[WEB4LIB] RE outsourcing/consultants for library computer progr

[John Creech]

On Tue, 3 Apr 2001, HTheyer wrote:

> I think the whole Librarian/Techies split works both ways.  Librarians tend
> to think of their techies as mind-reading automatons.  They always come at
> the most inconvenient times, if the web pages were better designed in the
> first place we wouldn't have all these problems, why does the system always
> go down on a weekend, etc.
> 
> Techies, in my experience, think librarians are idiots.

Apologies for coming in late on this; maybe I'm misreading something.

*Sigh*.  I must be from another planet; metaphysical experiences like this
give me no peace.

"Mind-reading automatons?"  I have two Computer Support Analysts that work
with/for me, and we get along famously.  My lead tech builds servers from
spare parts and scrounges so much stuff for us that I began calling him
Radar the first wk. I took over Systems.  He liked that enuf that his
primary linux workstation's name is Radar.  Heehee.

 We develop applications together, we share admin. of servers, we go to
lunch together and sit at the same table.  We show ea. other when we
figure out something new and exciting and cool.  We run most of our web
services from open source software so it takes cooperation to get apps
compiled and installed, running, etc.  There's absolutely no
faculty/staff, libn./techie divide in our library sytems efforts.

 As Chairman Mao ws purported to have said: "it doesn't matter what color
the cat is as long as it catches the mouse."

John Creech
Electronic Resources & Systems Librarian
Central Washington University Library 
400 E. 8th Ave. | Ellensburg, WA 98926 | 
office - 509-963-1081 || fax - 509-963-3684
creechj at www.lib.cwu.edu