10 Internet Questions With A Librarian

Adam: What is your name and what do you do (Professionally)
Erica Earp. I do a lot of things. I teach a class for the public on how to use a computer, I answer questions at the reference desk (occasionally they're actual reference questions and not just "where's the bathroom?"), I run a group for adult writers twice a month, I fill in when needed at the county's law library, I managed a project getting a computer dedicated to web cam usage at my library, right now I'm working on a project coordinating book club kits (copies of a book plus some background material, discussion questions, similar books, etc, in a bag that book clubs can check out). Also, tonight I got to call the police because we had a person trespassing on library property!

Adam: How many hours a day do you spend online?

I sit in front of a computer pretty much all day at work, so I would estimate that I spend about 10 hours online each day (including using my phone at home).

Adam: How do you use the internet differently between work and personal?

My work internet usage is mostly work email and using the library's web site to show things to the patrons (like databases and how to download books). Occasionally I will use the databases myself for projects--the book club kit, I have to use one of the databases to find similar books, and I was using the internet to find discussion questions. Personal usage is mostly non-work email, RSS feeds, YouTube, twitter, Facebook, and watching TV shows.

Adam: Does your online life ever disrupt your real life?

I refuse to let my online life disrupt my real life. Yes, I like to check in on foursquare or update twitter/Facebook, but it's not like I'm going to stop whatever I'm doing just to do those things. I'm not going to be that person who stops her wedding ceremony to update Facebook "Erika just got married!" or tweet right after having a baby.

Adam: As a librarian, how do you feel that the internet is affecting the written word? Will physical book ever be replaced by e-books?

The biggest problem I see with the internet, as a librarian, is people telling us that their teachers told them they can't use an online source, and having to explain that yes, you are accessing Academic Source Premier online, but you're actually looking at an article from Time Magazine, but it's cost prohibitive for us to actually subscribe to all these journals that you can access online. Or teachers not understanding that looking at Time online is the same thing as looking at it in print. I don't think e-books will ever replace print, at least not in our lifetime. There are too many people who love the way a book feels or smells (seriously, I love the smell of a nice new book), or the joy of getting to the last page. I have a Nook, and getting to the end of a book on there is just not as satisfying as closing a book, knowing that you're done. In the future, after we're long gone, I'm sure print books will go bye bye.

Adam: Is there anything wrong with using internet or other social media at work?

I don't think there's anything wrong with using social media or the internet at work, as long as it doesn't disrupt your work. I use twitter and Facebook *for* work occasionally. There's actually a Facebook page called Librarian Bat Signal--librarians can go on there with questions they can't answer or if they need suggestions. I'm not an admin, but my library has 2 Facebook pages--one general one and one for the teens. We use them to highlight programs that are coming up and if we're going to be closed for some reason. I have a twitter friend who put together a bibliography on Arab American soldiers, and I printed it out to keep at the desk, since we have a very large military population here.

Adam: How do you use social media in your daily life?

I mostly use social media to stay in touch with friends and family. As addictive as Facebook is, it's allowed me to reconnect with old friends (hi!) and I love it for that.

Adam: You have multiple blogs. What purpose do they serve? Do you use them as a form of entertainment for yourself (or others), or as a modern scrapbooking?

I use my blogs mostly for entertainment for myself (and hopefully others). I had to start one for a class in grad school, and I just kept using it after the class was over. That one I used once a week to update my friend on what had happened on Rock of Love (she'd gone to Ecuador halfway through the season, but still wanted to know what was happening). My friend and I started one where we were going to travel to small towns in North Carolina and review them. We only went on 2 trips before she moved to Massachusetts. My current hat blog was started after seeing all the ridiculous hats at the royal wedding. And I've always wanted to have one of stuff we find in books (it's impressive!), so I recently did that. So, yeah, mostly just entertainment.

Adam: What is the weirdest/worst thing that you that has happened to you because of your internet use?

Not necessarily because of use, but I had a boyfriend dump me via Facebook chat this year. That sucked hard. Other than that, nothing terribly weird or bad has happened.

Adam: What is the best thing that you’ve ever gotten from your internet use?

The best thing I've ever gotten is new friends. I have a very good friend who I went to grad school with, but we only had 1 class together. But thanks to Facebook, we're really good friends now.