Comments on: What makes a systems librarian?

By: Chris Hauser

Chris Hauser — Sun, 11 Feb 2007 08:13:42 +0000

I’ve been working in library for 11 years as a systems guy. 3 years ago I got my MLS in attempt to bridge the gap. I whish now that I had my library degree before my computer degree because I’m not welcome in the library still. In fact, they resent me. Now that I understand the overall library picture better than I ever have, and I know how technology can be employed to serve cataloging, acq, and circ… they won’t let me in. I’m just at the tip of the iceberg but I feel i do know how to merge technology with librarianship.. The generation of librarians at my library know this.. and hate this. why?

By: Jennifer

Jennifer — Wed, 22 Nov 2006 03:52:10 +0000

feefeeb, I think you make a an important point – especially for smaller libraries that really can’t afford to add more staff. I am a systems librarian who doesn’t do programming at work. Admittedly, I don’t have extensive coding experience. I do it when necessary – and thorougly enjoying writing scripts, hard coding our ILS web sites, etc. I could learn program since I have taken learned several different languages – but don’t really have time for coding, testing, recoding, retesting, etc. There are far too many other things to do. We could certainly do so much more with a programmer. Many libraries within larger institutions (especially large academic institutions) are able to afford programmers.

A very interesting discussion!!

By: feefeeb

feefeeb — Wed, 22 Nov 2006 01:11:05 +0000

Do we really think that we can recruit programmers into librarianship?

The programmers I know don’t want to work in an environment which is not very tech friendly.

And the best programmers can get get paid so much more in other fields.

By: Dorothea

Dorothea — Tue, 21 Nov 2006 21:41:59 +0000

The problem is that librarianship has an extremely strong anti-tech wing that is lobbying against systems education for librarians. Read a bit of Michael Gorman; it’ll crisp your hair.

I believe the answer is not to train proto-librarians, but to recruit programmers to librarianship.

By: Being the bridge between two worlds « Tech Explorer

Being the bridge between two worlds « Tech Explorer — Sat, 18 Nov 2006 08:59:17 +0000

[...] Recently I stumbled across a post entitled “What makes a system librarian?” by a MLIS student. Unfortunately they don’t provide their name so I’m not sure who they are. It’s interesting to me because it touches on similar thoughts that I have been having. [...]

By: Bridging The Gap « Life as I Know It

Bridging The Gap « Life as I Know It — Thu, 16 Nov 2006 01:06:13 +0000

[...] I really enjoy discovering new blogs by students in MLS/MLIS programs. The students often offer great insights into their programs and into other issues that concern libraries. In a recent post by a student taking a library systems course, the student asks What makes a systems librarian? The author writes: While systems librarians can have many roles, the one thing they appear to have in common is an ability to bridge the gap between the library and techie worlds. So the big questions becomes how do you learn both languages? And are library schools providing the courses to enable graduates to fulfill this role? [...]