ClickView intentions

Some things take time to achieve.
Image by kamera.obskura

Back in September  I started to oversee ClickView, the library’s online streaming service. Our subscription package allows us to record six Freeview channels twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, for a rolling 14 days. There are some great programmes on TV which may be beneficial to learners and ClickView allows us to record and store these programmes. It works in a similar way to BBC iPlayer, except programmes do not automatically expire after a pre-defined period of time.

This academic year I have started looking at it from a management viewpoint.  After a term of finding my feet with the system I feel much more confident. It is a sound concept and can produce some excellent resources for learners to use. The main issue I find is the marketing of the service. In October I attended a drop-in session with the college marketing department and asked how to publicise ClickView.  Usage of the service could be higher and there is plenty of room for improvement.  The marketing department suggested various methods of raising the profile including one which had not been tried before – going into curriculum team meetings.


By going into different curriculum team meetings I have realised that teaching staff in different directorates request the same programmes, without knowing it has already been requested by someone else. I hope to produce a monthly document outlining ‘what’s new in ClickView’ and highlight it on the staff intranet. At the same time I’ll create curriculum-specific documents and send to the relevant departments. Hopefully this will give teaching staff a better idea of which programmes are stored in ClickView.

I have also started to liaise with the regional sales manager for ClickView and last month hosted a ClickView user forum. I plan to hold another in February but before this time I need to establish a contact list of attendees to invite. I also need to create a structure for the agenda which facilitates constructive meetings attendees find valuable. I enjoyed hosting the first forum meeting and look forward to the challenge of establishing a regular event. I’m always keen to attend user group meetings myself and I am enthused by the opportunity of organising such a network rather than simply being a passive attendee.

So here we are – my ClickView intentions for 2014: to establish a regular forum meeting and improve awareness of the service amongst teaching staff. There’s only so much of my working week I can devote to it and these things take a lot of time, but I’m determined to back up my intentions with action. It’ll take some time before we see a sustained increased in usage, but hopefully it will all come together before the end of next year.