A person could "waste" hours and hours on this Thing. I remember in high school thinking that Pink Floyd was the greatest band ever (I still love a couple of their official releases and enjoy listening to bootlegs of the early stuff a lot). Anyway, finding video of Pink Floyd back in the day was very difficult. Learning of the existence of and watching Pompeii for the first time was a real treat. But other than that, the unofficial video for "Echoes" at the end of Crystal Voyager (which didn't even feature footage of the band), and Alan Parker's The Wall, there wasn't really anything else out there.
In the age of YouTube there's so much Floyd out there that it actually becomes a chore to wade through it all. In a sense and given the ease with which we're able to access information and entertainment via resources like YouTube, we've become incredibly spoiled. As mentioned, it used to be very difficult to track down video of Pink Floyd performing. Now I can actually find archived television appearances from the Syd Barrett era or grainy footage from the Animals tour. Yet I now find myself frustrated with the poor quality of much of the footage, though, truth be told, I'd rather have access to grainy VHS transfers than nothing at all.
Below I've embedded a video from a Neil Young concert. This song has never been officially released on CD or LP, so this is the only way to experience it--and, good golly, I'm thankful for that because it's one of the better songs he's recorded in the past 10 or so years:
I have used Hulu.com, too. However, Hulu seems geared much more toward television programs than fan videos. In that sense, it's more like a outlet for "official" releases. And, again, I'm thankful. Back in the day, if you missed a TV show or heard about a great skit on SNL after the fact, you were out of luck. Now I can watch a whole library of television shows and catch up on episodes I've missed. A real life example: I've been watch LOST on Hulu with friends as a way of reviewing episodes in the run-up to the series finale. Good times.
In the library, I would think there'd be a lot of applications for these types of Web 2.0 tools. In YouTube, you can create channels where videos you've uploaded are hosted. CATS could easily set up a channel and begin archiving video from past programs on YouTube--especially performances by local musicians and artists in the library auditorium. Another obvious use for these types of tools is as a supplement to our own collection of audio-visual material. Historical recordings, speeches, and more are all excellent adjuncts to the printed word.
A major downside to these tools--especially in a library with multiple internet users--is the amount of bandwidth they use. But as internet service providers switch from phone lines to dedicated fiber optic cable, these types of obstacles should go the way of the dodo and the passenger pigeon. Time will tell.
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