[Web4lib] Skills for Library 2.0 Leaders

[Mark Costa]

The biggest technical skills you need are - no fear of failure and love of
experimentation. That may not be the answer you were looking for, but the
technology aspect is not the hurdle. The beauty of 2.0 is that it is
inherently more accessible than previous technologies. You really need to
get people comfortable with uncertainty, risk, and imperfect products. The
reality is that the systems and technologies of 2.0 are constantly changing.

I think focusing on technical skills is a bit dangerous for two reasons.
First, libraries will very rarely have people who are really good with any
programming/scripting language. It's just a basic law of economics; the
demand is too high and other institutions have more money to throw at the
problem. That's not to say there aren't very
talented programmers in libraries, but they are rare. The second reason to
avoid focusing on the technical skills is because certain people who are
resistant to change will grudgingly accept they have to learn a new
technology, learn the new technology, and then defend it with their life.
Regardless of whether or not the service or technology is still useful or
efficient to use, they will defend it because they consider that
service/process/technology their sole connection to the organization.

You can build wikis, blogs, bulletin boards, and hosts of other services
using PHP, Python, Cold Fusion, Ruby on Rails, and whatever other languages
you have out there. You can recruit people, train technicians, or do
whatever to develop those skills. None of that will matter if you can't get
your colleagues to embrace constant change. If you can't do that, by the
time you develop and sell your service in house, a new and better one will
be available. If you can get a good, solid group of individuals who love to
play with technology, regardless of which skills they possess, some good
things will happen.

mc

On 4/30/07, Greb, Jennifer <jgreb at tulsalibrary.org> wrote:
>
> Hi, All,
>
> I'm curious to know what you all (the experts) think are essential
> skills for librarians who might be coordinating "Library 2.0" technology
> in their libraries.  I think that the ability to present trainings,
> build teams, make plans, etc, are essential, but I'm especially
> interested in knowing about the technical skills needed.  Does one just
> need to know how to use RSS, wikis, blogs, and so on, and contract with
> vendors or others to make it work with the library website, or do you
> think such a staff person needs to know ColdFusion, PHP, and other very
> technical skills?
>
>
>
> On a secondary note, what job titles have you heard of that would
> describe such a position?  I've heard Internet Librarian, Virtual Branch
> Manager, and various others...
>
>
>
> Thanks so much!
>
>
>
> Jennifer
>
>
>
> Jennifer Greb, Coordinator
>
> Ruth G. Hardman Adult Literacy Service
>
> Tulsa City County Library
>
> 918.596.7958
>
> jgreb at tulsalibrary.org
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
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> Web4lib at webjunction.org
> http://lists.webjunction.org/web4lib/
>



-- 
Mark R. Costa, MLS

"The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable man
persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress
depends on the unreasonable man."
--- George Bernard Shaw