Streaming towards an understanding
Krafty Librarian’s recent plea to her hospital IT department to unblock YouTube got me thinking about blocked sites and some raw data from our recent SNS survey. 79 respondents - that’s almost 16% overall - report that network access to YouTube is blocked at their institution. Meanwhile, many electronic resources and online journals tout similar technology as value added content, whether it’s free animated tutorials from a vendor’s online help desk, or a fee-based subscription to streaming videos on surgical procedures or lab protocols.
Why the double standard? Is it because anyone can watch videos on YouTube? Or perhaps it’s because YouTube now accounts for 10% of Internet traffic, and unfortunately, alot of that is bandwidth-hogging dreck. Clearly, there’s a need to open dialogue with our IT departments. Just explaining how YouTube works or suggesting how to limit its use responsibly is a move towards embracing the full potential of this technology.