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Hi Ed - I have a similar job to what you describe but at a public library and not entry level. It might not be what you are looking for but I suggest you focus more on the specific non-technical requirements than the technical ones. Yes, you want to hire someone who has the ability to do the coding but especially since it's entry level the languages they already know are irrelevant given they've demonstrated proficiency with them. You want someone that has an interest in libraries and information management since s/he'll be working on a variety of projects in that area and will likely have to learn a good deal about many different library systems that can often be the limiting factor in what can be accomplished. You mentioned they are joining an IT staff of 4, are any of those people coders and will they be working closely with this person? If not, you'll need someone who's quite independent and has demonstrated the ability to learn new things without much assistance or structure. If the person will be working with librarians or other people to develop new projects or refine old ones they should be able to express themselves clearly at different technical levels and understand what the librarians are asking of them even if they express it in library jargon rather than programmer jargon. I know these things are hard to judge and hard to put in a job announcement but it's really infinitely more important than whether they already know javascript. For technical skills the most important is, of course, a good understanding of databases. Hope this helps! esther -----Original Message----- From: Code for Libraries [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Sanchez, Edward Sent: Thursday, April 12, 2012 2:32 PM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: [CODE4LIB] Library programmer skills Hey code4libers, I would welcome your suggestions as I develop a proposal for a new full-time programmer line hopefully to be added to my current Library IT department of four (including myself). We are an Innovative/Encore/Research Pro/Synergy Library so we do little programing in terms of discovery. We are however involved in beta-testing for Sierra which when ready will have a new open DB architecture and API's. I would like this position to help the Library leverage that somehow. Something you should know about our campus ... the university powers that be have been successful so far at limiting open source platforms on campus to the single campus web server (RHEL, Apache, PHP) that includes the Library site! Everywhere else OSS is verboten. This is a struggle for us at times because much of what is grant-funded in the library world produces open source tools that we cannot utilize unless hosted elsewhere. This means we have SharePoint which we find useful for many solutions but not feasible for heavy hitting external facing web interfaces. So we outsource: bepress, libguides, contentdm, ares, illiad, wordpress, libraryh3lp, etc. Lately during a website migration we had to step up to do some fairly complex batch text manipulation, that project was followed by another involving many lines of JAVA code for a program to produce EAD formatted XML. There were also many database changes and the development of a delivery platform for that EAD. We have also utilized JQuery to create a mobile site for the Library and have several legacy database to web applications that need to be updated. Add to this the fact that Libraries are at a moment of great opportunity in terms of reaching new users (data management), content digitization (archives and special collections), and linked data. Much of this is relevant to coding so besides seeking someone who can walk on water what skills would you recommend we seek in an entry-level position at a great university? Your help is appreciated. Ed *************** Ed Sanchez Head, Library Information Technology Marquette University V: 414-288-6043 M: 414-839-9569