The other week a colleague pointed me towards a website called MURALS, which appears to be a collection of library-related screencasts you can buy for your library. I have a few problems with the site.
- There's no information about who's putting these together. Not a huge deal, but it would be nice to know.
- It's not clear whether these screencasts can be embedded on your own site.
- The audio quality really varies from poor to good. Normally I wouldn't nit-pick, but I'd expect a lot better if I'm paying...
- I suspect it's not cool with the vendors of these products, or the library that has purchased them, that these screencasts are being sold - that really seems to be crossing the line between work and outside remuneration. :-/
- Have I mentioned the ANTS project lately? You know, pretty much the same thing, except you can download and modify the screencasts for your own institution, for free.
I applaud the initiative of the anonymous librarian (?) behind MURALS; I'd love to figure out how to make more money on the side, but I don't think this is the way...
Just my $0.02
