Shirley,

I would hesitantly call myself a coder. I would _never_ call myself a
software engineer. I am also a librarian. I think what Andromeda was
probably arguing (not that I would deign to put words in her mouth) was
that we should get over our imposter syndrome and stand up for our skills.

Jason


On Wed, Feb 13, 2013 at 7:33 PM, Shirley Lincicum <
[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> I'm not in Chicago, and I didn't see this talk, so maybe I'm way off base,
> but isn't a coder a programmer, or even a software engineer? Last time I
> checked, programmer/software engineer is a clear, well-established and
> well-respected occupation (and generally far better paid than most
> Librarians, at least outside of the library world). Why can't library
> "coders" claim the title of programmer/software engineer?
>
> Truly curious,
>
> Shirley
>
> On Wed, Feb 13, 2013 at 4:22 PM, Maccabee Levine <[log in to unmask]>
> wrote:
>
> > Andromeda's talk this afternoon really struck a chord, as I shared with
> her
> > afterwards, because I have the same issue from the other side of the
> fence.
> >  I'm among the 1/3 of the crowd today with a CS degree and and IT
> > background (and no MLS).  I've worked in libraries for years, but when I
> > have a point to make about how technology can benefit instruction or
> > reference or collection development, I generally preface it with "I'm
> not a
> > librarian, but...".  I shouldn't have to be defensive about that.
> >
> > Problem is, 'coder' doesn't imply a particular degree -- just the
> > experience from doing the task, and as Andromeda said, she and most
> C4Lers
> > definitely are coders.  But 'librarian' *does* imply MLS/MSLS/etc., and I
> > respect that.
> >
> > What's a library word I can use in the same way as coder?
> >
> > Maccabee
> >
> > --
> > Maccabee Levine
> > Head of Library Technology Services
> > University of Wisconsin Oshkosh
> > [log in to unmask]
> > 920-424-7332
> >
>