The School of Social Work has renamed its bi-weekly podcast series, capping a six-month effort that included a listener contest to find a new name for the popular and educational social work feature.

The new name, which officially posted on Jan. 21, is “inSocialWork^SM”. Users also can connect with the school from the website via social media outlets and RSS feeds. All podcast episodes are available for free.

“The idea behind the new name is that listeners can find out what is happening in social work, how we can help in social work and who is in social work,” says Anthony Guzman, director of online programs for the School of Social Work. “The purpose of the series is to engage practitioners and researchers in lifelong learning and to promote research to practice, and practice to research, in social work.”

The renamed podcast is another step in the school’s increasing momentum toward showing its students how to use cyberspace to extend their reach as social work professionals.

The series’ website has more than 110 episodes in its archive. Topics include trauma, human rights, veteran issues, evidenced-based practices and public policy, among many others. The podcast episodes have been downloaded more than 375,000 times from more than 50 countries, according to Guzman. They feature conversations with prominent social work professionals, interviews with cutting-edge researchers, and information on emerging trends and best practices in the field of social work.

“Later on this year we will start to stream special video podcasts and look to how else we can expand our offerings.”

Dean Nancy J. Smyth, who has directed and encouraged the school’s cyberspace presence, and launched the rebranding effort, says the podcast series is an important ingredient to the school’s identity.

“We’re excited about the success of our podcast series and about the opportunities that this name change brings,” Smyth says. “The podcast has been an invaluable resource for social workers around the world, and it’s helped to attract people to our profession, especially young people who are ardent consumers of web-based information.

“I think this name change will make the purpose of the podcast much clearer, which will, in turn, help it be disseminated even more widely.”