"Thing 23: Summarize your thoughts about this program and learn more about where to go from here."

I appreciate having the online learning opportunity. This was my first online training session. It was helpful to share experiences with colleagues to enhance learning and support each other. I had little experience with these topics (blogging, avatars, "RSS & Newsreaders, wikis, podcasts etc.) so this training was very beneficial.

It is ironic that there is a recent book and movie: Julie & Julia: my year of cooking dangerously: 365 days, 524 recipes, 1 tiny apartment kitchen: how one girl risked her marriage, her job and her sanity to master the art of living . Julie Powell blogs about her experience cooking each recipe found in Julia Child's cookbook: Mastering the Art of French Cooking. Julie Powel's experience demonstrated the power of blogging; it led to being featured in the New York Times Newspaper, a book, Julie and Julia and a feature movie starring Meryl Streep and Amy Adams. Also, after creating my own avatar, there is another oscar nominated movie called Avatar.

This experience encourages you to approach new technologies and topics with a sense of adventure and fun. If you get stuck you can ask your colleagues, but better yet, ask your children or their peers!

"Thing 22: Take a look at the titles available on Overdive, NetLibrary or Project Gutenburg and learn about downloadable audiobooks."

I explored NetLibrary and Project Gutenburg.

Project Gutenburg does not require you to set up an account. It has a broad scope and includes items in many languages including Chinese, Russian, Tagalog, and Sanskrit. I was surprised that NetLibrary does not include titles in Russian but it does allow you to change "your interface language" from English to Spanish, French, German, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Thai or Dutch. Project Gutenburg also has unexpected entries, for instance, in the"Data" category there items in the Human Genome Project arranged by chromosome number.

It is easy to set up a NetLibrary account and search the site. The basic search can be conducted in English, Chinese, Spanish, French or German. As noted above, you can choose your interface language from Chinese, English, French, Spanish, German, Japanese, Korean, Thai or Dutch. An advanced search feature allows you to limit "econtent language" by the following languages: Chinese, English, French, German, Haitian, Hebrew, Italian, Latin, Spanish. You can access ebooks, ejournals, eaudibooks and databases. You can browse subject areas in these sections. For instance I explored the "Children's Classics" (25 titles) and "Children's Nonfiction" (14 titles) in the eaudiobook browse search of the 23 things interface. NetLibrary is also featured on MCPL (Montgomery County Public Libraries)'s website and linked to the catalog.

"Thing 21: Discover some useful search tools for locating podcasts."

I was referred from podcast.net (not available) to podcast.com and found some interesting library related sites.
At "Meet the Author UK Podcast" I listened to brief book reviews presented by the authors including Islamic History: A Very Short Introduction by Adam Silverstein. "This book argues that it is impossible to understand the place of Islam in the world without knowing its history." The author pointed out that readers didn't necessarily have to choose his book but it was important for westerns to learn about Islamic history.

I also liked "Picture Book Originals". I explored Babette Cole's podcast where she promoted her book Princess Smartypants. You could see the book and hear her read it. Rosemary Wells was also a featured author. In addition to her artwork, book tours and exhibition dates were included. This podcast site promotes the purchase of "original artwork and giclee prints from the most beloved children's book illustrators".

I also explored the news sites including CNN News Update. It featured the recent death of author, J. D. Salinger and his works.

I used podcastalley.com too but I prefer Podcast.com. I found it easier to use and it has a broader range of subjects.

"Thing 20: Discover YouTube and a few sites that allow you to upload video."

I explored children's songs and rhymes on YouTube. Karen of "expertvillage" demonstrated some classic preschool songs, rhymes and short stories using simple fingerplays or props. This would be helpful for parents and new storytellers (parent teacher section of the library website, and the library storyteller training resource site). She also includes some more complicated clapping games and songs for older children.

I couldn't resist the suggestion to look at the "funny dog" videos. The husky dog "saying" I love you was amazing. I wasn't able to upload this video or the whistling puppy to my blog despite several attempts.

YouTube offers an amazing array of videos.

"Thing 19: Explore any site from the Web 2.0 Awards List, play with it and write a blog post about your findings."

I explored "imcooked"from the short list of winners. It is described as the "web community for video recipe sharing". You can search and view cooking videos or create your own. I searched under the keyword "wontons" and there were two videos on how to make wontons including wonton soup. You can also search under broad categories: beverages, desserts, casseroles, pastas, salads, holiday dishes, ethnic/regional, kids etc. There are also options to search users and groups. A special section helps you creating their own cooking video. I can see why this site won the first prize in the cooking section.

"Thing 18: Online Applications & Tools-Online Productivity (Word Processing, Spreadsheets) Tools"

I prefer Google Docs to Zoho Writer There are literally thousands of templates to search in Google Docs: holiday lists, resumes, cover letters, budgets, business cards, photo albums, calenders, mailing lists etc. Many in various languages as French, Spanish, Russian, etc. I explored the "Holiday Gift Shopping List" and the "Cover Letters" templates. It is easy to sign up for Google Docs and use their templates or applications. These free options are a great opportunity.

"Thing 17: Add an entry to the Learning 2.0 SandBox Wiki created with PB Wiki."

"Sandbox is the term that wikis often use to describe the area of the website that should be used for pure play."

I am having technical difficulties and I am not able to "play". I am unable to login into the "Maryland Libraries Sandbox" or the "Favorite Blogs", my email address and password are not accepted. Also the "PB Wiki Tour" and "PBWiki Video Gallery" said "page not found." Perhaps I can "play" later. I love the idea of having a place for "pure play".