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Thought you might be interested in this article: Video Documentation: Seven Sites That Show You How To Do Things By Scott Abel, The Content Wrangler If a picture is worth a thousand words, how much is a video worth? This is a particularly important question to ask (and answer), especially if your job involves communicating complex concepts or developing training or education programs. Technical, medical, science, and marketing communicators are accustomed to creating written materials—user guides, online help, website content, training materials—but times are changing. Technologies that allow anyone with a computer, a webcam, and a connection to the internet to create and distribute video content have changed user expectations. Sites dedicated to “showing” regular folks how to do things are popping up all over the net. And, they’re jam-packed full of useful—often high-quality—instructional videos, created by both professional and amateur videographers. Let’s take a brief look at seven of the most popular video documentation portals. VideoJug is one of the largest libraries of video content online. Much of the content is professionally-produced, high definition video that covers many topics. User-generated content is vetted by the expert reviewers prior to being posted. The site offers “How To” and “Ask The Expert” videos that take users, step-by-step through everything from the lighter, more welcome aspects of life (leisure and hobbies, music, beauty and style) to the more serious topics (health and medicine, legal, money, parenting). Check out the Do-It-Yourself channel on VideoJug. It’s wildly popular. Boost your basic plumbing, building and maintenance skills by watching the many DIY videos available. See how to put up a shelf, hang a door, unblock a toilet, bleed a radiator and perform a whole host of other DIY jobs around the house. Uploading a video to VideoJug is quick and easy. Learn how. Check out this VideoJug video that describes how to set up an account on Facebook. VideoJug: How To Set Up A Profile On Facebook You Tube “How To and DIY” channel is one of the most popular video documentation sites. The channel is home to amateur videographers and professionals alike. Martha Stewart has a special section dedicated to her unique selection of home improvement, gardening, and cooking videos, while folks who like to barbeque can stop byBBQTalk for recipes, instructions for cleaning and using grills, and advice on planning outdoor parties. The channel also boasts videos that can help you build a hydroponic garden, improve Windows Vista performance on a laptop, and unlock websites that your system administrators don’t want you to view at work. Uploading videos is quick and easy. You can even upload videos from your mobile phone. Check out this video on Food Safety (one in a six-part series) below. Expert Village, as the name implies, provides instructional videos produced by experts from around the globe on wide variety of topics. The site touts itself as “a world-class repository of how-to videos and articles featuring advice from recognized experts in their fields”. The company says finding video documentation is not the problem. Finding “believable information” is the real challenge. That’s why Expert Village produces video interviews with some of the world’s foremost subject matter experts. One great series of expert videos are the sign language lessons, a useful video series for those interested in learning to sign. Other interesting—and practical—video classes include the Video Bartender’s Guide to Mixed Drinks, How to Dance the Salsa, and numerous automobile repair videos. As of the date of this post, we were unable to successfully embed a video from Expert Village without encountering snafus (the video starts playing automatically, or does not appear at all). So, you’ll have to visit Expert Village yourself until the site works out the bugs in its embeddable code. Sclipo describes itself as “a social network for sharing knowledge and teaching through video and webcam.” Sclipo seeks user-generated video content designed to teach people new skills. Uploading videos is easy and fast. Sclipo provides tools to help users record videos online using a web browser and a PC web cam. Sclipo differentiates itself from other video services by offering Sclipo Live!, an online service that allows you to teach classes online and get paid for it. Videos are organized by subject and include: web technologies, languages, and design and animation, among others. Use Sclipo to learn how to animate a character in Adobe Photoshop, compress video files, and make money with Google Analytics. Check out the video below, “How To Make Crusty Herbed Potato Wedges”. 5min.com specializes in short videos (5 minutes or less) that provide answers to questions. According to 5min.com, the site allows users to contribute their knowledge by sharing visual guides in areas such as arts, business, fashion, sports, health, tech, food, and much more. 5min’s basic philosophy is that “everybody is an expert in something” and “has something to teach others ... so why not share that knowledge for the better of the whole?” The site organizes videos by category in containers called studios. There are studios that feature how-to videos on topics including: origami, self-defense, life tips, and many more. Check out this 5min.com video on Web 2.0 below. ViewDo markets itself as “the free online “how-to” video library you’ve been waiting for.” The company promotes the need for its service by saying: “When the written word won’t suffice, and a picture can’t quite get the point across either, a ViewDo gives you the detail and perspective you need to get the job done.” ViewDo encourages its users to download instructional videos and use them on portable media players like the iPod, iPhone, or PlayStation portable. The company says doing so can help you “expand your media player beyond its role as an entertainment device and turn it into a useful tool.” At ViewDo you can learn to fold a napkin into a crown,

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