The California State Fair and the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine merge media technology, public education and livestock health with VetLiNC (Veterinary Livestock Nursery Cameras), an interactive Web view of the popular State Fair Livestock Nursery exhibit. http://www.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/statefair/
The School has installed three interactive Web cameras inside the Livestock Nursery to display live video of newborn farm animals and their mothers. Website visitors may choose which animals to view, and then zoom, pan and tilt the cameras over the animal pen area. There is a PigCam, a SheepCam, and a CowCam. The webcams are operable during daylight hours during the State Fair, August 5th - Sept. 5th.

The Livestock Nursery is an important part of the school’s education and outreach program. At frequently scheduled presentations, a veterinarian or veterinary student introduces members of the public to livestock agriculture. Visitors learn about the health and welfare of food animals giving birth at the fair.

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Researchers conducted a randomized controlled trial involving 217 patients and found that the videotape and clinical encounter significantly increased knowledge and decreased anxiety. Improvement in knowledge levels was significantly greater after viewing the videotape compared with the clinic visit, whereas anxiety levels decreased to a greater degree after the clinical encounter. Whether or not a synergistic relationship may exist between exposure to an educational videotape and a physician visit was not specifically evaluated in this study.

Source: Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology