UF's "Family Album Radio" series now available via podcasting

December 1, 2005

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Thanks to a new technology called podcasting, people on the go can now take along the nation’s only research-based radio series on family life.

Listeners can download episodes of University of Florida-based “Family Album Radio” to portable stereos and personal computers, by using the podcasting feature recently added to the series’ Web site.

Podcasting is a method of distributing digital sound recordings via the Internet; recordings distributed this way are called podcasts, said Donna Davis, the series’ senior producer. Family Album Radio podcasts are free and use the MP3 audio format.

“We believe podcasting will significantly increase our listenership, because it enables people to enjoy the series anytime, even if they don’t live in an area where it’s broadcast on local radio,” said Davis, who also narrates the program. “Family Album Radio is publicly supported, and we want to serve the largest segment of the public possible.”

The series is produced by UF’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, in cooperation with radio station WUFT-FM, she said. Funding for the series is provided by UF’s dean for extension and the department of family, youth and community sciences.

Each two-minute episode focuses on a specific aspect of family life, from parenting to money management to marriage, Davis said. On the air since October 2004, Family Album Radio is broadcast five days a week.

All scripts used in the series are based on published scientific research and reviewed by UF experts, she said.

“Our reliance on research is what distinguishes Family Album Radio from other radio series on family life, and we’re really proud of that fact,” she said. “We don’t offer advice or promote a specific viewpoint; we provide reliable information and explain how it might apply to our listeners’ lives.”

The desire to help listeners understand science prompted the decision to offer Family Album Radio via podcasting, said Ashley Wood, director of IFAS Communication Services, which handles much of the technical work involved in creating the podcasts.

“We recognized an opportunity to get in on the ground floor with podcasting, which has become very popular in just a couple of years,” Wood said. “Family Album Radio was a logical place to start, because it’s an ongoing series and we have plenty of material.”

The project began in July, growing out of discussions about a related technology, Really Simple Syndication, commonly called RSS, said Al Williamson, video coordinator for IFAS Communication Services.

“One day I saw an ad for digital music software that could handle podcasting and I thought, ‘hey, that would be perfect for Family Album Radio,” Williamson said. “So we started working on it.”

To produce the podcasts, IFAS Communication Services information technology coordinator Marion Douglas wrote a computer program that would distribute MP3 audio files automatically to anyone who requested them.

“The existing software wasn’t quite what we wanted, so we had to come up with our own,” Douglas said.

Each podcast contains five Family Album Radio episodes, drawn from a library of more than 300 episodes, said Suzanna Smith, the series’ executive producer and a UF associate professor of family, youth and community sciences.

“The podcasts are produced once a week, but you can listen to them in any order,” Smith said. “Each episode is a self-contained program.”

When someone subscribes to the Family Album Radio podcast, the system automatically provides access to all previous podcasts, she said. Subscribers will also be notified automatically when new podcasts are available.

“One of the great things about podcasting is, there’s no obligation for users,” Smith said. “You subscribe or unsubscribe with a couple of mouse clicks. So there’s no reason to hesitate about trying this technology.”

Consumers with no prior experience using podcasting can get help from the series’ Web site, she said. It includes links to several free software packages known as podcast applications, needed to play podcasts in MP3 audio format. The Web site also provides detailed instructions on easily installing two of the podcast applications.

Those already familiar with podcasting can subscribe to Family Album Radio by typing or pasting the following URL into their podcast receiver’s “add feed” feature: http://www.familyalbumradio.org/rss.aspx.

Consumers have other options for accessing Family Album Radio, Smith said.

In North Florida, the series is broadcast Monday through Friday at 12:58 p.m. and 5:32 p.m. on WUFT-FM and its sister station, WJUF-FM in Citrus County.

Another option for listeners with personal computers is to download individual episodes archived on RadioSource.net, which can be accessed through the series’ Web site, Smith said. Episodes are available as MP3 and WAV audio files, and the accompanying scripts are available as text files.

Finally, Family Album Radio is available free to public radio stations via a monthly feed from the National Public Radio satellite system, she said. For more information about the program’s broadcast availability, contact Bill Beckett at WUFT-FM, radio@wuft.org.