An Evaluation of Three Tutorial-creating Software Programs: Camtasia, PowerPoint, and MediaSite

• Published in: Journal of electronic resources in medical libraries Vol. 6; no. 1; pp. 1 - 7
• Main Authors: Blevins, Amy, Elton, C. W.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York, NY Taylor & Francis Group 2009; Haworth Information Press; Taylor & Francis Ltd
• Subjects: Camtasia; Distance learning; Exact sciences and technology; Health sciences; Information and communication sciences; Information retrieval systems. Information and document management system; Information science. Documentation; MediaSite; Medical libraries; Online tutorials; PowerPoint; Sciences and techniques of general use; Software; Specialized information systems; tutorial software comparisons; User training; Educational software program; Camtasia; tutorial software comparisons; Computer assisted teaching; online tutorials; MediaSite; Comparative study; Remote teaching; PowerPoint
• ISSN: 1542-4065; 1542-4073
• DOI: 10.1080/15424060802705095

This study took place at the William E. Laupus Health Sciences Library at East Carolina University. Its purpose was to determine the best practices for creating and delivering online database instruction tutorials for optimal information accessibility to Division of Health Sciences students. Using a case study methodology, PowerPoint, MediaSite, and Camtasia were used to produce almost identical online tutorials. Tutorial creating software was evaluated on four criteria: usability, accessibility, cost, and time required to create the tutorial. This study showed that of the three software programs, Camtasia delivered optimal results for short sessions such as database instruction.