http://www.alatechsource.org/blog/2009/01/podcast-tech-roundup.html
Don’t miss this outstanding post by Jason Griffey highlighting how easily librarians can contribute to the conversation via these tools. This is a roadmap for creating programming for users – teaching them how to do it as well as a cost-effective plan for those librarians interested in audio:
The Core
Nothing really happens without my Black Macbook 13″, running OS X 10.5.6. For actual audio capture, I love the simplicity of Audacity. I’ve done some capture in Garageband before, and if its my own presentation I’m trying to record, I actually use the built-in record feature of Keynote. But for the basic “I need this audio”, I almost always swap back to Audacity. It’s free, and open source for all major platforms.
The Inputs
You can’t get good audio without a good microphone. When I’m capturing ambient audio, I use a Blue Snowball USB microphone. It is a little bulky, but does a great job capturing good audio, even in a huge room and with omnidirectional sources. It just plugs directly into the Macbook, doesn’t need any external power, and does a great job.
If I’m capturing just myself, I often use another product from Blue, the Snowflake. It’s a portable version of the Snowball, but is more directional. Works amazingly for interviews or voiceovers, though.