Do librarians need basic HTML capabilities?

[Keith Engwall]

Whether I'm agreeing or disagreeing with Bill is open to interpretation, I guess, but here's my opinions on the matter.

Should every librarian be a webmaster?  Definitely not.  The ability to put clickable maps in frames is not a skill necessary to perform one's job.

Should every library have a webmaster?  That's up to the library.  How does the internet fit into that library's mission?  I'd say that if they invest in training or hiring an individual or group of individuals who are proficient in HTML and/or internet navigation would be rewarded in the long run, due to the pervasive way this medium is being absorbed into business, entertainment, grass roots, and many other levels of our culture.

Should every librarian have basic skills in Internet Research?  Well, like above, that depends on what role the internet plays in the mission of the library... but if 
the library is going to take on the expense of taking advantage of the information resources available on the Internet, it's foolish not to do it right and train everyone on the staff in at least the basic research methods - search engines, directories, etc.  Otherwise this resource is sucking unbelievable amounts of cash for nought.

Should every librarian have basic HTML capabilities?  Why not?  If librarians can tackle the MARC record, basic HTML should be CAKE!!!  And if a librarian can't recognize an HTML file well enough to know to run it through a browser, then that's pretty silly.  I mean, what are we talking here?  The concept of tags (this is not THAT different from the concept of MARC field notation), 10-20 basic tags and what they look like in a browser, and the general rules behind placing tags.

Now, just as not every librarian is suited to the task of a full-time cataloger, not every librarian should be expected to write an HTML site (this is what specializations are for); but just as every librarian learns some basic cataloging to become familiar with the process and what it means in the context of the library, they should be exposed to the basics of HTML if they're adopting this medium into their library.

Keith

----------
From: 	Bill Crosbie[SMTP:crosbie at AESOP.RUTGERS.EDU]
Sent: 	Tuesday, June 18, 1996 3:00 PM
To: 	Multiple recipients of list
Subject: 	Do librarians need basic HTML capabilities?

>What If???????
>Libraries set a minimum expertise level for all library staff (professional
>librarians, administrators,etc.). They could then focus $$$$ and energy
>on ensuring that all attain that level.  It could include:
>1. Internet Research Using Graphical and Text Based Browsers
>2. Basic HTML Capabilities

<<SNIP>>

Ok, I think that the subject has gotten everyone's attention.  :-)

I saw this posting and it caused me to re-consider where things should be
heading with libraries and the web.  Before I go any further let me say what
I am NOT saying.

I am not saying that:

1) Librarians are incapable of computer expertise
2) Professionals don't need to understand the tools that they work with
3) HTML mark-up is evil and bad and a waste of time
4) "Computer people" (whoever they are...) have all of the answers
5) Librarians should NOT learn html

What is HTML mark-up?  It depends on the context, of course.  At some sites
(check for the enhanced for <<INSERT BROWSER HERE>>) it is an artistic form.
For others it is a means of disseminating information.  For still others it
means the administrative headache of maintaining static pages in a dynamic
world.  

To me, HTML mark-up is grunt work.  Yes, grunt work, pure and simple.  Once
you learn the fundamentals of how to insert the tags and which are
containers and which stand alone, that is all it really boils down to.  This
is especially true if what you are trying to do is _provide_information_.
The encoding of the tags gets in the way of what you are really trying to do
- make information accessible to your patrons (customer base).  

I don't really beelive that HTML mark-up is the skill that librarians need
to be conentrating on, especially for the creation of content resource pages
for their libraries.  The skill that they should bring to their corner of
the web is what they have been doing for their libraries all along -
evaluating the resources and determining what resources belong in 'their'
collection of links. 

Well, isn't that what you are doing, yes.  Probably.  But you are also being
burdened by creating and _maintaining_ these pages.  The initial layout of a
page is exciting and challenging.  Librarians should be involved with that,
as well as graphic designers, computer people, and even your patrons.
Everyone should have a hand in designing the tools that will be used.

I submit for the group's approval that page creation and maintenance can be
a largely mechanical process.  (If you doubt this, just perform a search on
your favorite search engine.)  Once you decide on how everything is going to
look and how the categories are going to fall out, the rest is coding to the
specifications that have been defined.  (I realize that the devil is in the
details of this step and do not assume it to be an easy task...  nor will it
be static... it will have to constatntly evolve.)

So what am I saying?  I believe that the future of the Web in libraries is
going to be maintaining a separate database of links to information that is
deemed to be 'solid' by the selectors.  The selectors might type up a brief
'abstract' of the site in question, or an evaluation of the material, and
will classify it according to a yet to be determined schema.  And then the
interface to the database will allow your end user to determine the level of
detail that that is necessary for that particular interaction with your
library web.  And that a computer will generate the grunt work HTML mark-up
to display the information in what ever format has been laid out in advance.

In this vision of libraries and the web, librarians can concentrate on the
information that is available, which is what i believe has drawn all of us
into library/information science in one way or another.  

I certainly welcome comments, criticisms and extensions to this concept.
Pointers to working models are appreciated.  I know I'm not the only one
whohas thought of this.  Oh, and no flames, please, my asbestos suit is at
the cleaners.  :-)

Reporting virtually from the banks of the old raritan....






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Information technology has		Bill Crosbie
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