# 23 Summary

Wow, I can not believe I'm writing the summary of the 23 Things online learning experience. With very limited time at work, I did my assignment 99% at home. At the beginning I was not comfortable with this self-direct online structure, after finished few Things, I was more confident exploring each Thing. I really enjoyed playing with Avatar, just like playing Barbie dolls, I create few characters with different outfits. I also liked downloading freebies from YouTube and iTunes onto my iPod. I experienced few challanges, thanks to Arlene and Stella who helped me out when I was having trouble. I bookmarked the frequently used websites on Delicious.com. Instead of carrying a thumb drive, Google Docs became my assignment notebook that I put my ASL lesson practice in each folder. I compiled pictures and upload into Flickr photo sharing site. I will introduce some of this online tools to customers. I wish all the MCPL staff have a chance to learn the 23 things tools. Thanks to the MCPL gave me this opportunity to exploring the 23 Things.

# 22 Downloadable audiobooks

I have never downloaded any audiobooks online. This is a good opportunity for me to experiment. I went to MCPL Maryland Digital Library Consortum downloaded Over Drive Media Console to my PC and browsed through. Each title gives you an icon selection (PC, MAC, Burn to CD, WMA, iPod or MP3) to choose for download. In Netlibrary e-audio selection the iPod/MP3 is limited, the titles I am interested in are not in that format, so I just downloaded "No. 1 Lady Detective Agency" into my PC. When a customer calls/asks us how to download from home I have no idea what kind of device or computer setup they have at home. I just show/tell them the links on our homepage. Project Gutenburg contains a lot of esoteric and classic stuff. You can also browse through the Top 100 downloaded e-books. At the beginning I had a problem download Laozi in Chinese after few tried I decided to download the most frequent requested title in my library "Alice in Wonderland" to my PC. Now, I know how to download an e-books.

# 21 Podcast

I tried Podcast.net and Yahoo Podcasts both of them did not work. (Not Found) I have iPod Nano, so I went into iTunes and browsed through the podcasts section. I thought that anything you wanted to download from iTunes would have a fee but I was wrong about that. There are many free downloads from News Noteworthy, What's Cookin? to In-depth Reviews.., they have either in audio podcasts or video podcasts. I really like the Book Review section, like NYT Book Review, Book Tour, World Book Club, Nat'l Public Radio book Podcast..etc. All these free featurettes on iTune updated frequently. So I subscribed few mini video podcasts into my iPod. If I have enough room I would like to download a movie into my iPod, just for the experience sake.

Librarians do gaga

This is from YouTube.

# 20 YouTube

I opened a YouTube Account and browsed through some videos and movies. I could not believe that there were so many things on this site. No wonder this is one of the most popular social networking sites. I tried to embed the video into my Blogger account but failed. I was very frustrated. I followed the book "Publishing a Blog with Blogger" step by step and still couldn't get the picture to come out. Thanks to Stella Fowler who coached me. The trick is I have to click PUBLISH POST then you can view the picture. I could spend a lot of time listening and exploring this site; maybe I can practice my social networking skills on YouTube with my friends. This is Twilight saga, eclipse official trailer 2010.

# 19 Web 2.0 Award

I am a decent cook and I have always enjoyed watching Food channels. imcooked.com is a receipe sharing site. The video show you either in basic view or detailed view of the cooking process. The Spotlight chef section is fun to watch. Yelp.com is a searchable city guide with variety of information and reviews. Just like Google localhttp://local.google.com/, a good site to see what upcoming events, places or restuarants you want to visit. delicious.com, my favorite site, I bookmark almost everything I like into this site and I will be able to access at any location.

# 18 Online Productivity

I chose Google Docs, an online word processor which is very similar to Microsoft Word. With Google Docs you can create your documents online, or the documents needed to be edited by multiple people, when the document is completed, you can access at any location. I created an ASL lesson assignment into folder 1, 2 3..  I can retrive each chapter's vocabulary, sentences instead of carrying the textbook. It is also a great alternative to thumb drives for many applications. When patrons do not have thumb drive and they need to create/send a document, I usually suggest them to use Google Docs. It can be used by anyone who has a gmail account. The other tool ZOHO Writer is also similar to Microsoft Word. I did not have time to explore it, but I plan to later on.

# 17 SandBox Wiki

I made several tried to create an account through marylandlibrariessandbox.pbworks.com, but the site failed to let me open an account. I also tried PB Wiki Tour and PB Wiki Video Gallery, both shown not available. I think this is a broken site. I am not going to spend any more time trying.

#16 Wikis

 I use Wikipedia frequently as a quick referencing tool for general information. You can also select different language settings. I watched slide presentation by Gorran Farkas and read about Wiki’s. I liked the Princeton Public Library Book Lovers Wiki book review categorized by different genre. The MERLIN Wiki learning link is connected to other Maryland libraries. I like the Wiki because it is more accessible and open to a group than a blog. The format is good for a book discussion group, a training site, or a community guides.

#15 Library 2.0

I watched the video “the machine is Us/ing Us”, anthropologist Michael Wesch discusses how we live in a fast changing, new form of community, and the world wide web is linking people together. Library 2.0, is an extension of Web2.0 and shares many of its same philosophies and concepts. Based upon cultural trends in the web environment, I think libraries have a lot of rethinking to do. We have to ask ourselves how we are going to familiar with the most up-to-date technologies and make this Web 2.0 information more available to everyone in the library in the future.

#14 Technorati

I did not sign up for the Technorati account. I am already signed up for 9 accounts since I began the 23 things learning journey. According to Wikipedia the name Technorati is a blend of the words technology and literati, an Internet search engine for searching blogs, Technorati looks at tags that authors have placed on their websites, these tags help categorize search results. I browsed through the top favorite blogs, top searchers, and top blogs. The Technorati keep track of influential bloggers and ranking it, the Top 100 runs once a day, see who's up, who's down, and what the blogosphere is paying attention to. It's a great site to browse; I'm not sure what use this site would be for working with patrons.

#13 Del.icio.us

I tried to watch Del.icio.us tutorial video but the site is no longer available. Luckily my library has been using the Del.icio.us tool for a while and I am familiar with it so I created my own bookmark. Del.icio.us has useful applications, especially for research, it is a good way to connect with other people doing the same research or having the same interests as you. It is a really handy way of keeping bookmarks organized with tags.I do not need to use the browser on my Desktop to keep track of my bookmarks. Ever since I enrolled in an American Sign Language course I bookmarked some ASL learning websites. I also like the bookmarks that can be shared with my ASL classmates. I have more than 50 bookmarks. I would recommend that patrons use del.icio.us to create their own lists of bookmarks according to their specific needs, even find additional resources by looking at other users' lists.

# 12 Rollyo

Rollyo is a Yahoo!-powered search engine which allows users to register accounts and create search engines.It enables the concept of a personal search engine.  Rollyo lets you search any site you visit just by clicking the bookmarklet, and allows you to save frequently visited sites into a “searchroll” so you can search your favorites anywhere. I started an account on Rollyo and I was quickly able to create my own search engines. I tried many times to drag my web search into the searchroll but failed. Maybe I'll come back to explore some more after I finish my 23 things.