Jean Armour Polly: “Meet the Woman Who Helped Libraries Across the U.S. ‘Surf the Internet'”

From National Public Radio (NPR):

When former librarian and author Jean Armour Polly first introduced the idea of having computers in libraries in the early 1980s, she was met with pushback.

“People scoffed and said, ‘Why would you go to a library to use a computer?’ ” she said.

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How “surfing the internet” was born

It was around that time [1992] that Wilson Library Bulletin, a library magazine, asked her to write a beginner’s article for librarians explaining what the internet was and how you could use it.

She needed a good metaphor as to what navigating the internet felt like in the early days. “It was hard. You needed some skill to do it, but it was fun,” Polly said.

Her mousepad happened to have a picture of a surfer and said “information surfer,” a phrase that was already floating around. The words just clicked for her.

“Surfing the Internet” was published in the summer of 1992, quickly becoming viral as a catchphrase after Polly put the article up online that same year.’

Learn More, Read the Complete Article (about 600 words)

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