Penn State Great Valley Library Blog

Planning on visiting a museum this summer or would you like to see one virtually? Download a podcast tour to your iPod from home and whet your appetite for the upcoming excursion.

Many museums offer virtual tours - such at the Louvre at http://www.louvre.fr/llv/musee . The Smithsonian Museum of Natural History also offers a vitual tour at http://www.mnh.si.edu/panoramas/ .

However, Apple offers free podcasts of a variety of museums. To view the complete list, click on the link http://www.apple.com/ipod/ipodtours/ and then select The Museum Room.

Close to 9 million people downloaded podcasts last month and more than 75% of those individuals are male according to a report released by Nielsen Analytics last week. This information coupled with increasing popularly of podcasting has peaked the interest of various advertisers. Supporting research comes from Forrester Research, Inc. which adds that approximately one-quarter of online consumers are interested in podcasts because it allows them to listen to audio and video programs at any time and place.

“Advertisers go wherever there are ears and eyes, especially when you get people who are highly engaged like podcast users,” said Larry Gerbrandt, senior vice president of Nielsen Analytics. “So many businesses are adopting it for different types of communications because it’s an extremely adaptable format.”

Read more at The Washington Post by clicking onto this link.

Are you stumped by the voluminous vocabulary of your instructor? Puzzled by proper word usage? Or, are you just curious as to what time it is in Dubai? The good folks at Merriam-Webster and Franklin have teamed up to unveil a snazzy lil’ tool that is a dictionary, world clock, MP3 player, recorder, and calculator all in one.

The news of this item is reported in today’s New York Times. It is currently retailing for approximately $100. Powered by two AA batteries, this handy dandy tech toy is sure to be on the gift list of many new and returning students this fall semester.