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Most of the responses I've seen have focused on the raw technology. For a different perspective, I'm going to assume that you know how to program, and do it well, and that you are looking for advise with regards to working in a library. Here's my take: 1. Learn about your organization. Figure out what makes it tick. Every library is unique, and libraries are a unique type of organization. Make an effort to understand the values and theory of librarianship. Librarians love to talk about this, so don't be afraid to ask. 2. Don't forget to look at trends outside of "Libraryland". A lot of professional library discussion takes place in an echo chamber, and bad ideas often get repeated and gain credibility as a result. Librarians usually overstate the uniqueness of their organizations and professions. When the question, "What are other libraries doing?" arises in addressing a technical problem, don't be afraid to generalize the question to other types of organizations. Too often, the answer to the question, "What are other libraries doing?" is "Failing." Emulate for the sake of success, not conformity. 3. Do your best to control your situation. Most likely, you will be managed by committee. Most likely, you will not have a competent project manager. Learn to gather your own requirements, develop your own project plans, set reasonable expectations with your users, set and meet obtainable deadlines, and stop scope creep dead in its tracks. Once you've mastered that, tell us how you did it. Most of us work under very difficult organizational pressures. 4. Be suspicious of extraordinary claims by library vendors. More often than not they will "cluck defiance". 5. Follow standards to the best of your ability. 6. Innovate. Be creative. Find new solutions to old problems. Remember why you became a programmer. Expect resistance. Ignore bad advice. Best of luck in your endeavors. - David --- David Cloutman <[log in to unmask]> Electronic Services Librarian Marin County Free Library -----Original Message----- From: Code for Libraries [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Wayne Lam Sent: Tuesday, July 21, 2009 8:15 PM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: [CODE4LIB] Long way to be a good coder in library Hi all, I am new in here and i am currently worked in the library too. I am always confused that when i read the post in here, there are always something i don't understand and there are so much to learn. So, the question is, hows everybody learns to be a good coder for libraries, what s the secret and what kind of technology are most important to learn? thanks Wayne Email Disclaimer: http://www.co.marin.ca.us/nav/misc/EmailDisclaimer.cfm