You can find almost anything on the internet. Just one key word will generate over five billion results in less than a second (unless you have poor service). For this weeks blog post, I hopped on the web and searched around to see what information I could find about two of my professors.
I first researched Professor Mary Abdoney. I read a lot about her career path and how she ended up with me at Washington and Lee University. She was born on June 16th, 1976 and grew up in and around the Tampa Bay area. She attended H.B. Plant High School before moving on to attend the University of Florida. There, she majored in Anthropology but also studied Philosophy and Secondary Education. After her time at the University of Florida, she then went to the University of South Florida for graduate school where she earned a masters degree in Library and Information Science. Around the same time, Professor Abdoney was a graduate intern for the USGS Society. Later on that year, she got a job at Eckerd University. A couple years later, she then arrived here at W&L. She now works as an Instruction Coordinator/Science Librarian/Associate Professor. Then, most recently, Professor Abdoney was married on September 29, 2012 to Ned Norland in lovely Rockbridge County.
Before I move onto Professor Teaff, I want to share a couple fun facts I found on Professor Abdoney. First, she was part of the Alpha Xi Sigma Sorority at the University of Florida. Second, she used to play violin and cello. Third, she was a ballerina. And finally, she is a sparkling white wine enthusiast (preferably Cava).
Now for Professor Teaff. She was born on June 16th, 1974. She attended Gloversville High School in New York where she then continued her education at Fulton-Montgomery Community College. She spent two years there before she then attended the University of Potsdam. From there she then continued on her path to Virginia Commonwealth University where she majored in Art History and Museum Studies. Professor Teaff then finalized her education through classes offered by the University of South Carolina. It was then that she got her first job at Rockbridge Regional Library where she served as a cataloger. Then, in 2003, Professor Teaff arrived at W&L where she still works today.
Like Professor Abdoney, I also found some fun facts on Professor Teaff. First, she roots for the Ohio State University Buckeyes. She also enjoys collecting Funkos and watching shows such as Botched.
After completing this assignment, I really am starting to recognize how powerful the web is. You can find almost anything just with a quick one second search. Whose to say that people aren’t researching things about me the way I just did to my professors? In class, we talked about how there are certain programs that will notify you when your name or something associated with you is searched. Google has a program like this called Google Alerts. Prior to this project, I was not too worried about people searching me and didn’t think that I would be searched all that often but now, my mindset has completely just and my curiosity shot through the roof. Google Alerts will send you an email when someone posts something about you but there are other security programs that will notify you for other privacy “violations” (ie. your name is searched on the dark web). I now feel like I need to set up Google Alerts and I’m even considering setting up something similar to Google Alerts but for Twitter. I don’t know everything that is out there on the web that involves me but now I’m curious to see what I will find and what people are searching and posting regarding me.
Second, I wonder what students from other areas would have found on my Professors. In class, we talked about how everyone’s access to the web is different so people won’t have the same search results, even if they search the exact same thing. Because of this, I wonder how much other students findings would very from mine. Would they be better, or worse?
(All photos on timeline are from Google and are marked for reuse.)
