Podcasts

A Podcast is an MP3 or other audio file delivered off a website via an RSS feed. The term Podcast is derived from the terms "iPod" and "broadcast". It is attributed to the original creators of podcasting who used iPods to listen to their RSS broadcasts.

Podcasting for Libraries............

For the library that works hard to produce audio content such as recordings of programs or library tours, podcasting can be an effective means of making that content more widely available.

Something I found interesting was the concept of Podcast Novels...........

Podcast novels

A podcast novel (also known as a serialized audiobook or podcast audiobook) is a literary format that combines the concepts of a podcast and an audiobook. Like a traditional novel, a podcast novel is a work of long literary fiction, however this form of novel is recorded into episodes that are delivered online over a period of time and in the end available as a complete work for download. The episodes may be delivered automatically via RSS, through a web site, blog, or other syndication method. These files are either listened to directly on a user's computer or loaded onto a portable media device to be listened to later.
The types of novels that are podcasted vary from new works from new authors that have never been printed, to well established authors that have been around for years, to classic works of literature that have been in print for over a century. In the same style as an audiobook, podcast novels may be elaborately narrated with separate voice actors for each character and sound effects, similar to a radio play. Other podcast novels have a single narrator reading the text of the story with little or no sound effects.
Podcast novels are distributed over the Internet, commonly on a weblog. Podcast novels are released in episodes on a regular schedule (e.g. once a week) or irregularly as each episode is released when completed, and can either be downloaded manually from a website or blog, be delivered automatically via RSS, or other method of syndication. Ultimately, a serialized podcast novel becomes a completed audiobook.
Podcast novelists use giving away a free podcast version of their book as a form of promotion. Some novelists have even secured publishing contracts to have their novels printed.Podcast novelists have commented that podcasting their novels lets them build audiences even if they cannot get a publisher to buy their books. These audiences then make it easier to secure a printing deal with a publisher at a later date. These podcast novelists also claim the exposure that releasing a free podcast gains them makes up for the fact that they are giving away their work for free.