[Web4lib] Skills for Library 2.0 Leaders

[Will Kurt]

While I do fundamentally agree with everyone else you did ask 
specifically about technical skills.  Often I find that technology 
talks within libraries have a lot more to do with being technology 
consumers rather than being technology producers.  RSS, Wikis etc are 
all tools/applications, and it's good to know how to use them, but 
knowing how to build them (or at least how they are built) is 
essential to really developing interesting tools for users, and 
meeting their needs more effectively. This is also necessarily for 
any long term adaptability.

I would say that the technical skills needed would be a solid 
understanding of markup languages (HTML, XML etc.) you don't have to 
know them all by heart but you should really have a strong 
understanding of how they work. Comfortable use of at least one 
scripting/interpreted language, you don't need to be a programmer but 
knowing how to do simple things is essential to understanding what's 
going on within any application.  Additionally at least a basic 
understanding of how databases work.  All of the above mentioned 
tools are simply products of these fundamental technologies, and 
using these is not going to change anytime soon.

And I don't believe that this is a lot to ask for from a leader in 
Web 2.0.  Not everyone in the library needs these skills. But for 
someone focused Web 2.0 and technology these are not hard to learn.

The key is knowing how to communicate between the user's needs and 
the underlying technology that meets those needs.  In order to do 
this effectively you have to have a fairly solid understanding of both.

--Will


At 10:43 AM 4/30/2007, Greb, Jennifer 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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