AcadEmi

I suppose that the last thing anybody needs is another self-conscious blog about the relative merits of blogging.  But I beg your patience: since I come late to the world of internet journaling, my thoughts on the subject have remained dangerously unchronicled. 

I spent last week on a brief retreat from the internet.  We had decided to forego the convenience of internet access in the interest of relaxation on our family vacation.  Or rather, my mother had decided for us.  But when I awoke at 3:00 one morning with the distinct feeling of having missed a deadline, I began to question the logic of the exercise.  The deadline I had missed, of course, was the due date for our first blog.  Since I couldn’t check the electronic syllabus (the print version of which I had naturally neglected to bring), I had no option but to suffer recurring panic attacks for the rest of the trip without being entirely certain that my worry was justified.  Ironically, the lack of that ’stressful’ internet connection had completely destroyed my zen.  Have I become too reliant on the internet to ever disengage?

The experience got me thinking about the ways in which I currently use the internet, and I realized that I have completely ignored its strongest potential for catharsis: the chance to create new narratives.  I decided to wait on my planned podcast blog in order to organize my thoughts about the value of blogging for librarians.  Clearly, blogs offer librarians the chance to interact with their patrons on a convenient and casual basis.  They provide a link to younger patrons, who access information so differently from their predecessors.  They’re a way to communicate new programs and events.  They can be a means for internal communication.  With all of these obvious advantages, they are an essential part of ensuring the continued relevancy of libraries.

But as a I glanced through blogs written by librarians over the past few weeks, I began to realize that blogging has value for the librarians themselves, as well as for their libraries and patrons.  Librarians deal with other people’s research questions, other people’s literary interests, and of course other people’s texts.  How exciting to be encouraged – even expected – to express our own thoughts!  Of course, writing is nothing new for librarians.  It stands to reason that those who are drawn to this profession tend to have a fondness for the written word.  But this is all the more reason to feel excited about blogging as a personal outlet.  No wonder blogging has gained so much popularity amongst librarians.

This doesn’t mean that I am without reservations regarding the ways in which we harness the internet’s potential.  What will ultimately become of writing if it’s reduced to casual exchanges – if everyone becomes a ‘published’ author?  With the exception of rare instances when my inner luddite/literary snob crops up, however, I can see that the greater danger lies in stifling this urge to create and share.

A couple of years ago, I heard a brief commentary on NPR about the perils of internet obsession.  The man’s words stuck with me, and I easily found the segment online months later, in another mildly ironic internet moment.  Paul Ford made some valid points: with a constant stream of information and narrative, when do we ever have a moment merely to reflect – to remind ourselves of where the information superhighway ends and we begin?  But then again, that’s what blogs are for.

And besides, couldn’t the same charges be leveled at talk radio?