So, this evening on the reference desk, I came across a strange problem with subject headings in our catalog. After describing it an an email, I decided to use Wink again to do a quick screencast to document the problem. In between answering reference questions, I was able to reproduce the problem, add a few call-out text boxes, and upload the screencast. As I mentioned in an earlier post, I have Wink at the reference desk since I can’t see recording audio there while I’m staffing the desk. Yet Wink lets me take a quick screencast for purposes like this one. Another benefit to creating screencasts for tech support issues is just that it provides another opportunity to practice making screencasts quickly. It is not (nor does it need to be) a highly polished production. Take a look if you would like.

So, I thought I might try Wink instead. I fairly quickly downloaded and installed Wink. Then I just recorded the steps as I wrote them up in a draft email as well. Then I produced the screencast and uploaded it to a Web server (fortunately, I did have access to my work Web server from the reference desk). Then I sent the email along with a link to the screencast (0.8MB, 1:10). I could have taken more time to add call-outs, but I thought it better to respond more quickly. I tried to make sure that each step was clear and had a couple seconds between. It seemed to work, at least based on the email thank-you response I received. I wonder if other situations like this will crop up. If so, that’s another reason to learn to be able to produce screencasts quickly.