UPenn: The next big thing on YouTube?

The next viral video on YouTube just might come from dear old Penn.

The University now has multiple YouTube channels dedicated to sharing Penn-related video content on the Internet.

There are about 15 individual video channels, and each is controlled by separate schools and institutions affiliated with the University.

All of them are designed to "express the goals and objectives" of their respective institutions, Penn Video Network director Gates Rhodes said.

For example, the channel "Knowledge at Wharton" has videos designed to provide information to professionals in finance outside of Wharton.

A channel run by the Penn Museum has video clips of virtual tours of the museum.

"The Dueling Tampons" as well as the "Penn Libraries" channels rely on more student-generated - as opposed to administration-produced - content.

Although information in these videos could be relevant to current students, Rhodes said the videos are primarily for external communication and outreach to people outside the University.

Penn Video Network representatives and IT staff from various departments were approached by YouTube, which is pushing its platform as a way for higher education institutions to publicize themselves.

As part of the deal, Penn's video clips have much richer encoding than most YouTube videos, which allows for higher picture quality. There are also no length limits and the clips are put on the site for free, Rhodes said.

There's no central page for all of Penn's YouTube videos. Rather, each department or school has its own channel of videos and lists all the others as subscribers, creating what Rhodes called a "virtual homepage."

Most other schools that have YouTube pages - such as Berkeley, Notre Dame and Penn State - have central staffs that integrate all the content on their channel, he said. But Penn had different needs because it is more decentralized.

"We needed a scheme where each unit could post its own content independently," he said.

College senior Rosemary Lelich is featured in a video called "True Learning" on the University Communications' YouTube channel.

The 24-minute clip tries to capture the Penn experience by showing a day in the life of nine undergraduate students.

It was filmed two years ago and used to be shown just to tour groups and other prospective students.

Although Lelich said she had "no idea" the video was now posted on the Web, she thought it was a good idea.

"YouTube culture is growing exponentially," she said. "It's definitely changed how people do research."

More schools and groups are looking into joining the network, Rhodes said. The Nursing School and the College of Arts and Sciences are in the planning stages of launching their own YouTube channels.

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