1. Podcasting Overview

A podcast is a series of related audio or video files, placed online with a public URL and linked to via an RSS feed, accessed by free download subscription over the internet using digital media players.

Creating your own podcast is a straight-forward process but does rely on you having the right equipment and software available first. The workflow you need to follow is outlined below. The free Steeple Podcasting Booklet offers more detailed information and guidance. Also see the later sections Record and Publish.

The following document contains the contribution form or 'speaker release' that speakers are required to sign if they wish to publish your material on the University's podcasting web portal or iTunes U site: http://www.ox.ac.uk/itunes_u/contribute.html

We always recommend the following short training session for anyone involved in podcasting at Oxford: http://www.oucs.ox.ac.uk/itlp/courses/detail/TIMV

Step 1: Familiarise yourself with podcasting guidance notes and contribution form

If you are a member of staff at the University of Oxford and wish to discuss how you can contribute a podcast from your department, college, or faculty, then please contact podcasts@oucs.ox.ac.uk. For the most part you will be required to do your own recording, but in some cases - such as high profile public speakers - some assistance may be available. Any podcast made available through the iTunes portal for the University of Oxford has to have a signed contributor form and will also be vetted to make sure it adheres to our legal obligations concerning copyrighted material, etc.

The following guidance document contains the contribution form that you will be required to sign if you wish to publish your material on the University's podcasting web portal or iTunes U site: http://www.ox.ac.uk/itunes_u/contribute.html

The Steeple Podcasting Booklet also contains a section about Copyright and permissions

We always recommend the following short training session for anyone involved in podcasting at Oxford: http://www.oucs.ox.ac.uk/itlp/courses/detail/TIMV

Step 2: Create the content
Podcast media are not special files. Any traditional MP3 audio file or MPEG4 video file (two of the most common multimedia formats) can be used as a podcast.

Simply record your lecture, keynote speech or other content in a digital format and save it to a computer. You may need to trim the file in editing software such as the free software Audacity. More information in the Recording Requirements section.

You may find these video tutorials helpful:

We always recommend the following short training session for anyone involved in podcasting at Oxford: http://www.oucs.ox.ac.uk/itlp/courses/detail/TIMV

Step 3: Place the content online
Before a podcast can be downloaded it must be accessible via the internet. As long as you place your multimedia file on publicly accessible web space it can become a podcast.

More information is available in the Publishing a podcast section.

Step 4: Add an entry into an OXITEMS podcast aware RSS feed
OXITEMS creates RSS newsfeeds for members of the University. Many colleges, departments and faculties already have multiple newsfeeds available. A podcast RSS feed is a normal RSS feed with one key exception; it includes the web address of a multimedia file and some basic information about this podcast. Check with your IT officer to see if there is already a suitable feed available. If not, they can create one for you.

More information about OXITEMS and how to use it with podcasts can be found in the section on OXITEMS RSS System.

Up: Contents Next: 2. Recording Requirements

Sections in this document: