[OPLIN 4cast] OPLIN 4cast #409: Serious GIFs

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OPLIN 4Cast

OPLIN 4cast #409: Serious GIFs
October 29th, 2014

book animationSometimes new tech ideas that might be of interest to 
libraries do not happen quickly and make a big splash, but rather slip 
slowly and quietly into practice. Animated GIFs - short, repetitive 
animations done in Graphics Interchange Format - came to be known years 
ago as a defining characteristic of less-than-serious websites 
<http://www.homerswebpage.com/> and are the technology behind many of 
those annoying ads that border web pages, so they are not exactly quiet 
and unobtrusive. But it seems they do have a more serious side that is 
not as splashy and can possibly be useful to libraries. Is your library 
using any animated GIFs for online library "how-to" guides or other 
instructional materials?

  * Animated GIFs: From gimmick to gestalt
    <http://idesign.uaf.edu/animated-gifs-from-gimmick-to-gestalt-3/>
    (University of Alaska Fairbanks eLearning Instructional Design Team
    blog | Christen Bouffard) "GIFs are well suited for illustrating
    sequential processes. Many explanations we may want to share with
    others do not require all the time involved in shooting a video or
    creating a screencast. Sometimes these explanations can be most
    effectively conveyed in just a handful of frames, free of audio
    narration, excessive bandwidth usage, and extraneous media players."
  * Using animated GIF images for library instruction
    <http://www.inthelibrarywiththeleadpipe.org/2014/using-animated-gif-images-for-library-instruction/>
    (In the Library with the Lead Pipe | Karl Suhr) "One initial
    attraction to exploring the use of animated GIFs was as an
    alternative to video. Given a choice between a video, even a short
    one, and some other media such as a series of captioned images or
    simple text, in most cases I will opt for the latter, especially if
    the subject matter demonstrates or explains how to do something.
    Some of this is merely personal preference, but I suspected others
    had the same inclination. In fact, a study by Mestre that compared
    the effectiveness of video vs. static images used for library
    tutorials indicated that participants had a disinclination to take
    the time to view instruction in video form."
  * How to use GIFs to enhance your visual content marketing strategy
    <http://everypost.me/blog/gifs-enhance-visual-content-marketing/>
    (Everypost | Fernando Cuscuela) "GIFs that function as how-tos,
    product demos, or instructional guides are a great way to convey a
    lot of information efficiently, and can be even better than blog
    articles or long-form social media posts.... What's more, the GIF
    version is much more visually appealing, memorable, useful and
    therefore shareable."
  * Why aren't animated gifs used for more practical purposes?
    <http://replicatorinc.com/blog/2014/02/animated-gifs-practical-purposes/>
    (Replicator | Joseph Flaherty) "So why aren't these miniature
    animations used more widely for practical purposes? Do any ecommerce
    sites use animated gifs to show off the unique features of a
    product? How about replacing turgid instructional guides with
    gif-tastic help pages? Animated images are a perfect midpoint
    between static images and full on video content, but are rarely used
    for productive purposes, with a few exceptions."

*/Articles from Ohio Web Library <http://ohioweblibrary.org>:/*

  * Dicing data at NYPL Labs.
    <http://web.b.ebscohost.com.proxy.oplin.org/lrc/detail/detail?sid=fe783516-6128-436f-8711-1441f8f984fd%40sessionmgr198&vid=0&hid=107&bdata=JnNpdGU9bHJjLWxpdmU%3d#db=lfh&AN=79786390>
    (/Library Journal/, 9/1/2012, p22-25 | Meredith Schwatrz)
  * Make your own animated GIFs the easy way.
    <http://web.a.ebscohost.com.proxy.oplin.org/ehost/detail/detail?sid=f51779eb-bcfc-4a2b-b272-083282570038%40sessionmgr4001&vid=0&hid=4109&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=buh&AN=87480620>
    (/Macworld/, June 2013, p82-83 | Chris McVeigh)
  * Maps come in from the cold.
    <http://web.b.ebscohost.com.proxy.oplin.org/chc/detail?sid=2ec70903-566e-44cb-83e1-e8d8cee8ef8d%40sessionmgr114&vid=0&hid=107&bdata=JnNpdGU9Y2hjLWxpdmU%3d#db=cmh&AN=90021223>
    (/Online Searcher/, July/Aug. 2013, p42-44 | Terry Ballard)

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