Over the course of the summer internship, some things went better than others, but, overall, challenges were minor. I am grateful for the experience, having learned a great deal about metadata, data curation, the field of technical writing and training, and video production. In addition to providing feedback on the Continue reading ONEMercury Tutorials โ Screencast Tutorials, Final Post
This week’s progress consisted of lots script-tweaking followed by voice recording and screen capture, and then syncing the two together. To keep consistency, I wanted to get the groundwork done across all the tutorial videos before filling in the visual aids. I’m saving the demo video for last because it Continue reading Recording Tutorials โ Screencast Tutorials, Week #8
I received useful feedback on the four videos I presented at the DUG meeting last weekend. Audience members included librarians and other university employees, federal employees (USGS), DataONE folks, and others, so there were a variety of viewpoints represented. Most members were naive of the current ONEMercury interface. Attention-guiding additions Continue reading DUG Meeting Feedback โ Screencast Tutorials, Week #7
This week’s efforts were mostly a wrap-up of last week’s work in preparation for the DUG meeting: more screencast tutorial recording and editing along various styles. In particular creating a video for the geographic search shows off how some of the visual effects look in a more complex user interface. Continue reading Off to the DUG meeting โ Screencast Tutorials, Week #6
Firstly, thanks to those who took a moment to respond to my one-question poll last week. Opinions were split evenly, with half of the voters preferring different content and half preferring maintaining exactly the same script. In addition to the poll, I got some great feedback from several readers on Continue reading Scaling back on the DUG meeting questionnaire โ Screencast Tutorials, Week #5
I created a draft submission for internal review board approval of our plan to hand out some questionnaires at the DUG meeting. Hopefully the findings will be published, so it’s important to go about things properly. Specifically, I’ll be showing alternate video styles (more or fewer effects, such as animations Continue reading Brevity is the soul of scriptwriting โ Screencast Tutorials, Week #4
Screencasting and Copyright Law If we make tutorials for third-party software, we will be showing someone else’s product. Such display of copies of artwork or music or film carries heavy legal implications, so the question becomes: what about showing footage of software? I am definitely not a lawyer, but I Continue reading Prioritizing DataONE and Partner Tools for Screencasting, And: What is Fair Use? โ Screencast Tutorials, Week #3
Begin with data, where possible While it’s easy to view a video tutorial and agree or disagree with design decisions implemented, as a scientist my goal in prescribing stylistic guidelines is to ensure that each recommendation had an empirical basis. Unfortunately, there aren’t as many data-driven studies out there as Continue reading Screencast style guide โ Screencast Tutorials, Week #2
After a successful face-to-face meeting in Santa Barbara between mentor and intern, we have a nine week project timeline. A major goal for this project this summer is to develop a workflow and templates for making screencasts as a product, so the beginning weeks will be spent researching tools (Week Continue reading Choosing screencast software – Screencast Tutorials, Week #1
The 2014 DataONE Summer Internshipย research activity will launch shortly. ย Check back for updates at the end of May / beginning of June.