Good Morning,

I'm happy to have stumbled upon this conversation this morning. I think IT
Librarians or Directors of IT in the library need to be both IT
professional and librarian. Yes, there is the every day upkeep of the
public and staff workstations and printers and myriad other technologies.
But there is also the support of the ILS and other library "systems".

It is possible to support the hardware and software of the library without
specific library knowledge, but understanding how the patrons and staff
interact with technology has a major impact on what types of technology
should be provided to them and I think that requires at least some
understanding of librarianship.

Additionally, as libraries become more and more "digital" and/or depending
on technology for things such as instruction, reference and the catalog,
the Systems Librarian or IT director is called on more and more to be a
part of those conversations. Therefore, an even more in-depth understanding
of librarianship is required to be an integral part of the library
decision-making team, especially when it comes to technology.

My two cents.

Sincerely,
Cynthia


On Thu, Sep 4, 2014 at 9:17 AM, Craig Boman <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> Hi Cornel,
>
> Do IT librarians not teach staff how to use new software? Do IT librarians
> not provide digital access? I have done three major software upgrades this
> calendar year alone, all of which included a significant amount of teaching
> staff how to use our new ILS, for example. And who knows the amount of
> hours I have spent teaching students how to resize their PDF or how to
> install print drivers on their laptops.
>
> I'm not sure everyone would agree with "IT as Librarianship without concern
> for teaching and access."
>
> Thanks,
> Craig
>
>
> On Thu, Sep 4, 2014 at 8:22 AM, Cornel Darden Jr <[log in to unmask]
> >
> wrote:
>
> > Hello,
> >
> > When I think of IT and Librarianship I don't see a huge difference. I see
> > librarianship as IT without in depth computer skills.  I see IT as
> > Librarianship without concern for teaching and access but major concerns
> > about security.
> >
> > Sent from my iPhone
> >
> > > On Sep 3, 2014, at 2:18 PM, Michael B. Klein <[log in to unmask]>
> wrote:
> > >
> > > Hi all,
> > >
> > > I was talking this afternoon with a friend of mine about what makes a
> > good
> > > Director of Library IT. Does the job lie more within librarianship or
> IT?
> > > (Depends on the library.) Is there a natural separation between the
> > > "Library IT" of ILS/MARC/e-resource/circ. technology maintenance and
> the
> > > "Traditional IT" of network management, staff and public workstation
> > > provisioning, telecom, etc? (Also depends on the library.)
> > >
> > > I know a lot gets said (here and elsewhere) about Technology for
> > Librarians
> > > - important skills and standards, what's
> > > important/useful/trending/ignorable, and the like. But I'd love to
> start
> > a
> > > discussion (or join one, if it already exists elsewhere) about the
> other
> > > side of things - the library-specific stuff that experienced IT folks
> > might
> > > need to learn or get used to to be successful in a library environment.
> > Not
> > > just technical stuff like MARC, but also ethical issues like fair use,
> > > information privacy, freedom of access, and the like.
> > >
> > > Of course there are plenty of snarky answers, and I welcome them all,
> but
> > > some constructive input would be nice, too. :-) I hope to compile a "So
> > > You're an Experienced IT Worker/Administrator Who Wants to Work in a
> > > Library?" wiki page with pointers to resources.
> > >
> > > So there's my vague intro. Have at it, code4lib.
> > >
> > > Michael
> >
>



-- 
*Cynthia Schwarz *| Senior Systems and Technology Librarian | Temple
University Health Science Libraries | [log in to unmask] | 215-707-4953