The Victorian Internets

Today marked the first full week of classes and the start of my History and Foundation of LIS course. It’s a class I’ve been looking forward to since joining the PhD program as a return to my earlier roots as a historian.

Tonight I started the readings with excerpts from Tom Standage’s The Victorian Internet: The Remarkable Story of the Telegraph and the Nineteenth Century’s Online Pioneers It was a nice compliment to my out-of-the-blue curiousity to find a good reference bibliography for steampunk fiction this morning.

Like most other modern technologies the Tubes are not without precedent (nor is Sen. Stephens, “One wiseacre imagined that the wires were hollow, and that papers on which the communications were written were blown through them, like peas through a pea shooter.”). The Victorian Internet provides a popular and enjoyable read about the history and development of the telegraph beginning in the 18th century. I tend to hold the cyclical notion of history close to my heart and usually find that there’s really nothing new under the sun – or at least less than what we think. 19th Century telegraph operators created their own IM-like shorthands to chat with each other during slow periods, played chess, and people were even scammed out of money. Surprised that all these things happen online today?

The Victorian Internet exploded across the United States and Europe, increasing it’s reach almost 600% in less than 10 years. (note to self: has anyone put the growth charts of the telegraph, telephone and internet side by side?) Like the Internet, television, radio, and the telephone before it boosters of the telegraph saw it as the solution to world peace, harmony amongst peoples, and broaden of cultures. At least if, by culture, you meant the rich white businessmen who could afford access to it. This of course makes me wonder where libraries stood on the question of the telegraph or the telephones that followed it. Did researchers send telegrams to the library seeking answers to reference questions? I seem to recall seeing some in
Speaking of historical messes, Dorothea and Meredith have been discussing the different forms of sexism among information professionals. Thomas Jepsen‘s site that includes several articles about gender issues among telegraph operators that might offer them inspiration from their professional ancestors who struggled for recognition amongst “the rougher sex”.

“a prejudice exists in the minds of some of the male members of the profession, against the employment of ladies as operators,” due to what he termed “the indisputable fact, that much the larger proportion of errors, in transmitting and receiving messages, are made by the female operators.” -‘My Sisters Telegraphic’: The Letters of Nineteenth-Century Women Telegraphers”

I’ll leave it to others to comment about their experiences in the world of library tech at UIUC. Personally I have been taken aback on more than one occasion by the blatent sexism I’ve seen from members of the CS department….colleagues sounds too colleagial in this context. From my perspective it’s seemed like deep seated insecurity on thier part and a great lack of social graces. Although women may bear the brunt of their hostility, I think users of all sorts eventually feel some of it. I have a fairly good comprehension of some programming theory, but I am only a moderately good programmer. The subtle passive-aggressive scoffing at my programming skills seemed to only abate after several confrontations that I felt were necessary but not entirely comfortable or enjoyable. There is a real and tangible divide amongst technical vs. non-technical students that seems to cleave along gender lines. I still haven’t quite figured out how to breach the gap, since both camps seem to cling to their sides. This will have to be an issue that I keep an eye on as we progress through the readings for Foundations to see whether there is a thread that runs through the profession along similar lines.