Jing: Screen capturing quick & easy…and free

What’s that saying about a picture being worth a thousand words? It’s especially true when you’re trying to describe doing something online when the other person can’t watch your monitor. There are, of course, software packages you can buy for “capturing” screenshots to send to others.

There also is Jing, which you can download free (there’s a “pro” version that costs about $15 per month too). It’s very simple to use and the completed files are kept on the company’s server. Some UW libraries use Jing to email library users little videos showing how to get to or use online library resources, but students and faculty might have uses for this too. There’s a comparison of Jing and some other similar screencasting tools in the January 2009 issue of Library Journal.

Here’re my first two stabs at ‘on-the-fly’ screen capture videos using Jing:

  • Universal Borrowing (How to use “Universal Borrowing” to request a book from other UW libraries) and
  • Reserves (How to find course reserves).

The Library has some online tutorials that were made using Captivate software, which is a bit fancier. These tutorials include how to use ILLiad for interlibrary loan requests, how to use Find It, and how to use specific databases such as ProQuest Historical Newspapers and ABI/Inform. See the complete list at http://library.uww.edu/guides/index.html#cap

About Barbara

I am a Reference & Instruction librarian, head of that department in Andersen Library, an associate professor, and a member of the General Education Review Committee and Faculty Senate. I've been working at UW-W since July 1, 1990.
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One Response to Jing: Screen capturing quick & easy…and free

  1. Pingback: Borrow from other UW libraries at The Andersen Library Blog

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