Happy New Year!
If one of your New Year’s resolutions is to be more charitable, you might consider using GoodSearch.com.
Every search you make through GoodSearch.com (powered by Yahoo!) results in a penny donation to a charity or cause you designate. The money donated comes from advertisers so this “giving” doesn’t cost you anything. If you shop online, you can also use their sister site, GoodShop.com, to get to online retailers (hundreds available including Amazon, eBay, Target, Apple, etc.). A portion of your purchase is donated to your favorite charity/cause/school at no additional cost to you. According to their site, more than 72,000 nonprofits are already reaping benefits.
If you’re interested, read more about these charitable sites in the NY Times, Fortune magazine, or the Christian Science Monitor. GoodSearch.com and GoodShop.com have also been featured in Oprah Magazine, on CNN, ABC News, and the Wall Street Journal.

Have a great 2009!

I’ll be at the MCS Technology Conference for the next two days, soaking in as many techie tidbits, tips, and tools as my brain will allow.  I’ll also be sharing my somewhat limited techie experiences at the conference, co-presenting with two other MCS librarians, Carmen Carr and Kimberly Sanderson.  The three of us have put together a session on blogging, wikis, podcasting, and other Web 2.0 tools called interNETWORKING.  We’re presenting at 9:00 on Thursday (today) and 10:15 on Friday.

I love the Technology Conference.  It’s a great opportunity to find out what everybody else is doing out there in the district.  I’ve found from past experience that I only remember and put into practice about 15 to 20% (that estimate may be ambitious) of the ideas I hear about at the various sessions I attend, but those ideas that have stuck have made a huge difference in how I use technology and view the internet.  I can’t wait to find out what sticks this time!

Keep reading and keep learning!

You may wonder why I’ve written (twice) that I would write about the books I read on vacation but here it is, more than a week later, and I haven’t gotten to it yet.  I have to admit a weakness.  I have been getting online, daily, with every intention of writing a post… …but then I start reading other blogs and they lead to other blogs and when I finally surface for air, it’s three, four hours later and I’m exhausted.  (Unless, of course, one of the family has ripped the laptop cord from the wall and dragged me out of the house gently reminded me of a previous engagement or urgent errand.)  I’m having a great time and learning aLOT but evidently need to manage my time better.  Do I need to set a kitchen timer and allot myself a set amount of time to “browse” or will the allure of all this amusing internet chatter fade with time?  I mentioned (in my “About Mrs. Dowty” section of this blog) that I subscribed awhile back to a number of blogs using Bloglines to keep myself from wandering aimlessly through the internet like a stray, but I still get sidetracked.

I would appreciate any insights!