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
