Article: Why Do We Say ‘Surfing the Internet?’ You Can Thank Central New York Librarian, Jean Armour Polly

From Syracuse.com:

More than 30 years ago, Jean Polly started a revolution in the oddest of places: the Liverpool Public Library.

Polly, an assistant librarian at the time, decided the library should get a computer for the public to use.

It was 1981 and this was groundbreaking. They set up the computer, a black Apple 2 Plus, in a spot where everyone could use it. The American Legion raised money to buy the printer. At the time, Liverpool was one of two libraries in the country with a computer, said Polly, a Syracuse University alumna.

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Also, if you’ve ever said, “Surfing the web,” you’ve got Polly to thank. It was the title of her 1992 guide for a library journal about how to use what would become the web. “Surfing the Internet: An introduction,” was published in the Wilson Library Bulletin.

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