23 Things: Multimedia

The theme for this week is multimedia. There are so many new platforms to receive information from in today's world. Yesterday, I was in the car with my husband and we were listening to CBC. They were discussing a young acadian singer from Dieppe by the name of Caroline Savoie, who was competing on the France's version of The Voice.

Here is the interview with Caroline Savoie on CBC's Information Morning. She discusses the audition process and what it is like to be part of such a large television production.

It's so interesting, the multiple ways that her story has circulated. She went from being asked to audition because of her youtube covers, then had a skype interview, and then was selected to audition for the television show. Her story is circulating on the CBC website, through clips of the show on youtube, and through facebook. People receive their information through a myriad of platforms, and this makes things so much more accessible. Ten or fifteen years ago, if I would have heard her interview, I probably would have forgotten about it after 15 or 20 minutes. As a result of all the platforms for media, the visibility of the performance and of her story in general are heightened to the tenth degree.

This is Caroline's most recent performance on The Voice (France). I had never heard this song before. It is called "Wasting my Young Years" by London Grammar. It's a beautiful song. 

These new platforms for media have changed the face of advertising, journalism, and entertainment. People are more likely than ever to get their information from websites such as twitter or facebook, and also company websites. Our society is becoming increasingly invested in online comsumerism. This is changing libraries. Ebooks and ereaders are becoming increasingly popular, and websites like scrib'd or googlebook make it really easy to find information. University students probably spend much more time searching research databases and online catalogues rather then spending their time looking through the stacks.

I think that this type of access provides advantages for libraries. Library services are complemented by technology. Patrons can search for books online, place holds, and receive information in moments. This makes library services more efficient. Increased efficiency leads to better use of employee time and resources, which allows us the opportunity to improve collections and the quality of public service.

Some people speculate that libraries will eventually die out. What these people fail to realize is that libraries aren't dying, they are evolving. They are changing and growing, and developing new dimensions all the time. The use of ebooks and online catalogues exemplify this. There are many platforms for media, and public libraries have used these platforms to evolve into an entirely new experience.