tutorial)
SWF file using Camtasia also about 3 minutes was 26 MB (the largest file - for the Art Index Tutorial

You can go through our files at DSpace and see the size of each as well as learn their viewing times. But most programs allow for SWF files that are comparable to a Powerpoint and provide users with a better viewing experience.

10. Since upgrading my Adobe Flash Player to Adobe Flash 9.0.115.0. any Camtasia files sound strange. What is the matter?

Answer: The answer to this question can be found at the Techsmith site. They are talking with Adobe about the issue and Adobe is trying to recitfy the situation. Until then, Techsmith is providing a patch that people can use with Camtasia tutorials so the sound is of good quality. Richard Baer re-released his Wikipedia Tutorial using this software and it worked. To learn more go to:

http://techsmith.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/techsmith.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=1250

11. Are there any Copyright issues associated with using screenshot taken from Commercial Vendors products?

Answer: We vaguely remember discussing this issue at the start of the ANTS project in 2004. The consensus then was that by creating these tutorials we are actually doing vendors a favor as we are making people aware of their product, and as such they would be foolish not to want us to do this.

The project originated in Canada, so we are not experts in the Digital Millenium Copyright Act in the U.S. but (1) as our tutorials are not presenting a large dataset, (2) screen displays of articles are a small part of the first page of an article, and (3) they are being used for educational purposes, we feel that there is little reason anyone would question the legality of what we are doing. The hundreds of tutorials created since, and the absense of lawsuits, would seem to indicate that is indeed the case.

12. Can I alter the dimensions of a tutorial to make it appear larger or smaller at my site?

Yes you can by doing one of two things:

a. If you are using Embedding code, follow our instructions about altering the dimensions of embedding code for any embedded tutorials.

b. If you want to link to a tutorial with a different dimension (unlikely, but it could happen), then download the Source Code from DSpace, alter the dimensions of the source code, and upload it (at you local site) as an SWF or FLV file, with the dimensions you like. You can then link to the tutorial with that dimensions (instead of linking to one of ours.) NOTE: In order to do this, you will need Camtasia to edit Camtasia files; Captivate to edit Captivate files (etc.) You may or may not want to pursue multiple editing software programs, but if you do, you will also be able to do things like add your library brand (etc) to a tutorial.

Embedding Tutorials

Kazakoff — Fri, 30 May 2008 11:00:19 CDT

One question we get asked is how to ensure that a tutorial is embedded at a size that works for your web page, blog, Libguides or Facebook site. To do so:

1. At the Episode Screen grab the embedding code and do an edit – copy.

2. The embedding code needs to be entered into the HTML editing area of your webpage creator, libguides, (etc) Copy and paste it into this section.

When you do so, you will notice that the Embedding code will have dimensions for width and height. (e.g. 728 x 710 )

3. Change the dimensions to the size you want (for example 200 x 175 for a very small tutorial)

4. View the embedded object. It should be small or large - depending on the dimensions you entered.

5. If you make it smaller, you might want to add a link back to the site – to give your viewers the option of viewing a larger tutorial as well.

To view this example, click here and see the Powerpoint Demo.

Information Literacy Tutorials Identified for Development

Kazakoff — Wed, 28 May 2008 11:32:42 CDT

_______________________________________________________________

Use the Wiki to indicate if you:

Are working on a Tutorial listed below.
Have completed and uploaded a tutorial to our repository (please include the URL for the tutorial)
Wish to see a tutorial created for an information literacy learning experience.

By posting this information on the wiki, you inform others that a tutorial exists, or is in development, so they do not need to create one locally.

The list is intended to be dynamic and responsive to changing needs, so please add any new topic for which you would like to see a tutorial created.

ANTS Team
_______________________________________________________________

The Information Cycle

Under Development? Yes. Rhonda Crim-Tumelson mousie@librarymouse.com
Completed?

What is Research?

Completed? Yes. William Badke, Trinity Western University, badke@twu.ca
Tutorial Information: Tutorial for a model for informational research that sees research as a problem-solving task. ViewletBuilder4. Location: https://dspace.ucalgary.ca/bitstream/1880/45062/2/ResearchModel.swf
Timing: 3:00 minutes
Embedding code: See Screencast.com site, click on name of e-resource, and select its Share Icon

Developing a Good Research Question / Thesis Statement

Under Development?Yes. William Badke, Trinity Western University, badke@twu.ca
Completed?

Finding Background Information Using Reference Sources

Under Development? (Include Name and Contact Info)
Completed?

Using Wikipedia Wisely

Completed. Yes.
Richard Baer baer@camosun.bc.ca
DSpace Uof Calgary: http://hdl.handle.net/1880/45148
or http://library.disted.camosun.bc.ca/wikipedia/wikipedia2.swf
Timing: 3:58 minutes
Embedding Code: See Screencast.com site, click on name of e-resource, and select its Share Icon

Boolean Searching

Under Development? (Include Name and Contact Info)
Completed?

What is Metadata?

Under Development? (Include Name and Contact Info)
Completed?

Using Controlled Vocabularies / Subject Headings

Under Development? (Include Name and Contact Info)
Completed?

Using Vertical Search / Hierarchies

Under Development? (Include Name and Contact Info)
Completed?

Optimizing Library Catalogs

Under Development? (Include Name and Contact Info)
Completed?

Introduction to Journal Databases

Under Development? (Include Name and Contact Info)
Completed?

Journals vs. Websites

Under Development? (Include Name and Contact Info)
Completed?

Introduction to Citations

Under Development? (Include Name and Contact Info)
Completed?

Introduction to Bibliographic Managers

Under Development? (Include Name and Contact Info)
Completed?

Evaluating Information

Under Development? (Include Name and Contact Info)
Completed?

Avoiding Plagiarism

Completed? Yes. William Badke, Trinity Western University, badke@twu.ca
Tutorial Information: A presentation defining plagiarism and showing how it can be avoided. ViewletBuilder4. Location: https://dspace.ucalgary.ca/bitstream/1880/45212/2/Plagiarism_Short.swf
Timing: 8:00 minutes
Embedding Code: https://dspace.ucalgary.ca/bitstream/1880/45212/1/Plagiarism%20Short.qvp

Introduction to Canadian Copyright

Under Development? (Include Name and Contact Info)
Completed?

Your Information Privacy: How to Protect It

Under Development? (Include Name and Contact Info)
Completed?
NOTE: Tutorial could discuss (1) being information savvy when joining sites like Facebook and ensuring that the data is not going to be sold, (2) not revealing important information online like Social Insurance Numbers, (3) not entering in our Credit Card information when using public terminals in Libraries or Internet Cafes, (4) Data Mining, (5) being wary of "Virtual Friends" and (6) Identify Theft.

Google and government documents.

Under Development? (Richard Baer)
Completed? Yes, December 13, 2007
A student told me that her teacher said she had to find a government report from the Internet. I showed her almost exactly the process the tutorial describes. This is a very small chunk of what we could do with teaching advanced Google skills. This fell into my lap, if anyone does a reference interview that could demonstrate the .org .edu or other useful domain, let me know.
Embedding Code: See Screencast.com site, click on name of e-resource, and select its Share Icon

Getting Started with Google Documents

Completed. Yes by Richard Baer on May 27, 2008

An introduction to online productivity software available for free from Google. These are useful spreadsheet and word processing tools that can be used by individuals - or by groups working together collaboratively. Tutorial introduces people to them.

Embedding Code: See Screencast.com site, click on title, and select its Share Icon

E-Resources: B

cchartman — Tue, 20 May 2008 16:37:38 CDT

Berkeley Electronic Press ResearchNow

Name of Vendor:

High Priority? (Rate it as a priority) 7 COPPUL Libraries Subscribe to it. Carmen Kazakoff-Lane

Under Development? (Include Name and Contact Info)

Completed?

Bibliography of Asian Studies

Name of Vendor:

High Priority? (Rate it as a priority) 8 COPPUL Libraries Subscribe to it. Carmen Kazakoff-Lane

Under Development? (Include Name and Contact Info)

Completed?

Bibliography of Native North America

Name of Vendor: Ovid
High Priority? Yes
Under Development? (Include Name and Contact Info)
Completed?

Bibliography of Native North America

Name of Vendor: EBSCO
High Priority? Likely - It is a new EBSCO product.
Under Development? (I'll work on this as soon as EBSCO 2.0 is released. Chris Hartman, Fort Lewis College, hartman_c@fortlewis.edu)
Completed?

Bibliography of the History of Art

Name of Vendor:

High Priority? (Rate it as a priority) 8 COPPUL Libraries subscribe to it. Carmen Kazakoff-Lane

Under Development? (Include Name and Contact Info)

Completed?

Biological Abstracts

Name of Vendor: Ovid
High Priority? Yes
Under Development? (Include Name and Contact Info)
Completed?

BioOne

Name of Vendor:

High Priority? (Rate it as a Priority) High - Most COPPUL Libraries Subscribe to it. Carmen Kazakoff-Lane

Under Development? (Include Name and Contact Info)

Completed?

BIOSIS Previews

Name of Vendor:

High Priority? (Rate it as a priority) 5 COPPUL Libraries subscribe to it. Carmen Kazakoff-Lane

Under Development? (Include Name and Contact Info)

Completed?

Blackwell Synergy

Name of Vendor: Blackwell Publishers

High Priority? (Rate it as a priority) High - as it is widely used and many COPPUL libraries subscribe to it. (Carmen Kazakoff-Lane)

Under Development? (Include Name and Contact Info)

Completed?

Bloglines

Name of Vendor: Bloglines.com

High Priority? (Rate it as a priority)medium - best known RSS reader

Under Development? Done by Richard Baer
Completed: Feb 22, 2008. Bloglines Tutorial
Embedding code: See Screencast.com site, click on name of e-resource, and select its Share Icon

Business Index ASAP

Name of Vendor: Infotrac

High Priority? (Rate it as a priority)

Under Development? (Include Name and Contact Info)

Completed?

Business Source Elite

Name of Vendor: EBSCO
High Priority? Likely - 3 libraries said they use it.
Under Development? (Include Name and Contact Info)
Completed?

Business Source Premier

Name of Vendor: EBSCO

High Priority? Yes

Under Development? Kay Johnson, Athabasca Univ. (kayj@athabascau.ca)

Completed?Basic Search and Advanced Search
Embedding Code: See Screencast.com site, click on name of e-resource, and select its Share Icon

Keeping Up to Date & Getting Help

paulbetty — Tue, 13 May 2008 16:48:17 CDT

Keeping Up to Date Participants in this project can keep up to date with ongoing developments a number of ways:

You can learn what tutorials are being worked on by consulting our List of Online Resources Identified for Development, our Information Literacy Tutorials Identified for Development and other types of tutorials identified for development which are listed under How to Contribute. These lists are current as participants are asked to post what they are working on, or have completed so other participants have access to current information.
You can set up your profile so that you recieve E-Mail Notifications, and updates about site activity (by setting up a Watchlist).
If you use an aggregator you can also point it to an RSS Feed for New Pages, Recently Updated Pages, Recent Comments and New Pages - which is listed under Site Reports & RSS Feeds. (NOTE: To learn all about how to see the latest changes to the site read our section on RSS Feeds in our FAQ.)
People can learn of completed Tutorials by subscribing to DSpace. It will then notify you any time new content is added.
If the idea of having information fed to you via iTunes or 1Click appeals to you, use one of the feeds on our Screencast.com site. It also provides RSS Feeds.

Getting Help

Ever come across a piece of software with a quirk? Want to know how to do something better? ANTS can help you a number of ways:

Check out our Best Practices in Screencasting Section
Participate in our Discussion Forum where you can identify issues and people you can learn from.
Use our FAQ or contact any one of the team members listed below.

Google Analytics and Screencasts

Is your library using Google Analytics to track use of your website? If so, take a look at this screencast to learn how to integrate Google Analytics into your Adobe Captivate, Camtasia Studio, or Viewlet Builder screencasts. Direct any questions about this topic to Paul Betty.
(Link to the screencast has been fixed. The wiki editor was doing some automated formating that was messing up the URL. It should work now!)

Contacts

Members of the Animated Tutorial Sharing Project Development Group include:

Carmen Kazakoff-Lane, Brandon University (Project Coordinator, Marketing and List of Online Resources for Development Contact)
Paul Pival, University of Calgary (DSpace and RSS Feed contact)
Bill Badke, Trinity Western University (Guidelines and Information Literacy Contact)
Paul Betty, Regis University (Captivate, Screencasting and LION TV Contact)
Richard Baer, Camosun College (Camtasia Software and Screencast.Com Contact)
Duncan Dixon, Trinity Western University (Viewletbuilder, Captivate and Screencast.com Contact)

If you have a specific question related ot one of the areas our group has expertise in, you may wish to contact us at the e-mails listed above.

How to Contribute

Kazakoff — Tue, 13 May 2008 15:46:37 CDT

Identify Tutorials for Development Any librarian wishing to participate in this initiative can do so. If you wish to create a tutorial for a specific e-resource, begin by consulting our list of online resources identified as high priority for development. The list came about as a result of an online survey conducted of COPPUL libraries and contains:

a listing of which electronic products (by which vendors) were most in use and in most need of tutorial development
a listing of which tutorial are currently being worked on, or have been completed by other librarians.

Alternatively, if you wish to create another type of tutorial, consult our List of:

These lists are part of this wiki and as a result, people can not only learn which tutorial they would like to develop, but also post which ones they are working on, completed, or have recently updated. You can even post the name of a specific type of tutorial that you would like to see developed if it is not a part of the list. You will have to register for this Wiki but it is very easy to do.

Adopt a Tutorial

One goal of this initiative is to encourage people to take responsibility for creating and updating one Tutorial. This will enable everyone to have access to current Tutorials despite changes made to databases, e-journal or e-book search engines by vendors or publishers. If you have consulted the list and wish to adopt a Tutorial, please let others know by posting all relevant information on this Wiki so that others will know it is being handled. Relevant information should include:

Name of the E-Resource a tutorial is being designed for
Name of the Vendor for the e-resource
Name of the Tutorial
Your Name and Contact Information
If you are working on an update to an existing tutorial

Note: There are several RSS feeds to the left of this page which will then notify others anytimes someone has Adopted or Completed a specific tutorial. To learn all about how to see the latest changes to the site read our section on RSS Feeds in our FAQ.

Once the Tutorial is completed:

Go to D-Space and load the tutorial (to learn how to load the tutorial go to: Uploading tutorials to the DSpace Shared Tutorial Database.)
Come back to this Wiki and indicate that its is completed, or that you have updated a previous tutorial (including the date / version for the Tutorial). Then post a link to the tutorial's Full Record in DSpace.

Upon notification on the Wiki, and uploading the Tutorial onto D-Space:

People using the Wiki List's RSS feed will be notified that you have completed or updated a tutorial. (NOTE: To learn all about how to see the latest changes to the site read our section on RSS Feeds in our FAQ.)
People who have taken the time to subscribe to D-Space will be told that there is new content at D-Space. (Instructions on Subscribing can be found at: Uploading Tutorials to the DSpace Shared Tutorial Database.)

Review the Guidelines

Another important step is to read the brief Guidelines for Building Animated Tutorials which provides an overview of some basic elements identified as important to each Tutorial. These guidelines are very generic and outline:

the basic content that everyone would naturally expect to see in a Tutorial. (i.e. remember to include a full record)
important information on what information to include or exclude about accessing documents - dependant upon which features are included in different databases.
some basic design elements that enable Tutorials to be exchanged readily (such as using standardized fonts and colors.)
some practical advice on Animated Tutorial building (such as recommended viewing times for Tutorials, sequencing, context, etc.)

The guidelines are there to ensure (1) that a minimum standard is met in each Tutorial and (2) that they are relevant to all participating libraries. The accessing resources requirements, in particular, will work to ensure that local holdings information is taken into account. Please read them carefully.

It is Best to Include Audio

Although this issue was not addressed in the initial draft of the Guidelines, they were recently included in their update. This is a direct result of a discussion held in the 2005 COPPUL Public Services Group where everyone agreed that Audio makes for a better viewing experience and makes Screencasts easier to follow. Consequently, they are now an additional prerequisite.

History of the Project

Kazakoff — Tue, 13 May 2008 15:44:30 CDT

ANTS Beginnings

This project was an outgrowth of an initiative started by the COPPUL Distance Education Information Literacy Working Group. The group has been in existence since 1998 when it began to look at ways in which institutions could collaborate in the provision of Information Literacy to Distance Education Students.

The first initiative undertaken by the group was the creation of their Doing Research from a Distance online tutorial. It was a comprehensive information literacy tutorial that discussed finding information, evaluating information, citing information, etc. Despite the marketing of it to our Distance Education Students, it was clear by 2004 that the tutorial was getting very little use.

At the same time, newer technology that allowed librarians to quickly capture search screens, add audio or text, and highlight or point to pertinent areas of a search screen, came into existence. This technology was identified as being more user friendly and more interactive. It would also allow librarians to create Point of Need tutorials for highly used electronic resources; but it was recognized that creating and updating an Animated Tutorial for each e-resource would require a lot of work. As a result, in 2004, the COPPUL Distance Education Information Literacy Group was asked to look into ways to enable librarians to collaborate in the development of Point of Need Tutorials.

The group met in September 2004 - along with the Chair of the COPPUL Public Services Group. Several items were identified for development or follow up and by the Spring of 2005 these undertakings were completed. The group subsequently made a presentation about the project to the COPPUL Public Services Group in November 2005 and received some very positive and helpful feedback in the process. This feedback was been integrated into the overall plan for the project that is now underway.

Sharing other Learning Objects in DSpace

One question asked by Public Services Librarians in November was whether or not other Learning Objects could be added to DSpace. After discussing the issue we now wish to say that anyone wishing to share other Learning Objects can register for DSpace and add them to the COPPUL Tutorials site.

Additional discussions about the type of content others would like to see in the project occured when presenters discussed the ANTS project at CLA, Access 2006, and ACRL. Many librarians indicated that they would like to see many different types of tutorials added to the project, and as a result, with we have expanded the project to include any type of library related learning object including:

Opening the Project beyond COPPUL

Early into the project discussion arose around opening the project up beyond COPPUL Librarians. Requests were made to expand the project, and in September 2006, the project was given the go ahead to open the project to any librarian.

As a result, this project is now international in scope and open to professional librarians around the globe.

New ANTS Sites

Starting in the Spring of 2007, the ANimated Tutorial Sharing Project introduced a number of new sites.

All content found on our old web page (www.brandonu.ca/library/coppul) and our old Wiki (at the University of Winnipeg) was migrated to this Wiki in order to take advantage of its social networking, tagging, sharing and discussion forum features.
Responding to concerns that (a) not all SWF files displayed well at DSpace, and (b) that Dspace did not provide embedding code, Paul Pival at the University of Calgary, secured Techsmith's sponsorship and thereby provide us with our Screencast.com site.
In reponse to requests to have a YouTube like site, and enable us to Push ANTS content out to popular brand sites, we introduced our LION TV site in May of 2008. To read more about it, click here.

Home: About ANTS

Kazakoff — Tue, 13 May 2008 14:59:51 CDT

Over the years, libraries have witnessed a significant growth in their number of online resources; matched with an increasing demand for 24/7 information literacy. At the same time new software - that allows librarians to capture Search Screens and insert audio and/or text - means that librarians can quickly create highly professional Animated Tutorials.

Recognizing that creating and updating Tutorials for each online resource is a daunting task for any library to undertake on its own, librarians in COPPUL got together to find a way to share in their development. This project is an outgrowth of that initiative and our goal is to create a critical mass of Open Source Tutorials for online resources used by libraries everywhere.

As the ANTS infrastructure is very dynamic and capable of evolving we also have listened to requests from various librarians and opened the project to other types of library tutorials so it can serve as a central repository for all kinds of library related learning objects. We welcome all new content and hope to see many people use it as a mechanism for shared development of instructional materials.

As of September 2006, participation in the project was opened to librarians outside of COPPUL and we welcome all participation as we view it as essential to the project's success. So please join us in an initiative that we hope will greatly benefit library users everywhere!

ANTS and LION TV

Kazakoff — Mon, 12 May 2008 12:07:25 CDT

The ANimated Tutorial Sharing Project now supports a new site: the Library Information literacy Online Network or LION TV. (http://liontv.blip.tv)

LION TV is an Educational Network whose Information Literacy Broadcasts are directed at Teachers, Professors, Students or members of the General Public. It will not replace the ANTS worksites used by professional librarians, but rather will work to enhance the work performed by ANTS members by providing them with (1) an Online Network with Video Sharing Capabilities and a better screen resolution than YouTube and (2) a means of pushing the broadcasts created for ANTS out to popular Brand sites where people spend a lot of time online. A review of the site indicates that:

Broadcasts at this site are so clear that you can view the text typed into a search box.
Individual Episodes can be easily located and displayed.
It has excellent Sharing, Embedding, Linking, and E-mailing capabilities.
Viewers can opt to easily Syndicate all LION TV episodes at their own sites.
Anyone Embedding Episodes or Syndicating the Show, can select the size of screen they wish to see displayed at their site, so they are not restricted to small screens.
Identifying Files, Metadata and Creative Commons Rights for each Episode is very easy.
Viewers can subscribe to LION TV’s broadcasts using RSS, Miro, Pando or iTunes.
Viewers can provide Feedback to each episode.
The home page for LION TV provides viewers with a lot of information about Information Literacy and Libraries.

Less visibly:

The site makes use of excellent Push Technology to send broadcasts out to popular Brand sites on the Internet like Facebook, Blinkx, iTunes, Flickr, AOL Video, Yahoo Video, MySpace, MeFeedia, Meebo, MeeVee, Lycos Mix, del.ic.ious and Internet Archive - so even though the broadcasts are not on YouTube, they are ubiquitous.
The site has excellent statistics which enables us to keep track of viewing numbers for each episode.

While not all distribution sites have been officially posted to, we are working at getting the content out to as many sites as possible. In the interim you can:

Visit the LION TV site: http://liontv.blip.tv/
See how the tutorials display at the Blinkx http://www.blinkx.com/ or AOL http://video.aol.com/ Video Search engines by (1) searching for tutorials there (for example search for PsychInfo) and then (2) watching how it links back to the LION TV site.
Visit our Facebook site at: http://www.facebook.com/pages/LION-Library-Information-literacy-Online-Network/26633613400?ref=ts
See how their broadcasts look Embedded in Libguides: http://demo.libguides.com/content.php?pid=7133

Librarians wishing to add to the LION TV’s broadcasts can do so by adding a tutorial or video broadcast to the ANTS repository at DSpace.[1] We will take the content, do the file conversions, and upload it to LION TV. So all you need do is create and upload. We will handle the rest.

We at ANTS and LION TV are very excited about this new site as we recognize that Librarians and Educators today face an enormous challenge in attempting to be seen and heard amidst all of the noise on the Internet - and we believe that LION TV can help. LION TV places Librarian created content onto popular brand sites and this content then directs people back to a new Library Brand site: LION TV. Once there, people will discover an Online Network with professional insight into the complex World of Information. In short, LION TV’s approach to broadcasting and brand name promotion – combined with the rich array of content coming from contributors to ANTS – will work to ensure that libraries and librarians are once again visible where many people spend their time online.

LION TV contains many broadcasts and with the help of our fellow librarians in institutions everywhere, will continue to add to our list of them. If you would like to assist with this initiative, we would encourage you to (1) become a contributing member of ANTS (see: http://ants.wetpaint.com ) and (2) ensure that students, teachers, faculty or members of the general public know about this site by promoting it to your users.

[1] Note: While content is welcome, please keep in mind that it should be content that is relevant beyond your home institution or home library. Please do not include shots of your library or your library’s home page. Instead keep content generic enough to be relevant to all viewers.

If you are creating a tutorial for a specific e-product, we have important Guidelines for Developing ANimated Tutorials that provide people with a good overview of what to include and exclude. These guidelines are very good and many have commented that they are useful even when they are not contributing content to ANTS. They can be found at: http://attachments.wetpaintserv.us/Jr2tlDmuo5TvbAbKF6A5sQ%3D%3D27395