Database tutorial reflection

For my database tutorial I decided to use Choice Reviews Online as the database I would go over. During my reference and user services course as a new library student I had a great deal of trouble with a collection development assignment because I was unaware of collection development tools available at the time. During my employment as a reference assistant at the Crown Library I have used this database on multiple collection development projects my supervisors have given me. I showed the viewer how to get to the database and how to do a search on the database for material.

When we were told about this project I immediately decided to use a screen capture software I have called Snagit. I had used the screencasting part of it once and to me it seemed like it would make this very simple. It was easy enough to record the video and after a few hiccups I got the audio to record as I made the video so that I didn't need to use an external program like audacity. However, after the video had been captured  I discovered that Snagit does not allow users to impose shapes or texts on top of the video despite allowing this on images you edit. It also has no video editing components to it. This was highly disappointing given how simple it would be to enable it. From here I tried out a video editing software called VideoPad that was available for free. While I was able to add text on top of my video it did not allow shapes of any kind and quickly became of no use to me. I wanted to be able to circle what I wanted the user to click but this was not an option. While Snagit will remain in my professional toolbox it was disappointing to discover its limitations.

Snagit would be simple to teach to others. You just select the frame size of the screen (you can exclude the url box and other parts of the desktop), click on the microphone to enable audio, and click record to make your video. Given the lack of video editing capabilities the user will need to record over again if they want to eliminate mistakes.