[Web4lib] Web/Systems Librarians: Good, Bad, Ugly

[Judy Hsu]

Hi all,

I'm a student at SJSU for MLIS.  I'm also unofficial go-to tech girl/web 
maintainer of a small college library website.  It's just a small part 
of my daily routine, but I enjoy tweaking our site so I believe it will 
be my focus for MLIS.

I have a few questions regarding what it's like to be full fledged 
systems/web librarian.  Please kindly impart with your knowledge and 
experience.

What would you say is the most rewarding part of the job?  Is it when 
usage statistics go up?  When other librarians thank you for making 
their jobs easier?

Do you feel systems librarians need to be higher up in the food chain 
when it comes to decisions being made about the library system?  Any 
horror stories about being bypassed on critical decisions?

I've read a lot from library blogs and this list about librarians who 
resist the offerings of new technology online (web 2.0, RSS, social 
software, open source, etc).  For those of you who have encountered that 
resistance, how did you overcome it?  Is it getting better or is it 
still in that drag-out-kicking-and screaming phase?

Lastly, this one is more open ended:  why do software/database vendors 
have such cumbersome interfaces?

Please send responses to jyorraku at gmail.com.

Your answers will be extremely appreciated.

Judy Hsu