On Nov 27, 2012, at 12:20 PM, Karen Coyle wrote:

> Peter,
> 
> again I worry about this being self-selecting. People who report on surveys are .... the people who report on surveys. A code4lib survey would be nice, but I'm really interested in "on the ground" troops. And I think the questions would have to be specific to what one does:
> 
> - installs and fixes equipment
> - runs updates/backups on ILS
> - writes scripts
> - writes code
> - manages local network
> - modifies ILS tables for local customization
> - creates web pages
> - makes decisions on tech purchasing
> - supervises staff that runs ILS/local network
> 
> Well, that's probably a stupid list, but a smarter list could be made. In other words, I would want what you actually do to define whether you are a techie -- not whether you consider yourself a techie (many women demean their own skills -- "Oh, I just push a few buttons"). [1] I'd like to see it be very broad, and later we can decide if we think modifying ILS tables counts as being a "real techie."

I admit, I'm no expert on surveys (I tried doing one once for a class ... got shut down for an IRB violation as I said I'd share the results  back with the organization we were surveying ... which is pretty sad, as the organization I was surveying was the library school itself)

... but you could do a much larger survey, trying to get all people who work in libraries, and ask questions about specific IT-related tasks that they might be doing, even if they don't self-identify as IT.

Of course, then you might miss those of us who don't work in libraries, but who may identify with this group.

... and make sure that whoever does it isn't at an academic institution, to avoid that IRB crap.

-Joe