Volunteer work can often be a good way to build your skill set on real
world problems without having to quit your day job. Since they aren't
paying gigs they usually are happy with entry level programmers. I've
used idealist.org in the past to find work.
M
On 05/06/2011 03:07 PM, Ceci Land wrote:
Hello everyone. The recent thread asking people what they would like to learn if they
had the time brought another question to my mind. If you were looking to get into
"this side" of the profession, what would you recommend focusing on?
IOW, suppose you were a current MLIS graduate student (that's me) who has a
techy sort of inclination. But also assume that your current job as
paraprofessional staff involves minimal computer skills, no programming or
scripting and this situation will not ever change. Imagine that you've taken
every programming and database class you can fit into your schedule, but you
realize that course work will only take you slightly beyond a beginner level
even if you make A's. (in an IS based program, not CS. I would have preferred
the CS route, but work could not accommodate the class/lab time during the days)
How would you choose to develop your skills from "baby" level to something
useful to the profession? Will developing projects on your personal time and hosting
them yourself be enough to get noticed when they day comes that you graduate with your
shiny new diploma? What core skills would you choose to focus on? Would you give up a
secure job with benefits to find an internship that could really challenge your
programming, web development etc. skills?
I see many people on this list with very strong skills, but in the job world, I
don't see many 2nd string/entry level jobs that would allow someone to hone
their skills to the level I often see here. I've been thinking that I should
focus on further developing my abilities in: HTML/CSS of course, XML, XSLT,
PHP, and MySQL (because they're all readily available for someone to play with
despite not being employed in a systems department). It seems that anything I
can learn about metadata transformations/crosswalks and RDF would be useful
too. I also find some classification theories very compelling (ok, I admit
that colon classification really got my attention in my first MLIS class) and
found myself drawn to potentially being interested in taxonomies and controlled
vocabulary. I know nothing about Drupal, but I wonder if I should include in
my smorgasbord. How much is too much and where you y'all recommend I put my
energy?
Any advice is greatly appreciated. The more specific the better. :)
Thx!
