Research Dissemination in COVID-19 times

Posted by Ruth Chapman

21 May 2020

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The key take-home points were:

1. what is the key message,
2. how do you want to communicate it,
3. who is your audience, and
4. what style to use.

 

Videos

1. Production: the environment where you film is key. Think of the elements that can be seen, the background and how you position yourself in the shot. Practice and test shots. There are different styles and ways that you can prepare for filming, please refer to the guide produced by the Digital Humanities Lab in the resources section.
2. Equipment: Your mobile phone can be a good starting point. Invest in a microphone, the sound quality makes a difference. Invest in a gorilla pod, so that your camera/phone is stable.
3. Editing: Keep it simple. Do not make it flashy, it dates.
4. Editing software: DaVinci (free), Adobe Premiere (allows educational licence), iMovie.
5. Audience: Think about how you are engaging, in terms of the discussion about your research. Create sections in your videos and embed them in the description, this allows easier navigation of your content. Livestreaming can be an interesting way to create discussion and interaction.
6. Platforms: YouTube is a great starting point and you may want to use Vimeo once you have more experience.

Podcasts

1. Collaboration: You can still produce good quality discussion around a research theme using the technology that you have at home. Recording a podcast can be as easy as connecting a microphone to your phone. Each speaker can record their own audio, and then later, be married using editing software. Another option is to record together. It is important to choose the right panel, try to bring different perspectives to the subject.
2. Always record more than you need: For 10 minutes of sharable content you need to record at least 40 minutes.
3. Resources: there are a lot of media resources platforms that offer sounds that you could use to enrich your audio, such as Wikimedia Commons and Flickr.
4. Editing: Create a top and tailing that can be used in all your podcasts. First, try to come up with a rough version, and then let someone else listen to it. For a 60 minutes podcast, probably you would need 1 day of editing. This varies with experience, probably if you are only starting it would take more. The Digital Humanities Lab could be contacted for help, they have equipment and experience. The Drama department has a studio that offers editing services (35 pounds/ hour).
5. Editing software: the most used is Audacity.
6. Platforms: the most used is SoundCloud.

 

Closing tip

Do not try to re-invent the wheel. Start by researching the content that you like and imitating. Remember that the first few films/podcasts that you make will probably not be very good. Experience makes the master.

 

Some resources

LibGuide Research Dissemination in COVID-19 times (based on presentation)

Digital Humanities Lab

Doctoral College Research Development on Sharing your Research