Re: [CODE4LIB] You are a *pedantic* coder. So what am I?

[Chris Fitzpatrick]

"pendantic" and "ruby" go together about as well as "brevity" and this
mailing list

class Foo
 private
 def bar
   "Calling a private method is foobar"
 end
end

$ irb
1.9.3p286 :009 > Foo.new.bar
NoMethodError: private method `bar' called for #

1.9.3p286 :010 > Foo.new.send(:bar)
 => "Calling a private method is foobar"

They've been saying they're going to remove this in the next version for
about 5 years now...



On Thu, Feb 21, 2013 at 9:37 PM, Ian Walls  wrote:

> Justin,
>
>
> I certainly agree that to become a better coder, it's good to experiment
> with many languages and applications.  I'm not advocating that any given
> shop should always rule out a project in a new (to them) language.  What
> I'm
> saying is that the context of what you already know and what your
> environment supports is an equally important part of the conversation when
> choosing a language to develop in.
>
> -Ian
>
> -Original Message-
> From: Code for Libraries [mailto:CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU] On Behalf Of
> Justin Coyne
> Sent: Thursday, February 21, 2013 12:59 PM
> To: CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU
> Subject: Re: [CODE4LIB] You are a *pedantic* coder. So what am I?
>
> Ian, I have to caution against taking the attitude "we only code in what we
> already know".  Of course you are going to be able to hit the ground
> running
> faster in what you are expert in.  Putting on the blinders is a great way
> to
> become irrelevant in the technology sphere.  If you want to be a better
> coder, there is no better way than to learn a new language, and actually do
> a project in it. The insights you find in doing this will make you a better
> coder when your go back to doing whatever it was you were doing before.
>
> -Justin
>
>
> On Thu, Feb 21, 2013 at 11:53 AM, Ian Walls  >wrote:
>
> > Agreed.  Each language has its own strengths and weaknesses.  Pick the
> > one that works best for your situation, factoring in not only what the
> > application needs to do, but your and your team's level of experience,
> > and the overall community context in which the project will live.  The
> > peculiarities of a given languages truth tables, for example, can
> > easily get washed out of the calculation when you consider what
> > languages you know and what platforms your institution supports.
> >
> >
> > -Ian
> >
> > -Original Message-
> > From: Code for Libraries [mailto:CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU] On Behalf
> > Of Ethan Gruber
> > Sent: Thursday, February 21, 2013 12:45 PM
> > To: CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU
> > Subject: Re: [CODE4LIB] You are a *pedantic* coder. So what am I?
> >
> > Look, I'm sure we can list the many ways different languages fail to
> > meet our expectations, but is this really a constructive line of
> conversation?
> >
> > -1
> >
> >
> > On Thu, Feb 21, 2013 at 12:40 PM, Justin Coyne
> > wrote:
> >
> > > I did misspeak a bit.  You can override static methods in Java.  My
> > > major issue is that there is no "getClass()" within a static method,
> > > so when the static method is being run in the context of the
> > > inheriting class it is unaware of its own run context.
> > >
> > > For example: I want the output to be "Hi from bar", but it's "Hi
> > > from
> > foo":
> > >
> > > class Foo {
> > >   public static void sayHello() {
> > > hi();
> > >   }
> > >   public static void hi() {
> > > System.out.println("Hi from foo");
> > >   }
> > > }
> > >
> > > class Bar extends Foo {
> > >
> > >   public static void hi() {
> > > System.out.println("Hi from bar");
> > >   }
> > > }
> > >
> > > class Test {
> > >   public static void main(String [ ] args) {
> > > Bar.sayHello();
> > >   }
> > > }
> > >
> > >
> > > -Justin
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > On Thu, Feb 21, 2013 at 11:18 AM, Eric Hellman 
> wrote:
> > >
> > > > OK, pedant, tell us why you think methods that can be over-ridden
> > > > are static.
> > > > Also, tell us why you think classes in Java are not instances of
> > > > java.lang.Class
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > On Feb 18, 2013, at 1:39 PM, Justin Coyne
> > > > 
> > > > wrote:
> > > >
> > > > > To be pedantic, Ruby and JavaScript are more Object Oriented
> > > > > than Java because they don't have primitives and (in Ruby's
> > > > > case) because classes
> > > > are
> > > > > themselves objects.   Unlike Java, both Python and Ruby can
> properly
> > > > > override of static methods on sub-classes. The Java language
> > > > > made many compromises as it was designed as a bridge to Object
> > > > > Oriented
> > > programming
> > > > > for programmers who were used to writing C and C++.
> > > > >
> > > > > -Justin
> > > > >
> > > >
> > >
> >
>

[CODE4LIB] (most) video from the conference are up on Internet Archive

[Tara Robertson]

Most of the video from the conference is up on Internet Archive. I say 
most, as the Tuesday morning video wasn't available. Searching for 
code4lib 2013 seems to get all the videos:

https://archive.org/search.php?query=code4lib%202013&page=1

Jason Ronallo is still working on HTML5-ifying stuff and putting it on 
the wiki.


I know there are some duplicates, so I'll go back and remove them. As 
Jason embeds the videos on the wiki we'll figure out what's missing :)


Please email me directly to let me know if there are problems with any 
of the videos and I'll do my best to fix them.


Thanks Francis et al for streaming the conference. (One of the videos 
starts with you running to get behind the video camera).


Cheers,
Tara

Re: [CODE4LIB] A newbie seeking input/suggestions

[Louis St-Amour]

I think the last idea with a doorbell is on the right track. Forget tiny
notifications on individuals' computers and instead put up a screen in a
central spot which you can use as an informal notice board and buzzer,
connected perhaps to a webcam or security image so people can see the
traffic and know if help is still needed before the alert times out. Just
my two cents... It could show tweets or news when not in use/alert mode. I
was working on similar software powered by wordpress in 2011, using a full
screen web browser on a TV. Heck, thinking about it further, some kind of
private twitter might work (e.g. p2 theme of wordpress) so that those
responding could let people know... And it might have interesting social
purposes too.

Just my 2¢,
Louis.
On Feb 21, 2013 11:01 PM, "Andreas Orphanides"  wrote:

> It strikes me from a couple of people's comments -- and from some of my own
> experiences -- that there's more going on here than just implementation.
> The right implementation is important for adoption, of course, but for a
> backup system to be helpful it needs to encourage compliance -- including
> things like having the backup folks available for monitoring, remembering
> to sign in / turn on walkie talkie / charge batteries, etc. This is
> definitely the place where we struggle. We have BOTH an IM-based
> beckon-help system AND walkie talkies for intra- and inter-departmental
> help requests. But it's very easy to not log into pidgin, to forget that
> there's a chat widget on the staff dashboard where you can page help, to
> not pick up the radio at the beginning of a shift. Does anyone have any
> ideas about how to make this stuff more natural and automatic? Are there
> lessons we can learn from the retail world that will help us monitor
> service points better?
>
> Also, on some level, the most low-tech solutions can be effective. Right
> now the paging system that's had the best track records is this: one of
> those hardware store doorbells with a battery-operated button that signals
> a remote chime. The button sits on the reference desk and we mash it if the
> line starts growing. People in the reference office hear it and come out to
> help. The biggest technological hurdle for this system is that the button
> is at the very edge of its transmission range, so sometimes mashing on the
> button doesn't actually signal the chime.
>
> This solution doesn't meet your dedicated staff subset requirement, but I
> wonder if there's something that simple that would work.
>
> Anyway, right now I'm just letting my thoughts spin wildly. But this is an
> interesting and practical problem that I'd love to hear more solutions to!
>
> Andreas Orphanides
> NCSU Libraries
>
> On Thu, Feb 21, 2013 at 10:33 PM, Shirley Lincicum <
> shirley.linci...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > I wrote a little app in PHP to address this exact problem. I wrote it to
> > work the the LibraryH3lp webchat service, but the code could probably be
> > adapted to another context. You can download the source code and
> > instructions here: http://shirley.alptown.com/SOS_Button.zip
> >
> > Best wishes,
> >
> > Shirley Lincicum
> >
> > On Thu, Feb 21, 2013 at 7:57 AM, Greenspun, Cindy
> > wrote:
> >
> > > Hello -
> > >
> > > I'm a newbie to this listserv.  I'm not a librarian, nor am I a coder.
> > I
> > > primarily do systems related work with our library management system,
> run
> > > SQL reports as needed and project management.  I also work for Access
> > > Services and even though I'm considered IT, I'm not in the library IT
> > > department.  This is a new position in my department and we're still
> > > figuring things out as we go along.
> > >
> > > I work in one of the many libraries at Yale University.  In the
> > department
> > > I work in, we have three busy service points - two circulation desks
> and
> > a
> > > privileges/registration office.  There are about 50/60 staff members
> and
> > > roughly 50+ student employees who rotate at these service points.
>  There
> > > are times when there are students who are late reporting to a service
> > > point, no-shows, or suddenly there's a long line and only one person
> at a
> > > staffed service desk.  At a meeting recently, I was listening to a work
> > > leader lament how, if she is the only person there, she is just too
> busy
> > to
> > > make a phone call or send an email asking for help - a common
> occurrence.
> > >  After I heard her, I wondered how possible it would be to create some
> > sort
> > > of desktop 'app'.  One that requires only one click and is smart enough
> > to
> > > know its service desk location and is sent to the right folks who could
> > > come assist right away, upon demand.  These would be on Windows
> > > workstations.
> > >
> > > Recently, I've seen many encouraging responses to the latest 'getting
> > > started...' emails and feel motivated to write to this listserv as I'm
> > > eager to learn and to try to do this myself.  I hope that this will be
> a

[CODE4LIB] Job: Full-Stack Web Developer at National ICT Australia

[jobs]

We are seeking a full-stack web developer to join the development team to work
on our patent/scientific search engine. You will be working
on expanding the user-facing side of our search system; as well as greenfield
collaborative editing and interactive data-exploration
systems. We're a small team and expect you to take a
proactive role in determining how (and with what) our systems are
built.

  
You will work across all the components of our front-end system, comprising
mainly: Linux/EC2, Mysql/Lucene, Java/Spring, Javascript/Backbone and
HTML/CSS.

  
**Responsibilities:**

  * Develop highly interactive web-based services for data exploration and 
collaboration using massive textual data sets from patents and scientific 
knowledge.
  
**The ideal candidate:**

  * Is already a full-stack web developer.
  * Has an excellent knowledge of modern HTML5/CSS3
  * Has experience bringing a modern javascript-heavy webapp to production, and 
knows how to avoid the common pitfalls with complex javascript apps
  * Is passionate and has well-reasoned opinions about (web)development
  * Is proactive and is willing to take the lead on design and implementation 
of systems without micromanagement
  
  
**Required Skills:**  

  * HTML/CSS. Applied knowledge of HTML5/CSS3 and a deep understanding of CSS 
inheritance and how to use it to your advantage.
  * Javascript. Should be familiar with bringing a moderately complex 
javascript app to production. We use tools like jasmine, selenium, underscore 
and backbone
  * Java/JVM. Our current webapp is built around Java / Spring MVC. We're 
moving some systems to Scala so experience with additional JVM languages is a 
plus.
  * Git. We use git for version control. A github account is highly regarded.
  * Linux. We develop on osx and deploy on linux. Familiarity with the basic 
tools is required, any administration skills are a bonus.
  
**About The Lens: Cambia, NICTA**  
_Our goal is to greatly enhance the public good by creating an open and
inclusive innovation system, which melds many disparate information sources,
dramatically expanding the availability and discoverability of human
knowledge. We think of it as 'Innovation Cartography', maps which allow us to
discover otherwise unreachable knowledge.

  
Working on the Lens is a Lifestyle choice. Flexible work hours and a casual,
friendly environment in exchange for passion and
dedication. Our team is small, highly productive, open-
minded about solutions and focused on delivering high-impact public
goods. We thrive on humor and good coffee, so a creatively
tattooed, fedora-wearing, wryly funny code-master barista would be most
welcome._

  
  
**NICTA**  
NICTA (National ICT Australia Ltd) is Australia's Information and
Communications Technology Research Centre of Excellence. NICTA develops
technologies that generate economic, social and environmental benefits for
Australia. NICTA collaborates with industry on joint projects, creates new
companies, and provides new talent to the ICT sector through a NICTA-enhanced
PhD program. With four laboratories around Australia and over 700 people,
NICTA is the largest organisation in Australia dedicated to ICT research.

  
NICTA is funded by the Australian Government through the Department of
Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy and the Australian Research
Council through the ICT Centre of Excellence Program. NICTA is also funded and
supported by the Australian Capital Territory, the New South Wales and
Victorian Governments, the Australian National University, the University of
New South Wales, the University of Melbourne, the University of Queensland,
the University of Sydney, Griffith University, Queensland University of
Technology and Monash University.

  
**Cambia**  
Cambia is a globally prominent not-for-profit social enterprise and the
leading provider of free patent and intellectual property search and analysis.
Cambia's mission is the democratization of problem solving using science and
technology. Cambia is the founding
partner of the Lens, together with NICTA (National ICT Australia) and QUT
(Queensland University of Technology).



Brought to you by code4lib jobs: http://jobs.code4lib.org/job/6411/

[CODE4LIB] Job: Senior Developer to work on Open Access to ‘Big Knowledge’ at National ICT Australia

[jobs]

We are looking for someone to join our technical team at NICTA to work on our
distributed search system, the Lens. The Lens provides a free 'Innovation
Cartography' service to the general public, allowing related innovation data
to be discovered and shared easily by anyone. Over the coming year we will be
adding many terabytes of new data, including global patents, scientific
literature, business and legal information. Your initial work in this role
will focus on improving and replacing our current data transform and import
systems. These systems must accommodate a variety of different data formats
and also be fast enough to process very large data sets. You will be a vital
factor in our future capability to provide massive amounts of data for public
use.

  
Although your initial role is concentrated on data processing and importing,
you will also be an integral part of the wider development team. We share
tasks and knowledge around the team so you'll get to work with others and on
other parts of the system. You'll be encouraged to learn, innovate and
continually make the high performance, distributed systems which make up the
Lens even more awesome.

  
**Your responsibilities:**

  * Develop high performance, deployable software for importing massive textual 
data sets
  * Develop high performance, deployable software for transforming those data 
sets between different data formats and making those data sets accessible for 
high-use, public-access data services.
  
  
**You will need the following in your skills toolkit:**

  * XML parsing techniques and frameworks - StAX, SAX, DOM.
  * Java and in particular concurrent/multi-core processing.
  * Experience in distributed systems, from design through to 
deployment/administration.
  * Robust scripting - especially using bash, ruby or python.
  * Good knowledge of Linux development/administration - including utilities 
such ssh, scp, rsync, grep, find, tar, awk etc
  * Specific technologies: 
* Lucene and/or Solr
* Amazon EC2
* Tomcat
* MySQL
  * Cutting edge OCR at large scale (highly regarded)
  * Patent data knowledge (highly regarded)
  
**About The Lens: Cambia and NICTA**  
_Our goal is to greatly enhance the public good by creating an open and
inclusive innovation system, which melds many disparate information sources,
dramatically expanding the availability and discoverability of human
knowledge. We think of it as 'Innovation Cartography', maps which allow us to
discover otherwise unreachable knowledge._

  
_Working on the Lens is a Lifestyle choice. Flexible work hours and a casual,
friendly environment in exchange for passion and
dedication. Our team is small, highly productive, open-
minded about solutions and focused on delivering high-impact public goods._

  
**NICTA (National ICT Australia Ltd)** is Australia's Information and 
Communications Technology Research Centre of Excellence. NICTA develops 
technologies that generate economic, social and environmental benefits for 
Australia. NICTA collaborates with industry on joint projects, creates new 
companies, and provides new talent to the ICT sector through a NICTA-enhanced 
PhD program. With four laboratories around Australia and over 700 people, NICTA 
is the largest organisation in Australia dedicated to ICT research.  
  
NICTA is funded by the Australian Government through the Department of
Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy and the Australian Research
Council through the ICT Centre of Excellence Program. NICTA is also funded and
supported by the Australian Capital Territory, the New South Wales and
Victorian Governments, the Australian National University, the University of
New South Wales, the University of Melbourne, the University of Queensland,
the University of Sydney, Griffith University, Queensland University of
Technology and Monash University.

  
  
**Cambia** is a globally prominent not-for-profit social enterprise and the 
leading provider of free patent and intellectual property search and analysis. 
Cambia's mission is the democratization of problem solving using science and 
technology. Cambia is the founding partner of the Lens, together with NICTA 
(National ICT Australia) and QUT (Queensland University of Technology). 



Brought to you by code4lib jobs: http://jobs.code4lib.org/job/6410/

[CODE4LIB] Job: Archivist/Curator of Manuscripts at Northern Illinois University

[jobs]

NORTHERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

Regional History Center & University Archives

Archivist/Curator of Manuscripts

Anticipated: April 1, 2013

Position Type: Supportive Professional Staff

Term of Appointment: Twelve-month, full-time

Reports to: Director of Regional History Center and
University Archivist

Position Description: See http://www.ulib.niu.edu/aboutus/employment.cfm

  
Summary of Job Responsibilities: The Regional History Center is a multifaceted
research center containing three related sets of historical records available
to researchers: Regional Collections, University Archives, and Local
Government Records. The Center's goal is to acquire,
preserve, and make available to the public the most significant historical
records of the northern Illinois region. The job will
entail reference work including staffing the reference desk, processing and
writing inventories for manuscript collections, performing field work and
donor relations, providing technical support for automated information
systems, managing preservation of and creating of best practice solutions for
the acquisition, ingest, and storage of electronic and digital born records,
and help with archival bibliographic instruction.

  
Required Qualifications:

  
Archival reference skills, processing manuscript collections, experience in
donor relations, field work and collections development, experience in
automated information systems, archival bibliographic instruction experience,
work with the director and Library, University-wide, and Center's director in
finding best practice solution for the acquisitions, ingest, and storage of
electronic records, and the ability to maintain dialog with faculty and staff
to promote and schedule archives instruction. Educational
requirements include a master's degree in history, political science, library
science, or related field and two years library experience with emphasis in
reference and archival processing.

  
Application: To be considered for an interview, send letter of interest,
resume, and thename/address/phone number/e-mail address of
three professional references:

  
Kathy Sherman, Administrative Assistant

Archivist/Curator Search, University Libraries

Northern Illinois University

DeKalb, IL 60115 Email: ksher...@niu.edu

Review of applications will begin March 13, 2013; applications accepted until
position is filled.

Northern Illinois University is an AA/EEO institution. A
state-mandated pre-employment

criminal background check is required.



Brought to you by code4lib jobs: http://jobs.code4lib.org/job/6407/

[CODE4LIB] Job: Metadata Librarian/Special Collections at Georgetown University

[jobs]

Reporting to the Head of Metadata Services, the Metadata Librarian will work
collaboratively with other Metadata Librarian(s) and Metadata Specialists to
support the discovery of and access to Library acquired materials in a variety
of languages and formats, special collections and digital content through
metadata creation, analysis, enrichment, and maintenance according to local
and national cataloging and metadata standards. The Librarian ensures timely
access to our entitlements through accurate description of resources;
participates in the evaluation of the effectiveness of metadata and performs
necessary maintenance tasks on both MARC and non-MARC metadata to ensure its
accuracy and continued resource discovery and access for the Georgetown
University community; serves as a resource; and collaborates with others as
needed to accomplish the goals of the Unit, Department, and Library. Primary
responsibility is the original and complex metadata creation for special
collections/rare books/digital collections in a variety of subject areas and
languages, creating metadata according to nationally accepted standards
including descriptive cataloging rules found in the Descriptive Cataloging of
Rare Materials and Books [DCRM(B)]. In cataloging rare books, uses related
standards, such as the RBMS genre terms thesauri and AMREMM (Descriptive
Cataloging of Ancient, Medieval, Renaissance, and Early Modern Manuscripts).
Also describes digital resources using the appropriate metadata schema
(preservation, access, description, etc.) to support the Georgetown University
Library's digital collections.

  
Metadata is provided within the digital library systems and/or within OCLC for
inclusion in the local system. Support and serve as a resource to colleagues
on metadata issues and practices for special and digital collections. The
incumbent will also coordinate quality control projects for non-MARC metadata
from digital collections; provide comprehensive and accurate resource
description and subject analysis; serve as a resource person for resolving
metadata problems; lead the Library's efforts to coordinate best practices in
developing a holistic approach to metadata practices in support of improving
and increasing the discoverability of the local and unique digital
collections; provide input into the Library's overall success with the
Library's discovery strategy; participate in cooperative metadata endeavors
such as NACO; provide metadata consultation, design, and development services
to facilitate the use of digital and analog information for research and
education; assist Unit Head to develop and coordinate appropriate strategies
for organizing and providing access to and enabling discovery of information;
collaborating closely with staff in Technical Services, Special Collections,
the Gelardin New Media Center, and Library Information Technology to enhance
access to the Library's collections.

  
Qualifications:

  
* Masters in Library/Information Science from an ALA accredited university 
required. Additional training or certification in working with rare books or 
special collections is preferred.  
* Minimum 2 years of professional metadata creation experience in an academic 
or research library, and a minimum of two years professional experience 
creating metadata for rare and  
special collections are required.

* Demonstrated knowledge of MARC and non-MARC metadata formats, standards and 
schema, such as Dublin Core, METS, EAD, TEI, MODS and AAT  
* Working knowledge of special collections and rare book metadata standards 
including Descriptive Cataloging of Rare Materials and Books (DCRM(B)), 
Descriptive Cataloging of Ancient, Medieval, Renaissance, and Early Modern 
Manuscripts (AMREMM), and RBMS (Rare Books and Manuscripts Section) genre terms 
strongly preferred  
* Working knowledge of descriptive bibliography and issues specific to rare 
materials required  
* Working knowledge of current metadata standards such as FRBR, Resource 
Description and Access (RDA), Program for Cooperative Cataloging/Library of 
Congress Policy Statements, Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH), 
Library of Congress Classification (LCC), and other emerging standards required 
 
* Proficiency using computer applications (Windows desktop, word processing, 
e-mail and internet resources and tools) required  
* Experience with a national bibliographic utility such as OCLC required  
* Experience with a local online system such as Innovative Interfaces preferred 
 
* Knowledge of issues and current trends in metadata & cataloging standards and 
practices  
* Knowledge of discovery tools and metadata practices supporting discovery, 
specifically in a library context  
* Awareness of current issues and trends in metadata and digital library 
development  
* Knowledge of preservation metadata schemas and practices  
* Knowledge of current and emerging approaches for digital preservation  
* Demonstrated programming skill and 

[CODE4LIB] Job: Digital Assets Specialist at Reed College

[jobs]

Reed College, one of the country's leading private liberal arts colleges
invites applications for the position of Digital Assets Specialist. This is a
.75 FTE, regular position reporting to the Digital Assets Librarian. The
digital assets specialist provides support for building and maintaining
collections of digital materials in the campus digital asset management
system. Primary duties include digitizing and processing digital materials for
upload to the digital asset management system, creating original metadata to
facilitate retrieval for items, and ensuring adherence to established data and
digitizing standards. Position provides technical support and training for
students, faculty, and staff. We seek collegial and energetic candidates who
welcome the opportunity to play a role in providing library services in an
intensely academic community.

  
Minimum qualifications: Bachelor's degree and minimum of
two years of library or information management experience; or any combination
of education and experience that provides the desired knowledge, abilities,
and skills, required to perform the job. Prior experience with digital asset
management systems, metadata standards, and digital materials workflow
strongly preferred. Attention to detail a must.

  
Desirable qualifications: Knowledge of digital best
practices for various media (images, text, multimedia). Demonstrated knowledge
of visual resource metadata, cataloging, and controlled vocabularies.
Experience with CONTENTdm, Mac and PC platforms, and OCR. Excellent
communication skills, including experience creating documentation. Familiarity
with copyright and fair use policies in an academic environment.

  
To apply, please submit a letter of introduction discussing your
qualifications, along with your resume or curriculum vitae, a list of three
professional references and a completed Reed Application for Employment form
(original or scanned) via email to: library-applicat...@reed.edu.

  
Equal Opportunity Employer

  
Classification: Digital Assets
Specialist

Salary Range: minimum $18.90/hour



Brought to you by code4lib jobs: http://jobs.code4lib.org/job/6405/

Re: [CODE4LIB] A newbie seeking input/suggestions

[Andreas Orphanides]

It strikes me from a couple of people's comments -- and from some of my own
experiences -- that there's more going on here than just implementation.
The right implementation is important for adoption, of course, but for a
backup system to be helpful it needs to encourage compliance -- including
things like having the backup folks available for monitoring, remembering
to sign in / turn on walkie talkie / charge batteries, etc. This is
definitely the place where we struggle. We have BOTH an IM-based
beckon-help system AND walkie talkies for intra- and inter-departmental
help requests. But it's very easy to not log into pidgin, to forget that
there's a chat widget on the staff dashboard where you can page help, to
not pick up the radio at the beginning of a shift. Does anyone have any
ideas about how to make this stuff more natural and automatic? Are there
lessons we can learn from the retail world that will help us monitor
service points better?

Also, on some level, the most low-tech solutions can be effective. Right
now the paging system that's had the best track records is this: one of
those hardware store doorbells with a battery-operated button that signals
a remote chime. The button sits on the reference desk and we mash it if the
line starts growing. People in the reference office hear it and come out to
help. The biggest technological hurdle for this system is that the button
is at the very edge of its transmission range, so sometimes mashing on the
button doesn't actually signal the chime.

This solution doesn't meet your dedicated staff subset requirement, but I
wonder if there's something that simple that would work.

Anyway, right now I'm just letting my thoughts spin wildly. But this is an
interesting and practical problem that I'd love to hear more solutions to!

Andreas Orphanides
NCSU Libraries

On Thu, Feb 21, 2013 at 10:33 PM, Shirley Lincicum <
shirley.linci...@gmail.com> wrote:

> I wrote a little app in PHP to address this exact problem. I wrote it to
> work the the LibraryH3lp webchat service, but the code could probably be
> adapted to another context. You can download the source code and
> instructions here: http://shirley.alptown.com/SOS_Button.zip
>
> Best wishes,
>
> Shirley Lincicum
>
> On Thu, Feb 21, 2013 at 7:57 AM, Greenspun, Cindy
> wrote:
>
> > Hello -
> >
> > I'm a newbie to this listserv.  I'm not a librarian, nor am I a coder.
> I
> > primarily do systems related work with our library management system, run
> > SQL reports as needed and project management.  I also work for Access
> > Services and even though I'm considered IT, I'm not in the library IT
> > department.  This is a new position in my department and we're still
> > figuring things out as we go along.
> >
> > I work in one of the many libraries at Yale University.  In the
> department
> > I work in, we have three busy service points - two circulation desks and
> a
> > privileges/registration office.  There are about 50/60 staff members and
> > roughly 50+ student employees who rotate at these service points.  There
> > are times when there are students who are late reporting to a service
> > point, no-shows, or suddenly there's a long line and only one person at a
> > staffed service desk.  At a meeting recently, I was listening to a work
> > leader lament how, if she is the only person there, she is just too busy
> to
> > make a phone call or send an email asking for help - a common occurrence.
> >  After I heard her, I wondered how possible it would be to create some
> sort
> > of desktop 'app'.  One that requires only one click and is smart enough
> to
> > know its service desk location and is sent to the right folks who could
> > come assist right away, upon demand.  These would be on Windows
> > workstations.
> >
> > Recently, I've seen many encouraging responses to the latest 'getting
> > started...' emails and feel motivated to write to this listserv as I'm
> > eager to learn and to try to do this myself.  I hope that this will be a
> > simple enough project for me but I'm just not sure where to start or
> what I
> > should be looking at.  So, here I am, not a librarian, nor a coder.  I
> > write to this listserv seeking suggestions, ideas and encouragement.  :)
> >
> > Thank you -
> > Cindy
> >
>

Re: [CODE4LIB] back to minorities question, seeking guidance

[Emily Morton-Owens]

I didn't spot this when Tim first posted it, but this question jumped out
at me now: "A person who said or modeled the right thing?" Around the time
I was applying to library school, a friend told me "Since you love foreign
languages and are interested in computers, you might enjoy programming."

This was just the right thing to say, because he was connecting it to
something that I consider myself talented at (languages), rather than
something I don't (math). Also, he suggested it as something I'd enjoy or
find satisfying, just on its own. In a library curriculum, you could tie
technology topics to technical services/metadata/cataloging topics, which
is something students are likely to see as necessary and comparatively
unintimidating. That also seems like a realistic model of how a lot of
librarians get into coding in the workplace.

I don't know if any of the links Andromeda suggested address this, but I
see more effort put into getting young women into coding/CS and the high
school/college level, and less effort put into reaching out to women who
are already in careers. (At least in the context of, say, the Grace Hopper
Conference which I've attended a few times--that might be because all the
adults there are sort of by definition already in technical careers.)

I think some good encouragement could help people realize that while there
are some professions you probably can't enter after a certain age, like
"professional football player" or "boy band singer," "coder" is *not *one
of those. There isn't some single Rubicon you cross either; you can hop
from HTML to CSS to PHP to SQL to Java, and a lot of people have already
taken a few of those steps.

On Thu, Feb 14, 2013 at 8:34 AM, Shearer, Timothy J
wrote:

> Hi Folks,
>
> I'm teaching systems analysis at SILS (UNC CH) this semester.
>
> Though the course is required for the IS degree, it's not required for the
> LS degree.
>
> However, the majority of my students this semester are LS.  And the vast
> majority are women.
>
> Apropos of the part of the thread that dealt with numbers:
>
> For those of you who came into this community and at some point went
> through a MSLS or MSIS program I am wondering if there are things I could
> try to do that might have an impact on better aligning the ratio of men to
> women in code4lib and the technology end of the field in general to that
> in the general population?
>
> Was there a moment of clarity?  A person who said or modeled the right
> thing?  A project that helped uncover a skill you didn't know you had?
>
> And, I am not just interested in what I can do through one class, but also
> what the curriculum and school could do more holistically.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Tim
>

Re: [CODE4LIB] A newbie seeking input/suggestions

[Shirley Lincicum]

I wrote a little app in PHP to address this exact problem. I wrote it to
work the the LibraryH3lp webchat service, but the code could probably be
adapted to another context. You can download the source code and
instructions here: http://shirley.alptown.com/SOS_Button.zip

Best wishes,

Shirley Lincicum

On Thu, Feb 21, 2013 at 7:57 AM, Greenspun, Cindy
wrote:

> Hello -
>
> I'm a newbie to this listserv.  I'm not a librarian, nor am I a coder.   I
> primarily do systems related work with our library management system, run
> SQL reports as needed and project management.  I also work for Access
> Services and even though I'm considered IT, I'm not in the library IT
> department.  This is a new position in my department and we're still
> figuring things out as we go along.
>
> I work in one of the many libraries at Yale University.  In the department
> I work in, we have three busy service points - two circulation desks and a
> privileges/registration office.  There are about 50/60 staff members and
> roughly 50+ student employees who rotate at these service points.  There
> are times when there are students who are late reporting to a service
> point, no-shows, or suddenly there's a long line and only one person at a
> staffed service desk.  At a meeting recently, I was listening to a work
> leader lament how, if she is the only person there, she is just too busy to
> make a phone call or send an email asking for help - a common occurrence.
>  After I heard her, I wondered how possible it would be to create some sort
> of desktop 'app'.  One that requires only one click and is smart enough to
> know its service desk location and is sent to the right folks who could
> come assist right away, upon demand.  These would be on Windows
> workstations.
>
> Recently, I've seen many encouraging responses to the latest 'getting
> started...' emails and feel motivated to write to this listserv as I'm
> eager to learn and to try to do this myself.  I hope that this will be a
> simple enough project for me but I'm just not sure where to start or what I
> should be looking at.  So, here I am, not a librarian, nor a coder.  I
> write to this listserv seeking suggestions, ideas and encouragement.  :)
>
> Thank you -
> Cindy
>

Re: [CODE4LIB] GitHub Myths (was thanks and poetry)

[Cary Gordon]

Don't you mean " I hope to see all of you there."

On Thu, Feb 21, 2013 at 2:44 PM, David Friggens  wrote:
>> If you're not willing to provide even your name to make use of a free
>> service, then I dare say you are erecting your own barriers. Such is your
>> choice, of course, but I don't think others need to be compelled
>> to accommodate the barriers you create for yourself.
>>
>> And just because the terms of use are not unconditional, or perfectly to
>> your liking, does not mean you're not welcome to use it. You are.
>
> "To all the people complaining about the Code4Lib 2014 conference
> being unwelcoming because of our new No Clothes Policy, I say you are
> wrong. We are entitled to enact our own conditions of entry, and if
> you are unwilling to front up naked then you are just erecting your
> own barriers. The conference is open and welcome to all - I hope to
> see you there."
>
> :-p
>
> A different post mentioned namespace collisions - I actually don't
> suffer from this, and because of my unique name I sometimes prefer not
> to hand it over in certain circumstances (but GitHub wouldn't worry
> me).
>
> David



-- 
Cary Gordon
The Cherry Hill Company
http://chillco.com

Re: [CODE4LIB] back to minorities question, seeking guidance

[phoebe ayers]

On Thu, Feb 14, 2013 at 8:34 AM, Shearer, Timothy J
wrote:

> Hi Folks,
>
> I'm teaching systems analysis at SILS (UNC CH) this semester.
>
> Though the course is required for the IS degree, it's not required for the
> LS degree.
>
> However, the majority of my students this semester are LS.  And the vast
> majority are women.
>
> Apropos of the part of the thread that dealt with numbers:
>
> For those of you who came into this community and at some point went
> through a MSLS or MSIS program I am wondering if there are things I could
> try to do that might have an impact on better aligning the ratio of men to
> women in code4lib and the technology end of the field in general to that
> in the general population?
>
> Was there a moment of clarity?  A person who said or modeled the right
> thing?  A project that helped uncover a skill you didn't know you had?
>
> And, I am not just interested in what I can do through one class, but also
> what the curriculum and school could do more holistically.
>

I am de-lurking to say I also really appreciate these questions.

I am not a coder or a systems person or anything else like that officially
(though I do seem to spend a lot of time on the web committees)  -- I'm an
academic reference librarian, who has the distinction of being the
technical one in my dept. because I am unafraid of my computer.

My experience is most of the MLIS's I graduated with -- and me, too --
needed a basic background in CS stuff that we did not have (network
administration, simple web programming, basic database stuff), but were
also mostly interested in how to be practical in the real library world
with it. And so I think the most important set of skills to have is a basic
understanding of what underlies the applications we use every day, and what
those things do -- and how to approach learning more about things if you
need to (I'm not going to remember, say, PHP if you teach it to me in class
-- but I may well remember what it is and what it can do and how to
recognize it in the wild).

The other important issue that I see a lot of when working with librarians
is not having a good sense of what's *possible* -- say the tradeoffs
between security and flexibility, or making something look pretty versus it
being user-editable, etc.  (And remember that often means what is possible
even though you might be working in a government or academic environment
with its own rules -- for instance, the only way I could get away with
setting up a server is to do it at home!) Also this may not be as true of
students, but many public services folks in the library world may for
instance have learned HTML 15 years ago when it was a thing to write your
own webpages by hand: but they haven't kept up with web technology over
time. So their understanding may be hazy.

So: though I wrote faux SQL in my databases class, and that was a necessary
and important thing to learn, it would have been more interesting for me to
learn how an ILS works, generally. Or what the parts are of a basic digital
repository -- even if I didn't get down in to learning the programming
language they were written in. Etc. I think for me, I might have ended up
on a more technical path than I'm on if it had been more clear to me how
technical projects interacted with the aspects of librarianship (reference,
collection development, etc) that I loved and figured out more easily.

I'll just second what Abigal said too, there are tons of different levels
in the MLIS program. I'd poll your class at the outset to see where they
are and teach accordingly. And yeah, I don't think many people realize how
good technical work can be an approach more than specific knowledge: the
instinct for when to google something.

-- Phoebe


-- 
* I use this address for lists; send personal messages to phoebe.ayers 
gmail.com *

Re: [CODE4LIB] GitHub Myths (was thanks and poetry)

[Kyle Banerjee]

On Thu, Feb 21, 2013 at 2:44 PM, David Friggens wrote:

> "To all the people complaining about the Code4Lib 2014 conference
> being unwelcoming because of our new No Clothes Policy, I say you are
> wrong. We are entitled to enact our own conditions of entry, and if
> you are unwilling to front up naked then you are just erecting your
> own barriers. The conference is open and welcome to all - I hope to
> see you there."
>

Actually many organizations have exactly this policy. Though none that I've
heard of care about coding in libraries...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pg5sRDJtqNc#t=4m42s

Re: [CODE4LIB] GitHub Myths (was thanks and poetry)

[David Friggens]

> If you're not willing to provide even your name to make use of a free
> service, then I dare say you are erecting your own barriers. Such is your
> choice, of course, but I don't think others need to be compelled
> to accommodate the barriers you create for yourself.
>
> And just because the terms of use are not unconditional, or perfectly to
> your liking, does not mean you're not welcome to use it. You are.

"To all the people complaining about the Code4Lib 2014 conference
being unwelcoming because of our new No Clothes Policy, I say you are
wrong. We are entitled to enact our own conditions of entry, and if
you are unwilling to front up naked then you are just erecting your
own barriers. The conference is open and welcome to all - I hope to
see you there."

:-p

A different post mentioned namespace collisions - I actually don't
suffer from this, and because of my unique name I sometimes prefer not
to hand it over in certain circumstances (but GitHub wouldn't worry
me).

David

Re: [CODE4LIB] Full Legal Names on the Web, was GitHub Myths (was thanks and poetry)

[Tom Johnson]

It took me a minute to find this--remembering it from when it made the
rounds a few years ago. "Falsehoods Programmers Believe About Names". It's
a useful reality check for anyone who thinks they can find and record
someone's "real name".

http://www.kalzumeus.com/2010/06/17/falsehoods-programmers-believe-about-names/

Perhaps PS4 should consider using VIAF. :)

- Tom

On Thu, Feb 21, 2013 at 10:36 AM, MJ Ray  wrote:

> Michael Schofield 
> > [...] This split topic I'd like to see maybe in another thread is
> > about giving full legal names to web services. If anyone watched the
> > PS4 reveal last night, you might have noticed that PS4 is giving up
> > gamertags (read: aliases) for full names to easily integrate with
> > other social platforms. [...]
>
> Anyone know how they're going to handle namespace collisions, and the
> various sexual and racial harrassment that will happen in some games
> once you can make assumptions about people from their full names?
>
> Hopefully, they only need be names and not legal full names.
>
> This might amuse some of you: I'm not even the first (or in the first
> ten) calling themselves "MJ Ray" on one popular web service - the ones
> before me are a diverse bunch, too; and I namespace-collided with
> myself at least twice while I was both staff for different departments
> and a student at an expanding university - the user database required
> full names and required them to be unique... oops!  I don't think
> that's the case any longer... ;-)
>
> Regards,
> --
> MJ Ray (slef), member of www.software.coop, a for-more-than-profit co-op.
> http://koha-community.org supporter, web and library systems developer.
> In My Opinion Only: see http://mjr.towers.org.uk/email.html
> Available for hire (including development) at http://www.software.coop/
>

Re: [CODE4LIB] A newbie seeking input/suggestions

[Reiswig, Jennifer]

OK, this is embarrassing but our solution was buying a pair of walkie talkies. 
On the back end, we have a schedule of who is "the backup" person and they 
carry the other walkie talkie around with them and don't leave the building 
during their backup hour. But they can be in their office, in the stacks, 
wherever.   1940s tech FTW.   Of course, building an app would be more fun. But 
in the meantime, this costs about $30. 

Jenny Reiswig
UC San Diego


On Feb 21, 2013, at 11:28 AM, "Kyle Banerjee"  wrote:

>> At a meeting recently, I was listening to a work leader lament how, if
>> she is the only person there, she is just too busy to make a phone call or
>> send an email asking for help - a common occurrence.  After I heard her, I
>> wondered how possible it would be to create some sort of desktop 'app'.
>> One that requires only one click and is smart enough to know its service
>> desk location and is sent to the right folks who could come assist right
>> away, upon demand.
>> 
> 
> The low tech way to achieve this would be to just have a shortcut pinned to
> the windows task bar that triggers a web service. A variable passed along
> in the URL would indicate your location which would be transmitted in a
> canned email to everyone. For added reach, the web service could ping
> peoples' cell phones. Any of your local systems people should be able to
> whip this in less than an hour.
> 
> Regarding the windows messaging service suggestion, that doesn't seem like
> an improvement on email (also, those types of messages are frequently
> blocked).
> 
> kyle

[CODE4LIB] Looking for Print Management Software

[Joselito Dela Cruz]

Hi All,
We are looking for a print management software that will not take too
much work from IT dept.
We wanted to track/limit no. of copies the students use.

Thanks,

Jay Dela Cruz

[CODE4LIB] Drummers?

[Joseph Lucia]

Please pardon the list-jacking and cross-posting.

Marc Fields & Bad Data is planning a performance at the ACRL Conference in 
Indianapolis, at the Lyrasis Reception on the evening of April 11th. The band 
is comprised of library-connected musicians.

We've had some changes in ensemble membership since the showing during the 2011 
Philadelphia ACRL conference. We are currently seeking a drummer / 
percussionist (and possibly a keyboard player) for the Indy show.

Contact me directly for details if you're able (e.g. you actually play the 
drums & are going to Indy for ACRL) & are interested in being part of this. I 
guarantee fun for all.


*
Joe Lucia
University Librarian
Villanova University
610-519-4290

Re: [CODE4LIB] back to minorities question, seeking guidance

[Abigail Goben]

Tim,

I'll jump in with, from a curriculum standpoint, making sure there are a 
variety of class levels offered.  When I went through my graduate 
program there was assistance for people who'd never used email, attached 
documents, created Powerpoints--basic level stuff that was taught by 
myself and other GAs on a 1-on-1 usually,  and there were classes for 
people who were already systems administrators/programmers/etc.


The only mid-level class offered during my tenure was a course on 
database design and XML.  It has proved the most useful class I took.  
While I imagine the curriculum has changed in the past few years at my 
alma mater, identifying and having regular offerings for different 
levels of familiarity would be important to me were I considering 
programs again.


Abigail

--
Abigail Goben
Assistant Information Services Librarian and Assistant Professor
University of Illinois at Chicago
Library of the Health Sciences - Chicago (M/C 763)
1750 W. Polk Street
Chicago, Illinois 60612
312.996.8292

[CODE4LIB] Job: Unicorn/Symphony Systems Librarian at Progressive Technology Federal Systems

[jobs]

Progressive Technology Federal Systems (PTFS) is seeking a self-motivated,
innovative systems librarian to help a traditional paper-bound U.S. Federal
government library move into a 21st century e-learning site. The successful
candidate will guide the Public Services and Technical Services staff of this
library to become a complete repository for e-content, combining commercial
e-products with government-developed databases. The website
needs to be revamped to be the single-entry portal for the library community
to locate and retrieve the e-content they need. The library
will continue to maintain a small MARC-based print collection, so the existing
Symphony ILS will serve as the backbone for the collection's
descriptive and inventory needs. The
successful candidate will be able to make HTML changes to the Symphony OPAC to
allow for external resources to be searched and results displayed
appropriately. Position located in the Washington DC metro
area. The candidate should have experience covering:

  
-Established systems librarian experienced with a Unicorn or Symphony system 
(including maintaining back-ups, running systems administration utilities, 
creating and modifying reports, customization and coding of the OPAC interface 
and coordinating vendor support from SirsiDynix)  
-Diagnose and solve problems relating to the OPAC, cataloging, circulation, 
serials control, acquisition, self-check interface modules  
-Experience establishing automated workflows using the Symphony system  
-Perform annual inventory  
-Perform upgrades of ILS software (in conjunction with SirsiDynix staff where 
required)  
-Customize OPAC interface by performing in-house coding  
-Support self-checkout equipment  
-Maintain library electronic interfaces on both public website and intranet  
-Update, compose and create content in electronic format assuring accuracy and 
proper display.  
-Perform coding to create html files, create and enhance the experience of the 
library's digital assets and customize the library's intranet presence using 
SharePoint  
-Familiarity with RFID systems and tagging  
-Work with the library's database service providers to customize their 
interface  
-Create and maintain digital repositories  
-Compile and distribute reports on the metrics/statistics for all of the 
library's services.  
-Troubleshoot problems with staff computers and public-access workstations in 
library reading room  
-Test new media and library applications as necessary.  
-Coordinate with staff and vendors to resolve difficulties that cannot be 
resolved in-house  
-Develop monthly status reports  
-Assist library patrons in the use of all digital resources, self-check 
equipment and library equipment.  
-Maintain and create documentation related to all duties  
  
**Requirements:**  
  
Specific requirements for the position include:

  
-Working knowledge of the UNIX operating system  
-At least 4 years demonstrated experience supporting web technologies such as 
HTML, XML and CSS  
-At least 2 years demonstrated experience creating and coding Unix shell 
scripts  
-Ability to use Photoshop  
-At least 2 years hands-on experience developing sites using SharePoint  
-Ability to use the OCLC bibliographic utility and online authority files  
-At least 4 years hands-on experience trouble-shooting computer hardware and 
networks  
-At least 4 years hands-on experience creating and coding web accessible 
electronic interfaces -for databases using advanced technologies  
-Must stay abreast of new library focused technologies and be able to recommend 
a better system than Symphony, if a better system can be found  
-Four years post-MLS library experience  
  
**Education:**  
  
MS Library/Information Science Required.

  
**Security Clearance Required**: None 



Brought to you by code4lib jobs: http://jobs.code4lib.org/job/6403/

[CODE4LIB] Job: Software Engineer—Application Development at TeachingBooks.net

[jobs]

TeachingBooks.net, a provider of digital multimedia resources for K-12
education, is hiring a software engineer to build and integrate new web
applications into our established infrastructure. We need a programmer who
enjoys working with data, solving programming problems related to database
relations, and is willing to improve and modify existing code. Individuals who
enjoy imagining new user applications for a growing dataset of materials that
are curated by content specialists are encouraged to apply.

  
Your primary responsibility will be to engineer Perl programming solutions to
data problems. You will be an indispensable member of a team that includes the
Lead of Research & Development, one off-site programmer, and two off-site
designers. As the primary in-house programmer, you will frequently be a first
responder and support for the other departments in the company.

  
PERFORMANCE RESPONSIBILITIES:

  * Implementing new programming solutions for online company services.
  * Using the web and mobile devices as delivery platforms for database 
services.
  * Creating code solutions that take into consideration diverse users' needs 
on many platforms (frequently older end-user software).
  * Reading, editing, and improving legacy code.
  * Creating HTML/CSS pages with team members from other departments.
  * Working with web APIs to build new services. Bug testing software with a 
high degree of accuracy.
  
NECESSARY SKILLS:

  * Ability (or willing to learn) to efficiently program in Perl (5, not 6). C, 
C+, or Objective-C also useful for work on mobile.
  * Good understanding of writing SQL on MySQL server.
  * Proven ability to generate HTML/CSS web pages.
  * Desire to learn new skills as projects require.
  * Previous experience with Subversion desirable.
  * Ability to work independently while staying in contact with other team 
members.
  * This is a good entry-level position for a recent graduate or someone 
looking to break into software engineering from a related line of work.
Position is full-time with competitive salary and benefits, including health
insurance. The office is in downtown Madison, Wisconsin, along Lake Mendota.



Brought to you by code4lib jobs: http://jobs.code4lib.org/job/6402/

Re: [CODE4LIB] A newbie seeking input/suggestions

[Kyle Banerjee]

On Thu, Feb 21, 2013 at 11:47 AM, Joe Hourcle  wrote:

> The problem is that you'd have to have it dynamically generate the list of
> who to text based on who's currently on duty.
>

If an app/service is generating the messages, it can take a parameter that
allows people to check in/out for purposes of receiving messages. So if you
forgot to check out, a bookmark in your smartphone would allow you to turn
off future messages.

If it's an on/off toggle switch rather than having to specify whether
you're in or out, neither the librarian at the desk nor the staff receiving
the messages needs to do anything more onerous than click on an icon.

Total skills required to put the service together: ability to author a
simple web page that can interpret a few parameters and send email (i.e.
just use the SMS email gateway)

kyle

[CODE4LIB] eXtensible Catalog Drupal Toolkit 1.3

[Péter Király]

Dear List,

I happily announce, that after several months of development the
eXtensible Catalog Drupal Toolkit 1.3 is just released.

The eXtensible Catalog Drupal Toolkit is the front end of eXtensible
Catalog (XC) built on Drupal content management system. It contains
a set of 25 Drupal modules, a custom theme, and installation profile,
and a customized Apache Solr search engine. XC is a discovery interface
built on FRBR and RDA-like metadata structure.

The release has a primary focus on data integrity, namely being able
to successfully process record updates on a schedule basis. This
includes new additions, updates and deletions of records. This release
includes some Solr integrity fixes submitted by Kyushu University. The
installation process for release 1.3 has also been reworked to include
an implementation option using Drush that makes the installation
substantially easier. If you have drush, the whole installation is
only 4 steps.

We also created a custom Solr package wich is pre-configured to the
needs of the Drupal Toolkit.

You can find the installation instructions and release notes here:
http://drupal.org/project/xc_installation.

I hope you will find it usefull. Now we are working hard on creating
the first stable release of the Drupal 7 version. Any comments,
suggestion and feedback are more than useful. You can find all the
project's issue tracker here:
http://extensiblecatalog.lib.rochester.edu:8080/browse/DRUPAL.

The eXtensible Catalog project's website is available at
http://eXtensibleCatalog.org

Best wishes,
Péter

-- 
Péter Király
software developer

Europeana - http://europeana.eu
eXtensible Catalog - http://eXtensibleCatalog.org

Re: [CODE4LIB] You are a *pedantic* coder. So what am I?

[Ian Walls]

Justin,


I certainly agree that to become a better coder, it's good to experiment
with many languages and applications.  I'm not advocating that any given
shop should always rule out a project in a new (to them) language.  What I'm
saying is that the context of what you already know and what your
environment supports is an equally important part of the conversation when
choosing a language to develop in. 

-Ian

-Original Message-
From: Code for Libraries [mailto:CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU] On Behalf Of
Justin Coyne
Sent: Thursday, February 21, 2013 12:59 PM
To: CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU
Subject: Re: [CODE4LIB] You are a *pedantic* coder. So what am I?

Ian, I have to caution against taking the attitude "we only code in what we
already know".  Of course you are going to be able to hit the ground running
faster in what you are expert in.  Putting on the blinders is a great way to
become irrelevant in the technology sphere.  If you want to be a better
coder, there is no better way than to learn a new language, and actually do
a project in it. The insights you find in doing this will make you a better
coder when your go back to doing whatever it was you were doing before.

-Justin


On Thu, Feb 21, 2013 at 11:53 AM, Ian Walls wrote:

> Agreed.  Each language has its own strengths and weaknesses.  Pick the 
> one that works best for your situation, factoring in not only what the 
> application needs to do, but your and your team's level of experience, 
> and the overall community context in which the project will live.  The 
> peculiarities of a given languages truth tables, for example, can 
> easily get washed out of the calculation when you consider what 
> languages you know and what platforms your institution supports.
>
>
> -Ian
>
> -Original Message-
> From: Code for Libraries [mailto:CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU] On Behalf 
> Of Ethan Gruber
> Sent: Thursday, February 21, 2013 12:45 PM
> To: CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU
> Subject: Re: [CODE4LIB] You are a *pedantic* coder. So what am I?
>
> Look, I'm sure we can list the many ways different languages fail to 
> meet our expectations, but is this really a constructive line of
conversation?
>
> -1
>
>
> On Thu, Feb 21, 2013 at 12:40 PM, Justin Coyne
> wrote:
>
> > I did misspeak a bit.  You can override static methods in Java.  My 
> > major issue is that there is no "getClass()" within a static method, 
> > so when the static method is being run in the context of the 
> > inheriting class it is unaware of its own run context.
> >
> > For example: I want the output to be "Hi from bar", but it's "Hi 
> > from
> foo":
> >
> > class Foo {
> >   public static void sayHello() {
> > hi();
> >   }
> >   public static void hi() {
> > System.out.println("Hi from foo");
> >   }
> > }
> >
> > class Bar extends Foo {
> >
> >   public static void hi() {
> > System.out.println("Hi from bar");
> >   }
> > }
> >
> > class Test {
> >   public static void main(String [ ] args) {
> > Bar.sayHello();
> >   }
> > }
> >
> >
> > -Justin
> >
> >
> >
> > On Thu, Feb 21, 2013 at 11:18 AM, Eric Hellman  wrote:
> >
> > > OK, pedant, tell us why you think methods that can be over-ridden 
> > > are static.
> > > Also, tell us why you think classes in Java are not instances of 
> > > java.lang.Class
> > >
> > >
> > > On Feb 18, 2013, at 1:39 PM, Justin Coyne 
> > > 
> > > wrote:
> > >
> > > > To be pedantic, Ruby and JavaScript are more Object Oriented 
> > > > than Java because they don't have primitives and (in Ruby's 
> > > > case) because classes
> > > are
> > > > themselves objects.   Unlike Java, both Python and Ruby can properly
> > > > override of static methods on sub-classes. The Java language 
> > > > made many compromises as it was designed as a bridge to Object 
> > > > Oriented
> > programming
> > > > for programmers who were used to writing C and C++.
> > > >
> > > > -Justin
> > > >
> > >
> >
>

Re: [CODE4LIB] PHP YAZ

[Péter Király]

Hi,

in the PHP Black Book you can find some usage examples.
http://www.amazon.com/PHP-Black-Book-Peter-Moulding/dp/1588800539

It was quite long time ago when I played with YAZ on Windows, I don't
remember any troubles.
Have you got installation problem?

Péter

ps. Warning: PHP Black Book is outdated in lots of aspects, it
discussed PHP 4.x, so be careful if you want to try the code axamples.

2013/2/21 Stephen Marks :
> I've done it before, but it's been a while. What problem are you having
> particularly?
>
> s
>
>
>
> On Feb-20-2013 1:57 PM, Brent Ferguson wrote:
>>
>> Is there anyone that has experience working with PHP and YAZ on a Windows
>> Box...
>>
>> Have a few questions to help clarify what is needed to get up and
>> running...
>>
>> Brent Ferguson, MLS
>> Web Developer / Reference Librarian - Elkhart Public Library
>> http://www.myepl.org/epl
>>
>>
>
> --
>
>
>
> Stephen Marks
> Digital Preservation Librarian
> Scholars Portal
> Ontario Council of University Libraries
>
> step...@scholarsportal.info
> 416.946.0300
>
> "Fearlessness is better than a faint heart for any man who puts his nose out
> of doors. The length of my life and the day of my death were fated long
> ago." --Skírnismál



-- 
Péter Király
software developer

Europeana - http://europeana.eu
eXtensible Catalog - http://eXtensibleCatalog.org

Re: [CODE4LIB] back to minorities question, seeking guidance

[Andromeda Yelton]

Like Rosy, I've been sitting on this wondering what to say, and am now
following Karen, even though I wish I had more in the way of
anthropological or statistical insight...

Anyway.  I recommend reading Unlocking the Clubhouse, which sheds a lot of
light on the sometimes-subtle factors that disincentivize women's study of
programming.

I'd familiarize yourself with Boston Python Workshop, Railsbridge, and
Hacker School -- not just their curricula but what they do to build
inclusive cultures (notably Hacker School's explicit social rules:
http://marthakelly.github.com/blog/2012/06/04/hacker-school-day-one/ ).

The one time I TAed at Boston Python Workshop, I found the things that had
the most visible positive impact on students' engagement and confidence
were:

1) Naming impostor syndrome when it arose. Telling people it was a real
thing with a name and they were not the only ones to experience it.
 (People's eyes got really wide over this one.)

2) Modeling fallibility: making it normal and okay to not know everything,
to need to ask someone else or Google it.  Making it clear you don't have
to be omniscient to be a real technologist.  (Students' relief over this
was so strong it was painful to see.)

I'd read
http://geekfeminism.org/2012/05/21/how-i-got-50-women-speakers-at-my-tech-conference/.
 Then I'd try to be very aware of who speaks up in class, and whether
you
might be unintentionally encouraging some people more than others or
allowing some to dominate, and keep in mind that people's silence may have
more to do with confidence than competence.

And I'd try to avoid reinventing the wheel.  The Ada Initiative has done
some of this work.  So has GeekFeminism.  So has Open Hatch.

Lastly there's really no substitute for building a real thing that works,
is there?  Getting that high?  Do what you can to give your students quick
wins, not only so that they get that high, but so that they can build a
self-image of themselves as capable of this stuff (which they may need to
persevere as the material gets more challenging throughout the semester...)

Andromeda

On Thu, Feb 14, 2013 at 11:34 AM, Shearer, Timothy J  wrote:

> Hi Folks,
>
> I'm teaching systems analysis at SILS (UNC CH) this semester.
>
> Though the course is required for the IS degree, it's not required for the
> LS degree.
>
> However, the majority of my students this semester are LS.  And the vast
> majority are women.
>
> Apropos of the part of the thread that dealt with numbers:
>
> For those of you who came into this community and at some point went
> through a MSLS or MSIS program I am wondering if there are things I could
> try to do that might have an impact on better aligning the ratio of men to
> women in code4lib and the technology end of the field in general to that
> in the general population?
>
> Was there a moment of clarity?  A person who said or modeled the right
> thing?  A project that helped uncover a skill you didn't know you had?
>
> And, I am not just interested in what I can do through one class, but also
> what the curriculum and school could do more holistically.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Tim
>

Re: [CODE4LIB] GitHub Myths (was thanks and poetry)

[Devon]

As far as the poetry goes, not my thing, so I don't have a comment on what
is actually used. The thread appeared to fork onto a discussion about
github use more generally. My apologies to all if it is still tightly
coupled to the poetry thing. The rest of my comments assume the more
general conversation.

MJ Ray had specific complaints - choosing not to have an account at all,
for ANY project. There are no doubt projects for which github is not
appropriate - all the examples you gave. There are countless more, however,
where it is a perfectly reasonable option. Choosing not to have an account
to participate in ANY project - no matter how trivial - is an individual's
choice. They certainly should not be coerced into getting one.

While no one has explicitly said "accommodate me," it is implied in their
communications. The very nature of the original conversation was
people refuse to use github or feel the barriers "imposed" are too high and
therefore want others to make different choices - to accommodate their
choices. As far as the poetry thing goes, if the participants are
comfortable with that accommodation, then all is well and fine.

Like Jonathan, I think it was a mistake to post at all.

/dev



On Thu, Feb 21, 2013 at 1:44 PM, Tom Johnson  wrote:

> Devon:
>
> I don't think anyone is asking you to accommodate them in your choice of
> tools or even approve of what they see as barriers. This conversation
> started because of an understanding that the poetry folks *do want* to
> accommodate others' needs and preferences. Taking that assumption in hand,
> I don't think it's useful to dictate what counts as legitimate barriers for
> other people. Their participation will be prevented to the same extent
> whatever we think of their reasons.
>
> That aside, I can think off-hand of a handful of reasons, near-and-dear to
> FOSS, why a project contributor might not want identifying information
> associated with their commits, and why the project coordinators might want
> to make sure they don't have to. I might be contributing in my personal
> time, but concerned that my employer would try to make copyright claims if
> they could trace the code back to me. I might be contributing to security
> projects like Tor or Whisper Systems, which has been known to cause trouble
> at US borders for some people. Or, I might live under an oppressive
> government which would object even more strongly to my choice of project.
>
> These issues matter to a lot of us.
>
> - Tom
>
> On Thu, Feb 21, 2013 at 7:10 AM, Devon  wrote:
>
> > If you're not willing to provide even your name to make use of a free
> > service, then I dare say you are erecting your own barriers. Such is your
> > choice, of course, but I don't think others need to be compelled
> > to accommodate the barriers you create for yourself.
> >
> > And just because the terms of use are not unconditional, or perfectly to
> > your liking, does not mean you're not welcome to use it. You are.
> >
> > /dev
> >
> >
> > On Thu, Feb 21, 2013 at 9:34 AM, MJ Ray  wrote:
> >
> > > Shaun Ellis 
> > > > * Myth #1 : GitHub creates a barrier to entry.
> > >
> > > That's a fact, not a myth.  Myself, I won't give GitHub my full legal
> > > name and I suspect there are others who won't.  So, we're not welcome
> > > there and if we lie to register, all our work would be subject to
> > > deletion at an arbitrary future point.
> > >
> > > There's a couple of other things in the terms which aren't simple, too.
> > >
> > > [...]
> > > > * Myth #4 : GitHub is monopolizing open source software development.
> > > >  > "... to its unfortunate centralizing of so much free/open
> > > >  > source software on one platform.)"
> > > >
> > > > Convergence is not always a bad thing. GitHub provides a great, free
> > > > service with lots of helpful collaboration tools beyond version
> > control.
> > > >   It's natural that people would flock there, despite having lots of
> > > > other options.
> > >
> > > Whether or not it's a deliberate monopolising attempt, I don't think
> > > that's the full reason.  It's not only natural effect.  There's a
> > > sneaky lock-in effect of having one open tool (git hosting) which is
> > > fairly easy to move in and out and interoperate with, linked to other
> > > closed tools (such as their issues tracker and their non-git pull
> > > requests system) which are harder to move out or interoperate.
> > >
> > > Use github if you like.  Just don't expect everyone to do so.
> > >
> > > Hope that explains,
> > > --
> > > MJ Ray (slef), member of www.software.coop, a for-more-than-profit
> > co-op.
> > > http://koha-community.org supporter, web and library systems
> developer.
> > > In My Opinion Only: see http://mjr.towers.org.uk/email.html
> > > Available for hire (including development) at
> http://www.software.coop/
> > >
> >
> >
> >
> > --
> > Sent from my GMail account.
> >
>



-- 
Sent from my GMail account.

Re: [CODE4LIB] You are a *pedantic* coder. So what am I?

[Genny Engel]

I feel that this is true.  However, the more languages I learn, the more I find 
myself doing embarrassing things like trying to update a JavaScript file and 
then realizing I'm actually writing in PHP or C++.  If only my brain had an 
automatic language gearshift.

Genny Engel
Sonoma County Library
gen...@sonoma.lib.ca.us
707 545-0831 x1581
www.sonomalibrary.org


-Original Message-
From: Code for Libraries [mailto:CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU] On Behalf Of Justin 
Coyne
Sent: Thursday, February 21, 2013 9:59 AM
To: CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU
Subject: Re: [CODE4LIB] You are a *pedantic* coder. So what am I?

Ian, I have to caution against taking the attitude "we only code in what we
already know".  Of course you are going to be able to hit the ground
running faster in what you are expert in.  Putting on the blinders is a
great way to become irrelevant in the technology sphere.  If you want to be
a better coder, there is no better way than to learn a new language, and
actually do a project in it. The insights you find in doing this will make
you a better coder when your go back to doing whatever it was you were
doing before.

-Justin


On Thu, Feb 21, 2013 at 11:53 AM, Ian Walls wrote:

> Agreed.  Each language has its own strengths and weaknesses.  Pick the one
> that works best for your situation, factoring in not only what the
> application needs to do, but your and your team's level of experience, and
> the overall community context in which the project will live.  The
> peculiarities of a given languages truth tables, for example, can easily
> get washed out of the calculation when you consider what languages you know
> and what platforms your institution supports.
>
>
> -Ian
>
> -Original Message-
> From: Code for Libraries [mailto:CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU] On Behalf Of
> Ethan Gruber
> Sent: Thursday, February 21, 2013 12:45 PM
> To: CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU
> Subject: Re: [CODE4LIB] You are a *pedantic* coder. So what am I?
>
> Look, I'm sure we can list the many ways different languages fail to meet
> our expectations, but is this really a constructive line of conversation?
>
> -1
>
>
> On Thu, Feb 21, 2013 at 12:40 PM, Justin Coyne
> wrote:
>
> > I did misspeak a bit.  You can override static methods in Java.  My
> > major issue is that there is no "getClass()" within a static method,
> > so when the static method is being run in the context of the
> > inheriting class it is unaware of its own run context.
> >
> > For example: I want the output to be "Hi from bar", but it's "Hi from
> foo":
> >
> > class Foo {
> >   public static void sayHello() {
> > hi();
> >   }
> >   public static void hi() {
> > System.out.println("Hi from foo");
> >   }
> > }
> >
> > class Bar extends Foo {
> >
> >   public static void hi() {
> > System.out.println("Hi from bar");
> >   }
> > }
> >
> > class Test {
> >   public static void main(String [ ] args) {
> > Bar.sayHello();
> >   }
> > }
> >
> >
> > -Justin
> >
> >
> >
> > On Thu, Feb 21, 2013 at 11:18 AM, Eric Hellman  wrote:
> >
> > > OK, pedant, tell us why you think methods that can be over-ridden
> > > are static.
> > > Also, tell us why you think classes in Java are not instances of
> > > java.lang.Class
> > >
> > >
> > > On Feb 18, 2013, at 1:39 PM, Justin Coyne
> > > 
> > > wrote:
> > >
> > > > To be pedantic, Ruby and JavaScript are more Object Oriented than
> > > > Java because they don't have primitives and (in Ruby's case)
> > > > because classes
> > > are
> > > > themselves objects.   Unlike Java, both Python and Ruby can properly
> > > > override of static methods on sub-classes. The Java language made
> > > > many compromises as it was designed as a bridge to Object Oriented
> > programming
> > > > for programmers who were used to writing C and C++.
> > > >
> > > > -Justin
> > > >
> > >
> >
>

Re: [CODE4LIB] back to minorities question, seeking guidance

[Rosalyn Metz]

Tim,

This too has been sitting in my inbox, and I've been trying to find time to
respond.  I have to say that I love your questions.  Now that Karen has
piped up, I'll follow suit.  I've addressed each of your questions below to
the best of my ability.

*For those of you who came into this community and at some point went through
a MSLS or MSIS program I am wondering if there are things I could try to do
that might have an impact on better aligning the ratio of men to women in
code4lib and the technology end of the field in general to that in the
general population?*

I have to say that I felt really lucky to have some very smart professors
teaching me.  More importantly, that they were women (specifically Kristin
Chaffin and Catherine Blake who are no longer there, and Diane Kelly who
happily is still there).  I enjoyed having them to look to as examples, it
made me feel like what I wanted to do was obtainable.  Looking back I
realize that the only male I took classes with on the IS side of SILS was
Dr. Losee.  That being said, when I looked around the room in my IS
classes, the majority of the folks were men.  And encouraging men at that
-- I was lucky enough to graduate with some amazing men.  I think being in
a space that had a strong female presence (professors) and an encouraging
male presence (my classmates) made me feel less conspicuous as one of just
a few females in my class.  I wonder if the same would have been true if I
had taken classes made up mostly of females.

I also agree with what Karen said "*If anyone says 'I guess I don't get it'
or 'I think this is a stupid question, but...' then your response will make
a huge difference.*" I think that's the moment to step up and say, *'lots
of people don't get it right away'* or *'i'm sure lots of people have that
question'*.  Sometimes people just need a cheerleader.

*Was there a moment of clarity?  A person who said or modeled the right thing?
 A project that helped uncover a skill you didn't know you had?*
Again I really think my professors pointing out to me that I was doing a
great job and encouraging me to do more was what made me move forward --
Catherine Blake taught me Database II and encouraged me to take the
programming class with Kristin Chaffin because she thought I was doing so
well with databases.  I did, and Kristin opened up a world that I had
only dabbled in -- and she too encouraged me to do more.  I appreciated
that and don't know if I would have done it had it not been for them.

*And, I am not just interested in what I can do through one class, but
also what
the curriculum and school could do more holistically.*
So I'm of the mind -- and this is something that almost stopped me from
going to SILS in the first place -- that the school should be handing out
an MLIS.  I wasted a lot of time taking classes that I didn't necessarily
need.  I wish I could have focused more on classes I loved, but because I
had to decide between an IS and an LS (and couldn't) I ended up taking all
the required classes for both degrees.  If I hadn't been forced into a
choice, I would have had more time to focus on the things that it turns out
I loved -- databases, programming, and systems administration.

That's just my two cents. Hope that helps,
Rosalyn




On Thu, Feb 21, 2013 at 11:43 AM, Karen Coyle  wrote:

> Timothy,
>
> This has been sitting in my in-box as I try to come up with a reply.
>
> I went through library school before "coding" was an issue, although I did
> do some statistical work on computers (punch cards). But for me the
> "moment" was simply being given a task with the assumption that I would be
> up to it. I also suggest group work, with students selecting their own
> groups, or opting to work alone. Group work can be less intimidating than
> having to ask questions in front of an entire class, especially if the
> class is coed, and especially if it has a few "know it alls" who like to
> one-up everyone else. It's the class dynamic (and how you handle it) that
> is more important than the content of the class for encouraging women. And
> it is also the hardest thing to get right. ;-) Pay close attention to your
> students and what they are telling you about how comfortable they feel in
> the class. If anyone says "I guess I don't get it" or "I think this is a
> stupid question, but..." then your response will make a huge difference.
> And don't let the class fall prey to the "know it alls." They are absolute
> poison in the learning environment.
>
> Good luck!
>
> kc
>
>
>
>
> On 2/14/13 8:34 AM, Shearer, Timothy J wrote:
>
>> Hi Folks,
>>
>> I'm teaching systems analysis at SILS (UNC CH) this semester.
>>
>> Though the course is required for the IS degree, it's not required for the
>> LS degree.
>>
>> However, the majority of my students this semester are LS.  And the vast
>> majority are women.
>>
>> Apropos of the part of the thread that dealt with numbers:
>>
>> For those of you who came into this community and at some po

[CODE4LIB] Project Ride Share Breakout Google Group created

[Ross Singer]

Hi everybody.  On the Wednesday breakout sessions in Chicago, we had a breakout 
that was titled "Project Rideshare Board", which was about trying to come up 
with a solution to help libraries find cross-institutional development 
partners; advertise specs, needs and membership; and foster learning 
opportunities for new roles, languages, or responsibilities (project manager, 
development, etc.).

Here's the summary of the breakout (btw, if you attended, please add your 
name!):

http://wiki.code4lib.org/index.php/2013_project_rideshare_breakout

And here's the Google Group where we'll test the whole viability of the concept 
by trying to create the rideshare board.

The groups is by no means limited to those that attended the breakout, so 
please join if you're interested in pushing this forward!

Thanks,
-Ross.

[CODE4LIB] Recall: [CODE4LIB] You are a *pedantic* coder. So what am I?

[Jay, Michael]

Jay, Michael would like to recall the message, "[CODE4LIB] You are a *pedantic* 
coder. So what am I?".

Re: [CODE4LIB] A newbie seeking input/suggestions

[Joe Hourcle]

On Feb 21, 2013, at 2:28 PM, Cab Vinton wrote:

> This seems like a good application for text messaging -- as long as
> all librarians have smartphones, which they surely would at Yale :-)


The problem is that you'd have to have it dynamically generate the list of who 
to text based on who's currently on duty.

Otherwise, you have it harassing people on their days off, when they're home 
sick, etc.

-Joe

Re: [CODE4LIB] You are a *pedantic* coder. So what am I?

[Jay, Michael]

you really derailed me . . . i might be able to help with the javascript ypu're 
messing with though . . . maybe . . . 

mj

Re: [CODE4LIB] A newbie seeking input/suggestions

[Cab Vinton]

This seems like a good application for text messaging -- as long as
all librarians have smartphones, which they surely would at Yale :-)

Cheers,

Cab Vinton
Sanbornton Public Library

Re: [CODE4LIB] A newbie seeking input/suggestions

[Kyle Banerjee]

>  At a meeting recently, I was listening to a work leader lament how, if
> she is the only person there, she is just too busy to make a phone call or
> send an email asking for help - a common occurrence.  After I heard her, I
> wondered how possible it would be to create some sort of desktop 'app'.
>  One that requires only one click and is smart enough to know its service
> desk location and is sent to the right folks who could come assist right
> away, upon demand.
>

The low tech way to achieve this would be to just have a shortcut pinned to
the windows task bar that triggers a web service. A variable passed along
in the URL would indicate your location which would be transmitted in a
canned email to everyone. For added reach, the web service could ping
peoples' cell phones. Any of your local systems people should be able to
whip this in less than an hour.

Regarding the windows messaging service suggestion, that doesn't seem like
an improvement on email (also, those types of messages are frequently
blocked).

kyle

Re: [CODE4LIB] You are a *pedantic* coder. So what am I?

[Sullivan, Mark V]

I was just curious, so I threw the same thing into C#.

class Foo
{
public static void sayHello()
{
hi();
}

public static void hi()
{
Console.WriteLine("Hi from foo");
}
}

class Bar : Foo
{
public static void sayHello2()
{
hi();
}

public static new void hi()
{
Console.WriteLine("Hi from bar");
}
}

class Program
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
Bar.sayHello();
Bar.sayHello2();
Console.ReadLine();
}
}

Result is similar:
Hi from foo
Hi from bar.

The C# compiler actually throws an error if you try to make a static class 
extend another class.  ( i.e., static class Bar : Foo ).

Static references are really a nice way to get around OO in the first place 
though.  Of course I use them as well, when I want to introduce more procedural 
type methods into my code, or when I truly need something at the CLASS level, 
rather than the OBJECT level.  Although using static methods can occasionally 
provide very small performance boosts, I would guess static methods also 
reduces the ability to use reflection to examine code introduced or created 
during runtime.

That said, it's hard for me to get too excited about the lack of the ability 
for a static class to extend another static class and throw strongly typed 
classes out the window for Javascript's hash implementation.  And I have spent 
a lot of time trying to get Javascript to feel more object-oriented, copying a 
"child" classes hash from the parent and then adding new items (happen to be 
functions) to it and using Prototype as well.

Either way, there are different models for everyone and perhaps every project.  

But, I did learn something about Java (and then C#) from this thread.

Mark / UF



-Original Message-
From: Code for Libraries [mailto:CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU] On Behalf Of 
Benjamin Armintor
Sent: Thursday, February 21, 2013 1:22 PM
To: CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU
Subject: Re: [CODE4LIB] You are a *pedantic* coder. So what am I?

If this thread is just code nerdery: You can't override static methods in Java. 
 It looks like you can because there's a generous search for statically bound 
names (if B extends A, and A defines static a(), B.a() works), but it's not the 
overriding mechanism because if you try to refer to super in an "overriding" 
implementation, the compiler stops you (it's not bound).  This also suggests 
that classes are not objects, but that the reflection API cheats a little to  
make them appear to be so.

I always thought Javascript both had primitives and was more functional than 
OO, given the Prototype inheritance stuff, the fact that objects are really 
hashes, and the fact that constructors are functions.  Ruby, though:
totally OO. Except when it's not.

- Ben


On Thu, Feb 21, 2013 at 1:00 PM, Adam Wead  wrote:

> Actually, I'm finding this thread very enlightening.  I've only had a 
> little java experience, but always assumed it was the 
> ur-implementation of OO principles.  Now, I've had that assumption corrected.
>
> Thanks,
>
> ...adam
>
>
> On Feb 21, 2013, at 12:53 PM, Ian Walls  wrote:
>
> > Agreed.  Each language has its own strengths and weaknesses.  Pick 
> > the
> one that works best for your situation, factoring in not only what the 
> application needs to do, but your and your team's level of experience, 
> and the overall community context in which the project will live.  The 
> peculiarities of a given languages truth tables, for example, can 
> easily get washed out of the calculation when you consider what 
> languages you know and what platforms your institution supports.
> >
> >
> > -Ian
> >
> > -Original Message-
> > From: Code for Libraries [mailto:CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU] On Behalf 
> > Of
> Ethan Gruber
> > Sent: Thursday, February 21, 2013 12:45 PM
> > To: CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU
> > Subject: Re: [CODE4LIB] You are a *pedantic* coder. So what am I?
> >
> > Look, I'm sure we can list the many ways different languages fail to
> meet our expectations, but is this really a constructive line of 
> conversation?
> >
> > -1
> >
> >
> > On Thu, Feb 21, 2013 at 12:40 PM, Justin Coyne
> > wrote:
> >
> >> I did misspeak a bit.  You can override static methods in Java.  My 
> >> major issue is that there is no "getClass()" within a static 
> >> method, so when the static method is being run in the context of 
> >> the inheriting class it is unaware of its own run context.
> >>
> >> For example: I want the output to be "Hi from bar", but it's "Hi 
> >> from
> foo":
> >>
> >> class Foo {
> >>  public static void sayHello() {
> >>hi();
> >>  }
> >>  public static void hi() {
> >>System.out.println("Hi from foo");  } }
> >>
> >> class Bar extends Foo {
> >>
> >>  public static void hi() {
> >>System.out.println("Hi from bar");  } }
> >>
> >> class

Re: [CODE4LIB] You are a *pedantic* coder. So what am I?

[Hugh Cayless]

Can't resist a bit of nerdery :-)

If I'm not mistaken, this is bumping up against the differences between what 
happens (in Java) at compile-time vs. what happens at runtime. Static method 
calls in Java are always resolved at compile-time. Overridden methods, on the 
other hand, are decided on at runtime. So you can't do polymorphism with static 
methods—by the time you run the code, it's already been decided what method a 
particular invocation is going to call.

Javascript does have primitives, and doesn't have classes, but it certainly 
does have objects, and it's not unreasonable to call it object-oriented. Not 
sure I'd hold it up as a paradigm of OO-ness though. 

Is OO still regarded as all that great a paradigm in general? I've been hanging 
out with functional languages for a while, so my perspective is skewed ;-).

Hugh

On Feb 21, 2013, at 13:21 , Benjamin Armintor  wrote:

> If this thread is just code nerdery: You can't override static methods in
> Java.  It looks like you can because there's a generous search for
> statically bound names (if B extends A, and A defines static a(), B.a()
> works), but it's not the overriding mechanism because if you try to refer
> to super in an "overriding" implementation, the compiler stops you (it's
> not bound).  This also suggests that classes are not objects, but that the
> reflection API cheats a little to  make them appear to be so.
> 
> I always thought Javascript both had primitives and was more functional
> than OO, given the Prototype inheritance stuff, the fact that objects are
> really hashes, and the fact that constructors are functions.  Ruby, though:
> totally OO. Except when it's not.
> 
> - Ben
> 
> 
> On Thu, Feb 21, 2013 at 1:00 PM, Adam Wead  wrote:
> 
>> Actually, I'm finding this thread very enlightening.  I've only had a
>> little java experience, but always assumed it was the ur-implementation of
>> OO principles.  Now, I've had that assumption corrected.
>> 
>> Thanks,
>> 
>> …adam
>> 
>> 
>> On Feb 21, 2013, at 12:53 PM, Ian Walls  wrote:
>> 
>>> Agreed.  Each language has its own strengths and weaknesses.  Pick the
>> one that works best for your situation, factoring in not only what the
>> application needs to do, but your and your team's level of experience, and
>> the overall community context in which the project will live.  The
>> peculiarities of a given languages truth tables, for example, can easily
>> get washed out of the calculation when you consider what languages you know
>> and what platforms your institution supports.
>>> 
>>> 
>>> -Ian
>>> 
>>> -Original Message-
>>> From: Code for Libraries [mailto:CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU] On Behalf Of
>> Ethan Gruber
>>> Sent: Thursday, February 21, 2013 12:45 PM
>>> To: CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU
>>> Subject: Re: [CODE4LIB] You are a *pedantic* coder. So what am I?
>>> 
>>> Look, I'm sure we can list the many ways different languages fail to
>> meet our expectations, but is this really a constructive line of
>> conversation?
>>> 
>>> -1
>>> 
>>> 
>>> On Thu, Feb 21, 2013 at 12:40 PM, Justin Coyne
>>> wrote:
>>> 
 I did misspeak a bit.  You can override static methods in Java.  My
 major issue is that there is no "getClass()" within a static method,
 so when the static method is being run in the context of the
 inheriting class it is unaware of its own run context.
 
 For example: I want the output to be "Hi from bar", but it's "Hi from
>> foo":
 
 class Foo {
 public static void sayHello() {
   hi();
 }
 public static void hi() {
   System.out.println("Hi from foo");
 }
 }
 
 class Bar extends Foo {
 
 public static void hi() {
   System.out.println("Hi from bar");
 }
 }
 
 class Test {
 public static void main(String [ ] args) {
   Bar.sayHello();
 }
 }
 
 
 -Justin
 
 
 
 On Thu, Feb 21, 2013 at 11:18 AM, Eric Hellman 
>> wrote:
 
> OK, pedant, tell us why you think methods that can be over-ridden
> are static.
> Also, tell us why you think classes in Java are not instances of
> java.lang.Class
> 
> 
> On Feb 18, 2013, at 1:39 PM, Justin Coyne
> 
> wrote:
> 
>> To be pedantic, Ruby and JavaScript are more Object Oriented than
>> Java because they don't have primitives and (in Ruby's case)
>> because classes
> are
>> themselves objects.   Unlike Java, both Python and Ruby can properly
>> override of static methods on sub-classes. The Java language made
>> many compromises as it was designed as a bridge to Object Oriented
 programming
>> for programmers who were used to writing C and C++.
>> 
>> -Justin
>> 
> 
 
>> 
>> This communication is a confidential and proprietary business
>> communication. It is intended solely for the use of the designated
>> recipient(s). If this communication is received in error, please contact
>> the sender

Re: [CODE4LIB] GitHub Myths (was thanks and poetry)

[Tom Johnson]

Devon:

I don't think anyone is asking you to accommodate them in your choice of
tools or even approve of what they see as barriers. This conversation
started because of an understanding that the poetry folks *do want* to
accommodate others' needs and preferences. Taking that assumption in hand,
I don't think it's useful to dictate what counts as legitimate barriers for
other people. Their participation will be prevented to the same extent
whatever we think of their reasons.

That aside, I can think off-hand of a handful of reasons, near-and-dear to
FOSS, why a project contributor might not want identifying information
associated with their commits, and why the project coordinators might want
to make sure they don't have to. I might be contributing in my personal
time, but concerned that my employer would try to make copyright claims if
they could trace the code back to me. I might be contributing to security
projects like Tor or Whisper Systems, which has been known to cause trouble
at US borders for some people. Or, I might live under an oppressive
government which would object even more strongly to my choice of project.

These issues matter to a lot of us.

- Tom

On Thu, Feb 21, 2013 at 7:10 AM, Devon  wrote:

> If you're not willing to provide even your name to make use of a free
> service, then I dare say you are erecting your own barriers. Such is your
> choice, of course, but I don't think others need to be compelled
> to accommodate the barriers you create for yourself.
>
> And just because the terms of use are not unconditional, or perfectly to
> your liking, does not mean you're not welcome to use it. You are.
>
> /dev
>
>
> On Thu, Feb 21, 2013 at 9:34 AM, MJ Ray  wrote:
>
> > Shaun Ellis 
> > > * Myth #1 : GitHub creates a barrier to entry.
> >
> > That's a fact, not a myth.  Myself, I won't give GitHub my full legal
> > name and I suspect there are others who won't.  So, we're not welcome
> > there and if we lie to register, all our work would be subject to
> > deletion at an arbitrary future point.
> >
> > There's a couple of other things in the terms which aren't simple, too.
> >
> > [...]
> > > * Myth #4 : GitHub is monopolizing open source software development.
> > >  > "... to its unfortunate centralizing of so much free/open
> > >  > source software on one platform.)"
> > >
> > > Convergence is not always a bad thing. GitHub provides a great, free
> > > service with lots of helpful collaboration tools beyond version
> control.
> > >   It's natural that people would flock there, despite having lots of
> > > other options.
> >
> > Whether or not it's a deliberate monopolising attempt, I don't think
> > that's the full reason.  It's not only natural effect.  There's a
> > sneaky lock-in effect of having one open tool (git hosting) which is
> > fairly easy to move in and out and interoperate with, linked to other
> > closed tools (such as their issues tracker and their non-git pull
> > requests system) which are harder to move out or interoperate.
> >
> > Use github if you like.  Just don't expect everyone to do so.
> >
> > Hope that explains,
> > --
> > MJ Ray (slef), member of www.software.coop, a for-more-than-profit
> co-op.
> > http://koha-community.org supporter, web and library systems developer.
> > In My Opinion Only: see http://mjr.towers.org.uk/email.html
> > Available for hire (including development) at http://www.software.coop/
> >
>
>
>
> --
> Sent from my GMail account.
>

Re: [CODE4LIB] GitHub Myths (was thanks and poetry)

[Andrew Hankinson]

> An open tool is Internet email: I can send an email from my provider
> (ucop.edu) to yours (princeton.edu). A closed tool is github, where I
> need a github account to send you a pull request. An open tool would
> be one where I can send a pull request bitbucket to github.
> (Obviously, bitbucket is as closed as github in this regard.)
> 
> best, Erik
> Sent from my free software system .

Uhh… That's a different definition of "closed system" than I'm used to seeing. 
It's more akin to having a closed-source e-mail client vs. an open-source one. 
The protocol (git) is open. I can push, pull, merge, fork, and do everything I 
need to do with a repository without ever visiting GitHub -- even pushing and 
pulling to/from pull requests. I can send you a patch that you can apply on 
your Bitbucket repo without needing to touch GitHub. I can even do multiple 
origins so that I can pull from GitHub but push to Bitbucket, and vice versa. 
So while the tool may technically be closed-source, the protocol--the 
equivalent to SMTP, IMAP, and POP in your example--is wide open.

Heck, even Richard Stallman gives GitHub a pass: "I use the term "SaaS" for 
services that do your computing for you, but not for services that do only 
communication. Thus, gmail.com is not SaaS. Wordpress is not SaaS. Github is 
not SaaS, or perhaps only in trivial ways." 
(https://mayfirst.org/lowdown/august-2011/richard-m-stallman-lectures-free-software-west-bank)

GitHub makes a lot of things about using git collaboratively *easier*, but I 
can do everything I need to on a collaborative project without ever visiting 
the GitHub page itself, provided I don't want to look at the issue tracker or 
wiki.  The "Pull Request" button is just a shortcut to merging two remote 
origins. If you wanted to make a system where you can send pull requests to 
GitHub and Bitbucket, you can and nobody will stop you.

See also: http://gitlab.org.

Re: [CODE4LIB] Full Legal Names on the Web, was GitHub Myths (was thanks and poetry)

[MJ Ray]

Michael Schofield 
> [...] This split topic I'd like to see maybe in another thread is
> about giving full legal names to web services. If anyone watched the
> PS4 reveal last night, you might have noticed that PS4 is giving up
> gamertags (read: aliases) for full names to easily integrate with
> other social platforms. [...]

Anyone know how they're going to handle namespace collisions, and the
various sexual and racial harrassment that will happen in some games
once you can make assumptions about people from their full names?

Hopefully, they only need be names and not legal full names.

This might amuse some of you: I'm not even the first (or in the first
ten) calling themselves "MJ Ray" on one popular web service - the ones
before me are a diverse bunch, too; and I namespace-collided with
myself at least twice while I was both staff for different departments
and a student at an expanding university - the user database required
full names and required them to be unique... oops!  I don't think
that's the case any longer... ;-)

Regards,
-- 
MJ Ray (slef), member of www.software.coop, a for-more-than-profit co-op.
http://koha-community.org supporter, web and library systems developer.
In My Opinion Only: see http://mjr.towers.org.uk/email.html
Available for hire (including development) at http://www.software.coop/

Re: [CODE4LIB] GitHub Myths (was thanks and poetry)

[Shaun Ellis]

> Once again, these are not “fallacies”: they are disagreements.

When you say that "GitHub is not team-centered," it's not a 
disagreement; it's simply false.  If you say "I don't agree with the way 
GitHub implements the concept of teams", then that is a disagreement. 
You said the first, but perhaps you meant the second.


-Shaun

Re: [CODE4LIB] You are a *pedantic* coder. So what am I?

[Benjamin Armintor]

If this thread is just code nerdery: You can't override static methods in
Java.  It looks like you can because there's a generous search for
statically bound names (if B extends A, and A defines static a(), B.a()
works), but it's not the overriding mechanism because if you try to refer
to super in an "overriding" implementation, the compiler stops you (it's
not bound).  This also suggests that classes are not objects, but that the
reflection API cheats a little to  make them appear to be so.

I always thought Javascript both had primitives and was more functional
than OO, given the Prototype inheritance stuff, the fact that objects are
really hashes, and the fact that constructors are functions.  Ruby, though:
totally OO. Except when it's not.

- Ben


On Thu, Feb 21, 2013 at 1:00 PM, Adam Wead  wrote:

> Actually, I'm finding this thread very enlightening.  I've only had a
> little java experience, but always assumed it was the ur-implementation of
> OO principles.  Now, I've had that assumption corrected.
>
> Thanks,
>
> …adam
>
>
> On Feb 21, 2013, at 12:53 PM, Ian Walls  wrote:
>
> > Agreed.  Each language has its own strengths and weaknesses.  Pick the
> one that works best for your situation, factoring in not only what the
> application needs to do, but your and your team's level of experience, and
> the overall community context in which the project will live.  The
> peculiarities of a given languages truth tables, for example, can easily
> get washed out of the calculation when you consider what languages you know
> and what platforms your institution supports.
> >
> >
> > -Ian
> >
> > -Original Message-
> > From: Code for Libraries [mailto:CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU] On Behalf Of
> Ethan Gruber
> > Sent: Thursday, February 21, 2013 12:45 PM
> > To: CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU
> > Subject: Re: [CODE4LIB] You are a *pedantic* coder. So what am I?
> >
> > Look, I'm sure we can list the many ways different languages fail to
> meet our expectations, but is this really a constructive line of
> conversation?
> >
> > -1
> >
> >
> > On Thu, Feb 21, 2013 at 12:40 PM, Justin Coyne
> > wrote:
> >
> >> I did misspeak a bit.  You can override static methods in Java.  My
> >> major issue is that there is no "getClass()" within a static method,
> >> so when the static method is being run in the context of the
> >> inheriting class it is unaware of its own run context.
> >>
> >> For example: I want the output to be "Hi from bar", but it's "Hi from
> foo":
> >>
> >> class Foo {
> >>  public static void sayHello() {
> >>hi();
> >>  }
> >>  public static void hi() {
> >>System.out.println("Hi from foo");
> >>  }
> >> }
> >>
> >> class Bar extends Foo {
> >>
> >>  public static void hi() {
> >>System.out.println("Hi from bar");
> >>  }
> >> }
> >>
> >> class Test {
> >>  public static void main(String [ ] args) {
> >>Bar.sayHello();
> >>  }
> >> }
> >>
> >>
> >> -Justin
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> On Thu, Feb 21, 2013 at 11:18 AM, Eric Hellman 
> wrote:
> >>
> >>> OK, pedant, tell us why you think methods that can be over-ridden
> >>> are static.
> >>> Also, tell us why you think classes in Java are not instances of
> >>> java.lang.Class
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> On Feb 18, 2013, at 1:39 PM, Justin Coyne
> >>> 
> >>> wrote:
> >>>
>  To be pedantic, Ruby and JavaScript are more Object Oriented than
>  Java because they don't have primitives and (in Ruby's case)
>  because classes
> >>> are
>  themselves objects.   Unlike Java, both Python and Ruby can properly
>  override of static methods on sub-classes. The Java language made
>  many compromises as it was designed as a bridge to Object Oriented
> >> programming
>  for programmers who were used to writing C and C++.
> 
>  -Justin
> 
> >>>
> >>
>
> This communication is a confidential and proprietary business
> communication. It is intended solely for the use of the designated
> recipient(s). If this communication is received in error, please contact
> the sender and delete this communication.
>

Re: [CODE4LIB] You are a *pedantic* coder. So what am I?

[Devon]

This ... saddens me.

We can have evermore threads which hit the daily post limit about the
community and how everyone feels. But a thread about programming language
strength/weakness has to be shut down.

I think it's time to change the name. I'm completely serious.

/dev




On Thu, Feb 21, 2013 at 12:45 PM, Ethan Gruber  wrote:

> Look, I'm sure we can list the many ways different languages fail to meet
> our expectations, but is this really a constructive line of conversation?
>
> -1
>
>
> On Thu, Feb 21, 2013 at 12:40 PM, Justin Coyne
> wrote:
>
> > I did misspeak a bit.  You can override static methods in Java.  My major
> > issue is that there is no "getClass()" within a static method, so when
> the
> > static method is being run in the context of the inheriting class it is
> > unaware of its own run context.
> >
> > For example: I want the output to be "Hi from bar", but it's "Hi from
> foo":
> >
> > class Foo {
> >   public static void sayHello() {
> > hi();
> >   }
> >   public static void hi() {
> > System.out.println("Hi from foo");
> >   }
> > }
> >
> > class Bar extends Foo {
> >
> >   public static void hi() {
> > System.out.println("Hi from bar");
> >   }
> > }
> >
> > class Test {
> >   public static void main(String [ ] args) {
> > Bar.sayHello();
> >   }
> > }
> >
> >
> > -Justin
> >
> >
> >
> > On Thu, Feb 21, 2013 at 11:18 AM, Eric Hellman  wrote:
> >
> > > OK, pedant, tell us why you think methods that can be over-ridden are
> > > static.
> > > Also, tell us why you think classes in Java are not instances of
> > > java.lang.Class
> > >
> > >
> > > On Feb 18, 2013, at 1:39 PM, Justin Coyne 
> > > wrote:
> > >
> > > > To be pedantic, Ruby and JavaScript are more Object Oriented than
> Java
> > > > because they don't have primitives and (in Ruby's case) because
> classes
> > > are
> > > > themselves objects.   Unlike Java, both Python and Ruby can properly
> > > > override of static methods on sub-classes. The Java language made
> many
> > > > compromises as it was designed as a bridge to Object Oriented
> > programming
> > > > for programmers who were used to writing C and C++.
> > > >
> > > > -Justin
> > > >
> > >
> >
>



-- 
Sent from my GMail account.

Re: [CODE4LIB] You are a *pedantic* coder. So what am I?

[Justin Coyne]

Ian, I have to caution against taking the attitude "we only code in what we
already know".  Of course you are going to be able to hit the ground
running faster in what you are expert in.  Putting on the blinders is a
great way to become irrelevant in the technology sphere.  If you want to be
a better coder, there is no better way than to learn a new language, and
actually do a project in it. The insights you find in doing this will make
you a better coder when your go back to doing whatever it was you were
doing before.

-Justin


On Thu, Feb 21, 2013 at 11:53 AM, Ian Walls wrote:

> Agreed.  Each language has its own strengths and weaknesses.  Pick the one
> that works best for your situation, factoring in not only what the
> application needs to do, but your and your team's level of experience, and
> the overall community context in which the project will live.  The
> peculiarities of a given languages truth tables, for example, can easily
> get washed out of the calculation when you consider what languages you know
> and what platforms your institution supports.
>
>
> -Ian
>
> -Original Message-
> From: Code for Libraries [mailto:CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU] On Behalf Of
> Ethan Gruber
> Sent: Thursday, February 21, 2013 12:45 PM
> To: CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU
> Subject: Re: [CODE4LIB] You are a *pedantic* coder. So what am I?
>
> Look, I'm sure we can list the many ways different languages fail to meet
> our expectations, but is this really a constructive line of conversation?
>
> -1
>
>
> On Thu, Feb 21, 2013 at 12:40 PM, Justin Coyne
> wrote:
>
> > I did misspeak a bit.  You can override static methods in Java.  My
> > major issue is that there is no "getClass()" within a static method,
> > so when the static method is being run in the context of the
> > inheriting class it is unaware of its own run context.
> >
> > For example: I want the output to be "Hi from bar", but it's "Hi from
> foo":
> >
> > class Foo {
> >   public static void sayHello() {
> > hi();
> >   }
> >   public static void hi() {
> > System.out.println("Hi from foo");
> >   }
> > }
> >
> > class Bar extends Foo {
> >
> >   public static void hi() {
> > System.out.println("Hi from bar");
> >   }
> > }
> >
> > class Test {
> >   public static void main(String [ ] args) {
> > Bar.sayHello();
> >   }
> > }
> >
> >
> > -Justin
> >
> >
> >
> > On Thu, Feb 21, 2013 at 11:18 AM, Eric Hellman  wrote:
> >
> > > OK, pedant, tell us why you think methods that can be over-ridden
> > > are static.
> > > Also, tell us why you think classes in Java are not instances of
> > > java.lang.Class
> > >
> > >
> > > On Feb 18, 2013, at 1:39 PM, Justin Coyne
> > > 
> > > wrote:
> > >
> > > > To be pedantic, Ruby and JavaScript are more Object Oriented than
> > > > Java because they don't have primitives and (in Ruby's case)
> > > > because classes
> > > are
> > > > themselves objects.   Unlike Java, both Python and Ruby can properly
> > > > override of static methods on sub-classes. The Java language made
> > > > many compromises as it was designed as a bridge to Object Oriented
> > programming
> > > > for programmers who were used to writing C and C++.
> > > >
> > > > -Justin
> > > >
> > >
> >
>

Re: [CODE4LIB] You are a *pedantic* coder. So what am I?

[Adam Wead]

Actually, I'm finding this thread very enlightening.  I've only had a little 
java experience, but always assumed it was the ur-implementation of OO 
principles.  Now, I've had that assumption corrected.

Thanks,

…adam


On Feb 21, 2013, at 12:53 PM, Ian Walls  wrote:

> Agreed.  Each language has its own strengths and weaknesses.  Pick the one 
> that works best for your situation, factoring in not only what the 
> application needs to do, but your and your team's level of experience, and 
> the overall community context in which the project will live.  The 
> peculiarities of a given languages truth tables, for example, can easily get 
> washed out of the calculation when you consider what languages you know and 
> what platforms your institution supports.
>
>
> -Ian
>
> -Original Message-
> From: Code for Libraries [mailto:CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU] On Behalf Of Ethan 
> Gruber
> Sent: Thursday, February 21, 2013 12:45 PM
> To: CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU
> Subject: Re: [CODE4LIB] You are a *pedantic* coder. So what am I?
>
> Look, I'm sure we can list the many ways different languages fail to meet our 
> expectations, but is this really a constructive line of conversation?
>
> -1
>
>
> On Thu, Feb 21, 2013 at 12:40 PM, Justin Coyne
> wrote:
>
>> I did misspeak a bit.  You can override static methods in Java.  My
>> major issue is that there is no "getClass()" within a static method,
>> so when the static method is being run in the context of the
>> inheriting class it is unaware of its own run context.
>>
>> For example: I want the output to be "Hi from bar", but it's "Hi from foo":
>>
>> class Foo {
>>  public static void sayHello() {
>>hi();
>>  }
>>  public static void hi() {
>>System.out.println("Hi from foo");
>>  }
>> }
>>
>> class Bar extends Foo {
>>
>>  public static void hi() {
>>System.out.println("Hi from bar");
>>  }
>> }
>>
>> class Test {
>>  public static void main(String [ ] args) {
>>Bar.sayHello();
>>  }
>> }
>>
>>
>> -Justin
>>
>>
>>
>> On Thu, Feb 21, 2013 at 11:18 AM, Eric Hellman  wrote:
>>
>>> OK, pedant, tell us why you think methods that can be over-ridden
>>> are static.
>>> Also, tell us why you think classes in Java are not instances of
>>> java.lang.Class
>>>
>>>
>>> On Feb 18, 2013, at 1:39 PM, Justin Coyne
>>> 
>>> wrote:
>>>
 To be pedantic, Ruby and JavaScript are more Object Oriented than
 Java because they don't have primitives and (in Ruby's case)
 because classes
>>> are
 themselves objects.   Unlike Java, both Python and Ruby can properly
 override of static methods on sub-classes. The Java language made
 many compromises as it was designed as a bridge to Object Oriented
>> programming
 for programmers who were used to writing C and C++.

 -Justin

>>>
>>

This communication is a confidential and proprietary business communication. It 
is intended solely for the use of the designated recipient(s). If this 
communication is received in error, please contact the sender and delete this 
communication.

Re: [CODE4LIB] You are a *pedantic* coder. So what am I?

[Andreas Orphanides]

Concur. I think everyone should just switch to APL [0], then we'll all
suffer equally.

[0] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/APL_(programming_language)

On Thu, Feb 21, 2013 at 12:53 PM, Ian Walls wrote:

> Agreed.  Each language has its own strengths and weaknesses.  Pick the one
> that works best for your situation, factoring in not only what the
> application needs to do, but your and your team's level of experience, and
> the overall community context in which the project will live.  The
> peculiarities of a given languages truth tables, for example, can easily
> get washed out of the calculation when you consider what languages you know
> and what platforms your institution supports.
>
>
> -Ian
>
> -Original Message-
> From: Code for Libraries [mailto:CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU] On Behalf Of
> Ethan Gruber
> Sent: Thursday, February 21, 2013 12:45 PM
> To: CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU
> Subject: Re: [CODE4LIB] You are a *pedantic* coder. So what am I?
>
> Look, I'm sure we can list the many ways different languages fail to meet
> our expectations, but is this really a constructive line of conversation?
>
> -1
>
>
> On Thu, Feb 21, 2013 at 12:40 PM, Justin Coyne
> wrote:
>
> > I did misspeak a bit.  You can override static methods in Java.  My
> > major issue is that there is no "getClass()" within a static method,
> > so when the static method is being run in the context of the
> > inheriting class it is unaware of its own run context.
> >
> > For example: I want the output to be "Hi from bar", but it's "Hi from
> foo":
> >
> > class Foo {
> >   public static void sayHello() {
> > hi();
> >   }
> >   public static void hi() {
> > System.out.println("Hi from foo");
> >   }
> > }
> >
> > class Bar extends Foo {
> >
> >   public static void hi() {
> > System.out.println("Hi from bar");
> >   }
> > }
> >
> > class Test {
> >   public static void main(String [ ] args) {
> > Bar.sayHello();
> >   }
> > }
> >
> >
> > -Justin
> >
> >
> >
> > On Thu, Feb 21, 2013 at 11:18 AM, Eric Hellman  wrote:
> >
> > > OK, pedant, tell us why you think methods that can be over-ridden
> > > are static.
> > > Also, tell us why you think classes in Java are not instances of
> > > java.lang.Class
> > >
> > >
> > > On Feb 18, 2013, at 1:39 PM, Justin Coyne
> > > 
> > > wrote:
> > >
> > > > To be pedantic, Ruby and JavaScript are more Object Oriented than
> > > > Java because they don't have primitives and (in Ruby's case)
> > > > because classes
> > > are
> > > > themselves objects.   Unlike Java, both Python and Ruby can properly
> > > > override of static methods on sub-classes. The Java language made
> > > > many compromises as it was designed as a bridge to Object Oriented
> > programming
> > > > for programmers who were used to writing C and C++.
> > > >
> > > > -Justin
> > > >
> > >
> >
>

Re: [CODE4LIB] A newbie seeking input/suggestions

[Robin Sewell]

Hi Cindy,

I am a newbie to the list as well.  Our staff man the libraries single service 
point and librarians take turns working on call reference.  When the desk staff 
get an reference question that requires a librarian's expertise, they page the 
librarian on call through a simple computer program loaded on the service desk 
computers.  The pager software allows you to set basic default messages, as 
well as to send a customized message.  The pagers were not very expensive and 
have sufficient range to cover our library so we are not tied to one location.  
We have had the system for 5 years and only had to replace one of our pagers.  
We looked at a few companies, but finally purchased a basic system from LRS, 
http://pager.net/long-range-systems/pc-paging-nu/  

Robin

Robin R. Sewell
Coord of Emerg Tech
Medical Sciences Library
Texas A&M University
rsewell...@library.tamu.edu

 

Robin

-Original Message-
From: Code for Libraries [mailto:CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU] On Behalf Of 
Greenspun, Cindy
Sent: Thursday, February 21, 2013 11:19 AM
To: CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU
Subject: Re: [CODE4LIB] A newbie seeking input/suggestions

Thank you!!  This looks promising!  I'll take a look into this to see if this 
will work for us. 

Cindy 

-Original Message-
From: Code for Libraries [mailto:CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU] On Behalf Of Ellen 
Wilson
Sent: Thursday, February 21, 2013 12:12 PM
To: CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU
Subject: Re: [CODE4LIB] A newbie seeking input/suggestions

There was an article on this topic in issue 2 of the code4lib journal - I tried 
to get it done here but got shot down by systems, but it seems simple and might 
be what you need: http://journal.code4lib.org/articles/45

--
Ellen Knowlton Wilson
Instructional Services Librarian
Room 250, University Library
University of South Alabama
5901 USA Drive North
Mobile, AL 36688
(251) 460-6045
Please note new email address:
ewil...@southalabama.edu

On Thu, Feb 21, 2013 at 9:57 AM, Greenspun, Cindy
wrote:

> Hello -
>
> I'm a newbie to this listserv.  I'm not a librarian, nor am I a coder.   I
> primarily do systems related work with our library management system, 
> run SQL reports as needed and project management.  I also work for 
> Access Services and even though I'm considered IT, I'm not in the 
> library IT department.  This is a new position in my department and 
> we're still figuring things out as we go along.
>
> I work in one of the many libraries at Yale University.  In the 
> department I work in, we have three busy service points - two 
> circulation desks and a privileges/registration office.  There are 
> about 50/60 staff members and roughly 50+ student employees who rotate 
> at these service points.  There are times when there are students who 
> are late reporting to a service point, no-shows, or suddenly there's a 
> long line and only one person at a staffed service desk.  At a meeting 
> recently, I was listening to a work leader lament how, if she is the 
> only person there, she is just too busy to make a phone call or send an email 
> asking for help - a common occurrence.
>  After I heard her, I wondered how possible it would be to create some 
> sort of desktop 'app'.  One that requires only one click and is smart 
> enough to know its service desk location and is sent to the right 
> folks who could come assist right away, upon demand.  These would be 
> on Windows workstations.
>
> Recently, I've seen many encouraging responses to the latest 'getting 
> started...' emails and feel motivated to write to this listserv as I'm 
> eager to learn and to try to do this myself.  I hope that this will be 
> a simple enough project for me but I'm just not sure where to start or 
> what I should be looking at.  So, here I am, not a librarian, nor a 
> coder.  I write to this listserv seeking suggestions, ideas and 
> encouragement.  :)
>
> Thank you -
> Cindy
>

Re: [CODE4LIB] You are a *pedantic* coder. So what am I?

[Ian Walls]

Agreed.  Each language has its own strengths and weaknesses.  Pick the one that 
works best for your situation, factoring in not only what the application needs 
to do, but your and your team's level of experience, and the overall community 
context in which the project will live.  The peculiarities of a given languages 
truth tables, for example, can easily get washed out of the calculation when 
you consider what languages you know and what platforms your institution 
supports.


-Ian

-Original Message-
From: Code for Libraries [mailto:CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU] On Behalf Of Ethan 
Gruber
Sent: Thursday, February 21, 2013 12:45 PM
To: CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU
Subject: Re: [CODE4LIB] You are a *pedantic* coder. So what am I?

Look, I'm sure we can list the many ways different languages fail to meet our 
expectations, but is this really a constructive line of conversation?

-1


On Thu, Feb 21, 2013 at 12:40 PM, Justin Coyne
wrote:

> I did misspeak a bit.  You can override static methods in Java.  My 
> major issue is that there is no "getClass()" within a static method, 
> so when the static method is being run in the context of the 
> inheriting class it is unaware of its own run context.
>
> For example: I want the output to be "Hi from bar", but it's "Hi from foo":
>
> class Foo {
>   public static void sayHello() {
> hi();
>   }
>   public static void hi() {
> System.out.println("Hi from foo");
>   }
> }
>
> class Bar extends Foo {
>
>   public static void hi() {
> System.out.println("Hi from bar");
>   }
> }
>
> class Test {
>   public static void main(String [ ] args) {
> Bar.sayHello();
>   }
> }
>
>
> -Justin
>
>
>
> On Thu, Feb 21, 2013 at 11:18 AM, Eric Hellman  wrote:
>
> > OK, pedant, tell us why you think methods that can be over-ridden 
> > are static.
> > Also, tell us why you think classes in Java are not instances of 
> > java.lang.Class
> >
> >
> > On Feb 18, 2013, at 1:39 PM, Justin Coyne 
> > 
> > wrote:
> >
> > > To be pedantic, Ruby and JavaScript are more Object Oriented than 
> > > Java because they don't have primitives and (in Ruby's case) 
> > > because classes
> > are
> > > themselves objects.   Unlike Java, both Python and Ruby can properly
> > > override of static methods on sub-classes. The Java language made 
> > > many compromises as it was designed as a bridge to Object Oriented
> programming
> > > for programmers who were used to writing C and C++.
> > >
> > > -Justin
> > >
> >
>

Re: [CODE4LIB] You are a *pedantic* coder. So what am I?

[Justin Coyne]

with regards to Class extending Object,  should this error be possible?

error: clone() has protected access in Object
Class.clone();
 ^


Of course this sort of nit-picking is absolutely not constructive.  I'm
just saying that if you're teaching the "Object Oriented" programming
paradigm, there are better choices than Java.  Java is a really difficult
language for the beginner.  How many professional Java programmers can work
without an IDE?   Compare that to the same metric for any scripting
language.


-Justin.




P.S.

error: clone() has protected access in Object
System.out.println(Class.clone().toString());
^




On Thu, Feb 21, 2013 at 11:45 AM, Ethan Gruber  wrote:

> Look, I'm sure we can list the many ways different languages fail to meet
> our expectations, but is this really a constructive line of conversation?
>
> -1
>
>
> On Thu, Feb 21, 2013 at 12:40 PM, Justin Coyne
> wrote:
>
> > I did misspeak a bit.  You can override static methods in Java.  My major
> > issue is that there is no "getClass()" within a static method, so when
> the
> > static method is being run in the context of the inheriting class it is
> > unaware of its own run context.
> >
> > For example: I want the output to be "Hi from bar", but it's "Hi from
> foo":
> >
> > class Foo {
> >   public static void sayHello() {
> > hi();
> >   }
> >   public static void hi() {
> > System.out.println("Hi from foo");
> >   }
> > }
> >
> > class Bar extends Foo {
> >
> >   public static void hi() {
> > System.out.println("Hi from bar");
> >   }
> > }
> >
> > class Test {
> >   public static void main(String [ ] args) {
> > Bar.sayHello();
> >   }
> > }
> >
> >
> > -Justin
> >
> >
> >
> > On Thu, Feb 21, 2013 at 11:18 AM, Eric Hellman  wrote:
> >
> > > OK, pedant, tell us why you think methods that can be over-ridden are
> > > static.
> > > Also, tell us why you think classes in Java are not instances of
> > > java.lang.Class
> > >
> > >
> > > On Feb 18, 2013, at 1:39 PM, Justin Coyne 
> > > wrote:
> > >
> > > > To be pedantic, Ruby and JavaScript are more Object Oriented than
> Java
> > > > because they don't have primitives and (in Ruby's case) because
> classes
> > > are
> > > > themselves objects.   Unlike Java, both Python and Ruby can properly
> > > > override of static methods on sub-classes. The Java language made
> many
> > > > compromises as it was designed as a bridge to Object Oriented
> > programming
> > > > for programmers who were used to writing C and C++.
> > > >
> > > > -Justin
> > > >
> > >
> >
>

Re: [CODE4LIB] You are a *pedantic* coder. So what am I?

[Ethan Gruber]

Look, I'm sure we can list the many ways different languages fail to meet
our expectations, but is this really a constructive line of conversation?

-1


On Thu, Feb 21, 2013 at 12:40 PM, Justin Coyne
wrote:

> I did misspeak a bit.  You can override static methods in Java.  My major
> issue is that there is no "getClass()" within a static method, so when the
> static method is being run in the context of the inheriting class it is
> unaware of its own run context.
>
> For example: I want the output to be "Hi from bar", but it's "Hi from foo":
>
> class Foo {
>   public static void sayHello() {
> hi();
>   }
>   public static void hi() {
> System.out.println("Hi from foo");
>   }
> }
>
> class Bar extends Foo {
>
>   public static void hi() {
> System.out.println("Hi from bar");
>   }
> }
>
> class Test {
>   public static void main(String [ ] args) {
> Bar.sayHello();
>   }
> }
>
>
> -Justin
>
>
>
> On Thu, Feb 21, 2013 at 11:18 AM, Eric Hellman  wrote:
>
> > OK, pedant, tell us why you think methods that can be over-ridden are
> > static.
> > Also, tell us why you think classes in Java are not instances of
> > java.lang.Class
> >
> >
> > On Feb 18, 2013, at 1:39 PM, Justin Coyne 
> > wrote:
> >
> > > To be pedantic, Ruby and JavaScript are more Object Oriented than Java
> > > because they don't have primitives and (in Ruby's case) because classes
> > are
> > > themselves objects.   Unlike Java, both Python and Ruby can properly
> > > override of static methods on sub-classes. The Java language made many
> > > compromises as it was designed as a bridge to Object Oriented
> programming
> > > for programmers who were used to writing C and C++.
> > >
> > > -Justin
> > >
> >
>

Re: [CODE4LIB] A newbie seeking input/suggestions

[Karen Coyle]

On 2/21/13 9:00 AM, Joe Hourcle wrote:
We had a policy of trying our best *not* to go into the computer labs, 
because if you did, you'd get 6+ people who suddenly had questions 
they wanted to ask ... but couldn't have been bothered to actually go 
to the office to ask. When I first started, someone who went to go add 
paper to a printer might not come back for 30+ minutes. 


OMG, this is like a formula for "non-service". There was an era where 
libraries were taking over computer services because the computer 
service folks had no idea what the word "service" meant. If people in 
the labs have that many questions, that's a need that must be filled for 
them to learn what they are there trying to learn. Avoiding them is a 
terrible "solution."


But this is the case also in libraries. At my local public library, the 
reference desk is on the 2nd floor and I almost never seen any patrons 
there, just bored reference librarians. This doesn't mean that folks all 
over the library don't have questions they'd like to ask, but getting to 
the reference desk takes effort. I did a blog post where I said that I 
want the library to be like the Apple store (oh, and I want the library 
to have Apple's $bazillions) -- with people who can answer the questions 
mingling with the people who might have questions. Some science museums 
do this, with roving "Explainers" among the exhibits. *sigh* What we 
couldn't do if we had the $$ and the imagination.


kc

(I realize that this policy likely won't work for a library, though) 
Our follow-up policy was not the answer questions in the labs, and 
make them go to the office so they don't cut in line if there were 
people queued up. ... so I completely agree about needing something 
that's not fixed to a single location. If you can make it beep on 
demand, that's even better. ("oops, sorry, I've got to go, I've been 
summoned back to the desk") If you're going to do something that's 
computer-based, I'd be inclined to think about some sort of phone app, 
or even part of a more comprehensive tool to assist in other things 
that you might need while you're in the stacks trying to help someone. 
-Joe 


--
Karen Coyle
kco...@kcoyle.net http://kcoyle.net
ph: 1-510-540-7596
m: 1-510-435-8234
skype: kcoylenet

Re: [CODE4LIB] You are a *pedantic* coder. So what am I?

[Justin Coyne]

I did misspeak a bit.  You can override static methods in Java.  My major
issue is that there is no "getClass()" within a static method, so when the
static method is being run in the context of the inheriting class it is
unaware of its own run context.

For example: I want the output to be "Hi from bar", but it's "Hi from foo":

class Foo {
  public static void sayHello() {
hi();
  }
  public static void hi() {
System.out.println("Hi from foo");
  }
}

class Bar extends Foo {

  public static void hi() {
System.out.println("Hi from bar");
  }
}

class Test {
  public static void main(String [ ] args) {
Bar.sayHello();
  }
}


-Justin



On Thu, Feb 21, 2013 at 11:18 AM, Eric Hellman  wrote:

> OK, pedant, tell us why you think methods that can be over-ridden are
> static.
> Also, tell us why you think classes in Java are not instances of
> java.lang.Class
>
>
> On Feb 18, 2013, at 1:39 PM, Justin Coyne 
> wrote:
>
> > To be pedantic, Ruby and JavaScript are more Object Oriented than Java
> > because they don't have primitives and (in Ruby's case) because classes
> are
> > themselves objects.   Unlike Java, both Python and Ruby can properly
> > override of static methods on sub-classes. The Java language made many
> > compromises as it was designed as a bridge to Object Oriented programming
> > for programmers who were used to writing C and C++.
> >
> > -Justin
> >
>

Re: [CODE4LIB] A newbie seeking input/suggestions

[Ellen Wilson]

You got a second cashier at Jo-Ann's? That's amazing!

On Thu, Feb 21, 2013 at 11:17 AM, Greenspun, Cindy  wrote:

> Thank you for your warm welcome, encouragement and ideas.  I'd like to
> respond to some of the suggestions while this topic is still fresh, so to
> speak.
>
> Walkie-talkies, we did try this route.  Not as easy and straight-forward
> as one would wish.  There were battery problems (needed coverage from
> 8:30a-12mid), staff putting them down and losing them, sound interference,
> even disability (I am deaf, me + walkie talkie = bad idea), and reluctance
> to have to carry one around.
>
> Intercom, we do have one and have considered a ping only to encounter
> complaints from readers.  It is a library that is supposedly quiet after
> all... we only use this to announce that the library will close in 15
> minutes, then 5, then.. closed!
>
> We even scheduled backups to the backup.  Staffed a person to sit at a
> desk behind the service points.
>
> But there's always work that takes folks back to their main workstations.
>  Now about the workstations -- we're a large staff, about 50/60 so they're
> seated broadly in two different libraries which means they are away from
> service points.  So, we can't holler for help like a cashier did when I was
> in Joann's Fabrics yesterday.  I was impressed at how easily it was for her
> to just yell, "need second cashier!" when a lined formed.  I do wish it was
> that simple for us.
>
> So, I started thinking -- why can't we create some sort of floating
> message 'ping' -- like those 'netflix' ads that somehow open as a second
> page when you're surfing the web.  and how likely would it be that there
> are 50 staff members away from their computers/workstations when someone
> 'pings' for help electronically?  Right?
>
> I'm so happy and encouraged to see such responses.  Thank you!!
>
> Cindy
>
> -Original Message-
> From: Code for Libraries [mailto:CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU] On Behalf Of
> Karen Coyle
> Sent: Thursday, February 21, 2013 11:33 AM
> To: CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU
> Subject: Re: [CODE4LIB] A newbie seeking input/suggestions
>
> Cindy,
>
> Welcome!
>
> I think your situation in your library is a very common one, most likely
> more common than being a "coder" in the sense of creating new software or
> adding functionality to existing software. In fact, in every office I have
> been in, including ones not in libraries, many people who didn't start
> their careers with computer science in mind are the ones maintaining
> systems, creating reports, running queries.
>
> In the library world I think we have an obligation to provide as much
> support and encouragement as possible for library employees who perform
> these tasks. As you imply, oftentimes these employees (librarians by MLS or
> not) have been kind of thrown into the job and have few places where they
> can go to ask questions, get needed training, or have a shoulder to cry on.
>
> The code4lib list and the two related IRC channels (both on the freenode
> network), #code4lib and #libtechwomen are good places to start. If you need
> help setting up IRC, contact me off-list and I will do my best to walk you
> through it. Also, there may be similar lists specifically addressing the
> library management software in your institution, and the experts in that
> particular system probably hang out there.
>
> kc
>
>
>
> On 2/21/13 7:57 AM, Greenspun, Cindy wrote:
> > Hello -
> >
> > I'm a newbie to this listserv.  I'm not a librarian, nor am I a coder.
> I primarily do systems related work with our library management system, run
> SQL reports as needed and project management.  I also work for Access
> Services and even though I'm considered IT, I'm not in the library IT
> department.  This is a new position in my department and we're still
> figuring things out as we go along.
> >
> > I work in one of the many libraries at Yale University.  In the
> department I work in, we have three busy service points - two circulation
> desks and a privileges/registration office.  There are about 50/60 staff
> members and roughly 50+ student employees who rotate at these service
> points.  There are times when there are students who are late reporting to
> a service point, no-shows, or suddenly there's a long line and only one
> person at a staffed service desk.  At a meeting recently, I was listening
> to a work leader lament how, if she is the only person there, she is just
> too busy to make a phone call or send an email asking for help - a common
> occurrence.  After I heard her, I wondered how possible it would be to
> create some sort of desktop 'app'.  One that requires only one click and is
> smart enough to know its service desk location and is sent to the right
> folks who could come assist right away, upon demand.  These would be on
> Windows workstations.
> >
> > Recently, I've seen many encouraging responses to the latest 'getting
> > started...' emails and feel motivated to write to this li

Re: [CODE4LIB] A newbie seeking input/suggestions

[Greenspun, Cindy]

Thank you for your warm welcome, encouragement and ideas.  I'd like to respond 
to some of the suggestions while this topic is still fresh, so to speak. 

Walkie-talkies, we did try this route.  Not as easy and straight-forward as one 
would wish.  There were battery problems (needed coverage from 8:30a-12mid), 
staff putting them down and losing them, sound interference, even disability (I 
am deaf, me + walkie talkie = bad idea), and reluctance to have to carry one 
around.  

Intercom, we do have one and have considered a ping only to encounter 
complaints from readers.  It is a library that is supposedly quiet after all... 
we only use this to announce that the library will close in 15 minutes, then 5, 
then.. closed!  

We even scheduled backups to the backup.  Staffed a person to sit at a desk 
behind the service points.  

But there's always work that takes folks back to their main workstations.  Now 
about the workstations -- we're a large staff, about 50/60 so they're seated 
broadly in two different libraries which means they are away from service 
points.  So, we can't holler for help like a cashier did when I was in Joann's 
Fabrics yesterday.  I was impressed at how easily it was for her to just yell, 
"need second cashier!" when a lined formed.  I do wish it was that simple for 
us.  

So, I started thinking -- why can't we create some sort of floating message 
'ping' -- like those 'netflix' ads that somehow open as a second page when 
you're surfing the web.  and how likely would it be that there are 50 staff 
members away from their computers/workstations when someone 'pings' for help 
electronically?  Right?  

I'm so happy and encouraged to see such responses.  Thank you!!  

Cindy

-Original Message-
From: Code for Libraries [mailto:CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU] On Behalf Of Karen 
Coyle
Sent: Thursday, February 21, 2013 11:33 AM
To: CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU
Subject: Re: [CODE4LIB] A newbie seeking input/suggestions

Cindy,

Welcome!

I think your situation in your library is a very common one, most likely more 
common than being a "coder" in the sense of creating new software or adding 
functionality to existing software. In fact, in every office I have been in, 
including ones not in libraries, many people who didn't start their careers 
with computer science in mind are the ones maintaining systems, creating 
reports, running queries.

In the library world I think we have an obligation to provide as much support 
and encouragement as possible for library employees who perform these tasks. As 
you imply, oftentimes these employees (librarians by MLS or not) have been kind 
of thrown into the job and have few places where they can go to ask questions, 
get needed training, or have a shoulder to cry on.

The code4lib list and the two related IRC channels (both on the freenode 
network), #code4lib and #libtechwomen are good places to start. If you need 
help setting up IRC, contact me off-list and I will do my best to walk you 
through it. Also, there may be similar lists specifically addressing the 
library management software in your institution, and the experts in that 
particular system probably hang out there.

kc



On 2/21/13 7:57 AM, Greenspun, Cindy wrote:
> Hello -
>
> I'm a newbie to this listserv.  I'm not a librarian, nor am I a coder.   I 
> primarily do systems related work with our library management system, run SQL 
> reports as needed and project management.  I also work for Access Services 
> and even though I'm considered IT, I'm not in the library IT department.  
> This is a new position in my department and we're still figuring things out 
> as we go along.
>
> I work in one of the many libraries at Yale University.  In the department I 
> work in, we have three busy service points - two circulation desks and a 
> privileges/registration office.  There are about 50/60 staff members and 
> roughly 50+ student employees who rotate at these service points.  There are 
> times when there are students who are late reporting to a service point, 
> no-shows, or suddenly there's a long line and only one person at a staffed 
> service desk.  At a meeting recently, I was listening to a work leader lament 
> how, if she is the only person there, she is just too busy to make a phone 
> call or send an email asking for help - a common occurrence.  After I heard 
> her, I wondered how possible it would be to create some sort of desktop 
> 'app'.  One that requires only one click and is smart enough to know its 
> service desk location and is sent to the right folks who could come assist 
> right away, upon demand.  These would be on Windows workstations.
>
> Recently, I've seen many encouraging responses to the latest 'getting 
> started...' emails and feel motivated to write to this listserv as I'm 
> eager to learn and to try to do this myself.  I hope that this will be 
> a simple enough project for me but I'm just not sure where to start or 
> what I should be looking at.

[CODE4LIB] You are a *pedantic* coder. So what am I?

[Eric Hellman]

OK, pedant, tell us why you think methods that can be over-ridden are static.
Also, tell us why you think classes in Java are not instances of java.lang.Class


On Feb 18, 2013, at 1:39 PM, Justin Coyne  wrote:

> To be pedantic, Ruby and JavaScript are more Object Oriented than Java
> because they don't have primitives and (in Ruby's case) because classes are
> themselves objects.   Unlike Java, both Python and Ruby can properly
> override of static methods on sub-classes. The Java language made many
> compromises as it was designed as a bridge to Object Oriented programming
> for programmers who were used to writing C and C++.
> 
> -Justin
> 

Re: [CODE4LIB] A newbie seeking input/suggestions

[Greenspun, Cindy]

Thank you!!  This looks promising!  I'll take a look into this to see if this 
will work for us. 

Cindy 

-Original Message-
From: Code for Libraries [mailto:CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU] On Behalf Of Ellen 
Wilson
Sent: Thursday, February 21, 2013 12:12 PM
To: CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU
Subject: Re: [CODE4LIB] A newbie seeking input/suggestions

There was an article on this topic in issue 2 of the code4lib journal - I tried 
to get it done here but got shot down by systems, but it seems simple and might 
be what you need: http://journal.code4lib.org/articles/45

--
Ellen Knowlton Wilson
Instructional Services Librarian
Room 250, University Library
University of South Alabama
5901 USA Drive North
Mobile, AL 36688
(251) 460-6045
Please note new email address:
ewil...@southalabama.edu

On Thu, Feb 21, 2013 at 9:57 AM, Greenspun, Cindy
wrote:

> Hello -
>
> I'm a newbie to this listserv.  I'm not a librarian, nor am I a coder.   I
> primarily do systems related work with our library management system, 
> run SQL reports as needed and project management.  I also work for 
> Access Services and even though I'm considered IT, I'm not in the 
> library IT department.  This is a new position in my department and 
> we're still figuring things out as we go along.
>
> I work in one of the many libraries at Yale University.  In the 
> department I work in, we have three busy service points - two 
> circulation desks and a privileges/registration office.  There are 
> about 50/60 staff members and roughly 50+ student employees who rotate 
> at these service points.  There are times when there are students who 
> are late reporting to a service point, no-shows, or suddenly there's a 
> long line and only one person at a staffed service desk.  At a meeting 
> recently, I was listening to a work leader lament how, if she is the 
> only person there, she is just too busy to make a phone call or send an email 
> asking for help - a common occurrence.
>  After I heard her, I wondered how possible it would be to create some 
> sort of desktop 'app'.  One that requires only one click and is smart 
> enough to know its service desk location and is sent to the right 
> folks who could come assist right away, upon demand.  These would be 
> on Windows workstations.
>
> Recently, I've seen many encouraging responses to the latest 'getting 
> started...' emails and feel motivated to write to this listserv as I'm 
> eager to learn and to try to do this myself.  I hope that this will be 
> a simple enough project for me but I'm just not sure where to start or 
> what I should be looking at.  So, here I am, not a librarian, nor a 
> coder.  I write to this listserv seeking suggestions, ideas and 
> encouragement.  :)
>
> Thank you -
> Cindy
>

Re: [CODE4LIB] GitHub Myths (was thanks and poetry)

[Erik Hetzner]

At Thu, 21 Feb 2013 10:29:28 -0500,
Shaun Ellis wrote:
> 
> If you read my email, I don't tell anyone what to use, but simply 
> attempt to clear up some fallacies.  Distributed version control is new 
> to many, and I want to make sure that folks are getting accurate 
> information from this list.

Once again, these are not “fallacies”: they are disagreements.

> […]
>
> Pull-requests are used by repository hosting platforms to make it easier 
> to suggest patches.  GitHub and BitBucket both use the pattern, and I 
> don't understand what you mean by it being a "closed tool".  If you're 
> concerned about "barriers to entry", suggesting a patch using only git 
> or mercurial can be done, but I wouldn't say it's easy.
> 
> ... and what Devon said.

An open tool is Internet email: I can send an email from my provider
(ucop.edu) to yours (princeton.edu). A closed tool is github, where I
need a github account to send you a pull request. An open tool would
be one where I can send a pull request bitbucket to github.
(Obviously, bitbucket is as closed as github in this regard.)

best, Erik
Sent from my free software system .

Re: [CODE4LIB] A newbie seeking input/suggestions

[Ellen Wilson]

There was an article on this topic in issue 2 of the code4lib journal - I
tried to get it done here but got shot down by systems, but it seems simple
and might be what you need: http://journal.code4lib.org/articles/45

-- 
Ellen Knowlton Wilson
Instructional Services Librarian
Room 250, University Library
University of South Alabama
5901 USA Drive North
Mobile, AL 36688
(251) 460-6045
Please note new email address:
ewil...@southalabama.edu

On Thu, Feb 21, 2013 at 9:57 AM, Greenspun, Cindy
wrote:

> Hello -
>
> I'm a newbie to this listserv.  I'm not a librarian, nor am I a coder.   I
> primarily do systems related work with our library management system, run
> SQL reports as needed and project management.  I also work for Access
> Services and even though I'm considered IT, I'm not in the library IT
> department.  This is a new position in my department and we're still
> figuring things out as we go along.
>
> I work in one of the many libraries at Yale University.  In the department
> I work in, we have three busy service points - two circulation desks and a
> privileges/registration office.  There are about 50/60 staff members and
> roughly 50+ student employees who rotate at these service points.  There
> are times when there are students who are late reporting to a service
> point, no-shows, or suddenly there's a long line and only one person at a
> staffed service desk.  At a meeting recently, I was listening to a work
> leader lament how, if she is the only person there, she is just too busy to
> make a phone call or send an email asking for help - a common occurrence.
>  After I heard her, I wondered how possible it would be to create some sort
> of desktop 'app'.  One that requires only one click and is smart enough to
> know its service desk location and is sent to the right folks who could
> come assist right away, upon demand.  These would be on Windows
> workstations.
>
> Recently, I've seen many encouraging responses to the latest 'getting
> started...' emails and feel motivated to write to this listserv as I'm
> eager to learn and to try to do this myself.  I hope that this will be a
> simple enough project for me but I'm just not sure where to start or what I
> should be looking at.  So, here I am, not a librarian, nor a coder.  I
> write to this listserv seeking suggestions, ideas and encouragement.  :)
>
> Thank you -
> Cindy
>

Re: [CODE4LIB] A newbie seeking input/suggestions

[Joe Hourcle]

On Feb 21, 2013, at 11:20 AM, Paul Butler (pbutler3) wrote:

> For something like this I would go the hardware route.  A walkie-talkie on a 
> charging stand at each service point. The walkie-talkies would always be on 
> and tuned to the same channel. That way the staff person is not tied to the 
> PC itself, they can grab the walkie-talkie and still do what they need to do 
> - like head to the stacks or look for that reserve material. No phone number 
> to remember. This solution could help with other issues, like security and 
> system/network outages. 

I admit, I've never worked as a librarian, but I did work at a computer help 
desk during undergrad.

We had a policy of trying our best *not* to go into the computer labs, because 
if you did, you'd get 6+ people who suddenly had questions they wanted to ask 
... but couldn't have been bothered to actually go to the office to ask.  When 
I first started, someone who went to go add paper to a printer might not come 
back for 30+ minutes.

(I realize that this policy likely won't work for a library, though)

Our follow-up policy was not the answer questions in the labs, and make them go 
to the office so they don't cut in line if there were people queued up.

... so I completely agree about needing something that's not fixed to a single 
location.  If you can make it beep on demand, that's even better.  ("oops, 
sorry, I've got to go, I've been summoned back to the desk")

If you're going to do something that's computer-based, I'd be inclined to think 
about some sort of phone app, or even part of a more comprehensive tool to 
assist in other things that you might need while you're in the stacks trying to 
help someone.

-Joe

Re: [CODE4LIB] back to minorities question, seeking guidance

[Karen Coyle]

Timothy,

This has been sitting in my in-box as I try to come up with a reply.

I went through library school before "coding" was an issue, although I 
did do some statistical work on computers (punch cards). But for me the 
"moment" was simply being given a task with the assumption that I would 
be up to it. I also suggest group work, with students selecting their 
own groups, or opting to work alone. Group work can be less intimidating 
than having to ask questions in front of an entire class, especially if 
the class is coed, and especially if it has a few "know it alls" who 
like to one-up everyone else. It's the class dynamic (and how you handle 
it) that is more important than the content of the class for encouraging 
women. And it is also the hardest thing to get right. ;-) Pay close 
attention to your students and what they are telling you about how 
comfortable they feel in the class. If anyone says "I guess I don't get 
it" or "I think this is a stupid question, but..." then your response 
will make a huge difference. And don't let the class fall prey to the 
"know it alls." They are absolute poison in the learning environment.


Good luck!

kc



On 2/14/13 8:34 AM, Shearer, Timothy J wrote:

Hi Folks,

I'm teaching systems analysis at SILS (UNC CH) this semester.

Though the course is required for the IS degree, it's not required for the
LS degree.

However, the majority of my students this semester are LS.  And the vast
majority are women.

Apropos of the part of the thread that dealt with numbers:

For those of you who came into this community and at some point went
through a MSLS or MSIS program I am wondering if there are things I could
try to do that might have an impact on better aligning the ratio of men to
women in code4lib and the technology end of the field in general to that
in the general population?

Was there a moment of clarity?  A person who said or modeled the right
thing?  A project that helped uncover a skill you didn't know you had?

And, I am not just interested in what I can do through one class, but also
what the curriculum and school could do more holistically.

Thanks,

Tim


--
Karen Coyle
kco...@kcoyle.net http://kcoyle.net
ph: 1-510-540-7596
m: 1-510-435-8234
skype: kcoylenet

Re: [CODE4LIB] A newbie seeking input/suggestions

[Karen Coyle]

Cindy,

Welcome!

I think your situation in your library is a very common one, most likely 
more common than being a "coder" in the sense of creating new software 
or adding functionality to existing software. In fact, in every office I 
have been in, including ones not in libraries, many people who didn't 
start their careers with computer science in mind are the ones 
maintaining systems, creating reports, running queries.


In the library world I think we have an obligation to provide as much 
support and encouragement as possible for library employees who perform 
these tasks. As you imply, oftentimes these employees (librarians by MLS 
or not) have been kind of thrown into the job and have few places where 
they can go to ask questions, get needed training, or have a shoulder to 
cry on.


The code4lib list and the two related IRC channels (both on the freenode 
network), #code4lib and #libtechwomen are good places to start. If you 
need help setting up IRC, contact me off-list and I will do my best to 
walk you through it. Also, there may be similar lists specifically 
addressing the library management software in your institution, and the 
experts in that particular system probably hang out there.


kc



On 2/21/13 7:57 AM, Greenspun, Cindy wrote:

Hello -

I'm a newbie to this listserv.  I'm not a librarian, nor am I a coder.   I 
primarily do systems related work with our library management system, run SQL 
reports as needed and project management.  I also work for Access Services and 
even though I'm considered IT, I'm not in the library IT department.  This is a 
new position in my department and we're still figuring things out as we go 
along.

I work in one of the many libraries at Yale University.  In the department I 
work in, we have three busy service points - two circulation desks and a 
privileges/registration office.  There are about 50/60 staff members and 
roughly 50+ student employees who rotate at these service points.  There are 
times when there are students who are late reporting to a service point, 
no-shows, or suddenly there's a long line and only one person at a staffed 
service desk.  At a meeting recently, I was listening to a work leader lament 
how, if she is the only person there, she is just too busy to make a phone call 
or send an email asking for help - a common occurrence.  After I heard her, I 
wondered how possible it would be to create some sort of desktop 'app'.  One 
that requires only one click and is smart enough to know its service desk 
location and is sent to the right folks who could come assist right away, upon 
demand.  These would be on Windows workstations.

Recently, I've seen many encouraging responses to the latest 'getting 
started...' emails and feel motivated to write to this listserv as I'm eager to 
learn and to try to do this myself.  I hope that this will be a simple enough 
project for me but I'm just not sure where to start or what I should be looking 
at.  So, here I am, not a librarian, nor a coder.  I write to this listserv 
seeking suggestions, ideas and encouragement.  :)

Thank you -
Cindy


--
Karen Coyle
kco...@kcoyle.net http://kcoyle.net
ph: 1-510-540-7596
m: 1-510-435-8234
skype: kcoylenet

Re: [CODE4LIB] A newbie seeking input/suggestions

[Mark Pernotto]

I second Paul's suggestion.

All due respect to the institution you work for, but this doesn't sound
like a problem best solved with software.  If I'm the backup help, and I'm
talking with a colleague in their office, or making another pot of coffee,
I won't get your notice on my computer until I go back to my desk.

Do you have some kind of library-wide intercom system?  Maybe something
that could generate a gentle tone, that would largely go undetected by your
patrons, but is a recognizable by the staff?

Then again, I don't work in a library, either.

Mark


On Thu, Feb 21, 2013 at 8:20 AM, Paul Butler (pbutler3) wrote:

> For something like this I would go the hardware route.  A walkie-talkie on
> a charging stand at each service point. The walkie-talkies would always be
> on and tuned to the same channel. That way the staff person is not tied to
> the PC itself, they can grab the walkie-talkie and still do what they need
> to do - like head to the stacks or look for that reserve material. No phone
> number to remember. This solution could help with other issues, like
> security and system/network outages.
>
> +1 for LibraryH3lp - we use it and like it here.
> Cheers, Paul
> +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
> Paul R Butler
> Assistant Systems Librarian
> Simpson Library
> University of Mary Washington
> 1801 College Avenue
> Fredericksburg, VA 22401
> 540.654.1756
> libraries.umw.edu
>
> Sent from the mighty Dell Vostro 230.
>
>
> -Original Message-
> From: Code for Libraries [mailto:CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU] On Behalf Of
> Andreas Orphanides
> Sent: Thursday, February 21, 2013 11:09 AM
> To: CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU
> Subject: Re: [CODE4LIB] A newbie seeking input/suggestions
>
> Hey Cindy,
>
> Welcome! Glad to see your question here, we like new people.
>
> Here at NC State we've set up a (mostly semi-working) system for
> requesting backup using LibraryH3lp webchat. Basically we have a staff
> webpage that has a chat box in it. If you type something in the box, say
> "Backup!" or "jkgfasdkl;", that message will get broadcast to everyone
> who's logged into their "backup help" account in Pidgin. Recently we've
> also been experimenting with "canned" messages that you can broadcast just
> by clicking on a button in the web browser.
>
> You could theoretically set this up for -- and distinguish -- separate
> service points by having a different queue for each service point. The
> backup people would see where the request was coming from based on the name
> of the queue. And you could set up each backup account to only monitor
> requests from the appropriate service points.
>
> If you're not familiar with LibraryH3lp, it's a very lightweight (and
> inexpensive) library patron chat system. We use it for our patron IM as
> well as several internal staff purposes. I'm sure there's lots of LH3 users
> on code4lib, so if you're not familiar with it, but interested in exploring
> it, you'll be bound to get opinions. There are also other similar services
> that people might recommend as well.
>
> Good luck! This sounds like a good -- but definitely solvable -- problem.
>
> Andreas Orphanides
> NCSU Libraries
>
> On Thu, Feb 21, 2013 at 10:57 AM, Greenspun, Cindy <
> cindy.greens...@yale.edu
> > wrote:
>
> > Hello -
> >
> > I'm a newbie to this listserv.  I'm not a librarian, nor am I a coder.
> I
> > primarily do systems related work with our library management system,
> > run SQL reports as needed and project management.  I also work for
> > Access Services and even though I'm considered IT, I'm not in the
> > library IT department.  This is a new position in my department and
> > we're still figuring things out as we go along.
> >
> > I work in one of the many libraries at Yale University.  In the
> > department I work in, we have three busy service points - two
> > circulation desks and a privileges/registration office.  There are
> > about 50/60 staff members and roughly 50+ student employees who rotate
> > at these service points.  There are times when there are students who
> > are late reporting to a service point, no-shows, or suddenly there's a
> > long line and only one person at a staffed service desk.  At a meeting
> > recently, I was listening to a work leader lament how, if she is the
> > only person there, she is just too busy to make a phone call or send an
> email asking for help - a common occurrence.
> >  After I heard her, I wondered how possible it would be to create some
> > sort of desktop 'app'.  One that requires only one click and is smart
> > enough to know its service desk location and is sent to the right
> > folks who could come assist right away, upon demand.  These would be
> > on Windows workstations.
> >
> > Recently, I've seen many encouraging responses to the latest 'getting
> > started...' emails and feel motivated to write to this listserv as I'm
> > eager to learn and to try to do this myself.  I hope that this will be
> > a simple enough project for me but I'm just not 

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Re: [CODE4LIB] A newbie seeking input/suggestions

[Paul Butler (pbutler3)]

For something like this I would go the hardware route.  A walkie-talkie on a 
charging stand at each service point. The walkie-talkies would always be on and 
tuned to the same channel. That way the staff person is not tied to the PC 
itself, they can grab the walkie-talkie and still do what they need to do - 
like head to the stacks or look for that reserve material. No phone number to 
remember. This solution could help with other issues, like security and 
system/network outages. 

+1 for LibraryH3lp - we use it and like it here. 
Cheers, Paul
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
Paul R Butler
Assistant Systems Librarian
Simpson Library
University of Mary Washington
1801 College Avenue
Fredericksburg, VA 22401
540.654.1756
libraries.umw.edu

Sent from the mighty Dell Vostro 230.


-Original Message-
From: Code for Libraries [mailto:CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU] On Behalf Of Andreas 
Orphanides
Sent: Thursday, February 21, 2013 11:09 AM
To: CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU
Subject: Re: [CODE4LIB] A newbie seeking input/suggestions

Hey Cindy,

Welcome! Glad to see your question here, we like new people.

Here at NC State we've set up a (mostly semi-working) system for requesting 
backup using LibraryH3lp webchat. Basically we have a staff webpage that has a 
chat box in it. If you type something in the box, say "Backup!" or 
"jkgfasdkl;", that message will get broadcast to everyone who's logged into 
their "backup help" account in Pidgin. Recently we've also been experimenting 
with "canned" messages that you can broadcast just by clicking on a button in 
the web browser.

You could theoretically set this up for -- and distinguish -- separate service 
points by having a different queue for each service point. The backup people 
would see where the request was coming from based on the name of the queue. And 
you could set up each backup account to only monitor requests from the 
appropriate service points.

If you're not familiar with LibraryH3lp, it's a very lightweight (and
inexpensive) library patron chat system. We use it for our patron IM as well as 
several internal staff purposes. I'm sure there's lots of LH3 users on 
code4lib, so if you're not familiar with it, but interested in exploring it, 
you'll be bound to get opinions. There are also other similar services that 
people might recommend as well.

Good luck! This sounds like a good -- but definitely solvable -- problem.

Andreas Orphanides
NCSU Libraries

On Thu, Feb 21, 2013 at 10:57 AM, Greenspun, Cindy  wrote:

> Hello -
>
> I'm a newbie to this listserv.  I'm not a librarian, nor am I a coder.   I
> primarily do systems related work with our library management system, 
> run SQL reports as needed and project management.  I also work for 
> Access Services and even though I'm considered IT, I'm not in the 
> library IT department.  This is a new position in my department and 
> we're still figuring things out as we go along.
>
> I work in one of the many libraries at Yale University.  In the 
> department I work in, we have three busy service points - two 
> circulation desks and a privileges/registration office.  There are 
> about 50/60 staff members and roughly 50+ student employees who rotate 
> at these service points.  There are times when there are students who 
> are late reporting to a service point, no-shows, or suddenly there's a 
> long line and only one person at a staffed service desk.  At a meeting 
> recently, I was listening to a work leader lament how, if she is the 
> only person there, she is just too busy to make a phone call or send an email 
> asking for help - a common occurrence.
>  After I heard her, I wondered how possible it would be to create some 
> sort of desktop 'app'.  One that requires only one click and is smart 
> enough to know its service desk location and is sent to the right 
> folks who could come assist right away, upon demand.  These would be 
> on Windows workstations.
>
> Recently, I've seen many encouraging responses to the latest 'getting 
> started...' emails and feel motivated to write to this listserv as I'm 
> eager to learn and to try to do this myself.  I hope that this will be 
> a simple enough project for me but I'm just not sure where to start or 
> what I should be looking at.  So, here I am, not a librarian, nor a 
> coder.  I write to this listserv seeking suggestions, ideas and 
> encouragement.  :)
>
> Thank you -
> Cindy
>

Re: [CODE4LIB] Question on CONTENTdm and Linked Data

[Mark Jordan]

Hi,

- Original Message -
> Hi Matt,
> 
> The largest hurdle you would face with linked data and ContentDM are
> the
> inconsistently persistent URLs (to say nothing of the application
> specific
> jankyness in the url).  When an item is added to a collection in
> ContentDM,
> it is assigned an ID which is used in the URL, ie
> http://digitalcollections.library.gsu.edu/cdm/singleitem/collection/ajc/id/805
>  .
> However, if at a later point, you make a change to that item, say
> updating
> the OCR text, the item is given a new ID, and thus is accessed at a
> new
> URL. 

This is not correct -- an item's ID (in CONTENTdm terms, its 'pointer') remains 
the same after an update to the item using the tools provided as part of 
CONTENTdm.

> However, the old URL does not redirect to the new one, it just
> dead
> ends, ironically at an error page with a 200 HTTP request status
> header!
> Wreaks havoc on search engines or any other system that relies on
> persistent URLs, as a Linked data system *may* want to do. :(
> 
> That said, ContentDM 6 does have an API through which you can get
> data
> about any record. It's a little inconsistent, and the docs aren't
> amazing,
> but you can get most everything out of it that you'd want. So, if you
> had
> coordinates where and image was taken stored in a metadata field, you
> could
> use the API to get them and push that onto a Google map. So if you
> have a
> collection that is static, you probably don't have to worry about the
> URL
> borking feature they have included.
> More about the ContentDM API:
> http://www.contentdm.org/help6/custom/customize2f.asp
> 

Dumping the data using the web-services API into LOD representations is 
definitely the way to go. CONTENTdm out of the box has no capacity to act as an 
LOD provider.

Mark 

Re: [CODE4LIB] A newbie seeking input/suggestions

[Andreas Orphanides]

Hey Cindy,

Welcome! Glad to see your question here, we like new people.

Here at NC State we've set up a (mostly semi-working) system for requesting
backup using LibraryH3lp webchat. Basically we have a staff webpage that
has a chat box in it. If you type something in the box, say "Backup!" or
"jkgfasdkl;", that message will get broadcast to everyone who's logged into
their "backup help" account in Pidgin. Recently we've also been
experimenting with "canned" messages that you can broadcast just by
clicking on a button in the web browser.

You could theoretically set this up for -- and distinguish -- separate
service points by having a different queue for each service point. The
backup people would see where the request was coming from based on the name
of the queue. And you could set up each backup account to only monitor
requests from the appropriate service points.

If you're not familiar with LibraryH3lp, it's a very lightweight (and
inexpensive) library patron chat system. We use it for our patron IM as
well as several internal staff purposes. I'm sure there's lots of LH3 users
on code4lib, so if you're not familiar with it, but interested in exploring
it, you'll be bound to get opinions. There are also other similar services
that people might recommend as well.

Good luck! This sounds like a good -- but definitely solvable -- problem.

Andreas Orphanides
NCSU Libraries

On Thu, Feb 21, 2013 at 10:57 AM, Greenspun, Cindy  wrote:

> Hello -
>
> I'm a newbie to this listserv.  I'm not a librarian, nor am I a coder.   I
> primarily do systems related work with our library management system, run
> SQL reports as needed and project management.  I also work for Access
> Services and even though I'm considered IT, I'm not in the library IT
> department.  This is a new position in my department and we're still
> figuring things out as we go along.
>
> I work in one of the many libraries at Yale University.  In the department
> I work in, we have three busy service points - two circulation desks and a
> privileges/registration office.  There are about 50/60 staff members and
> roughly 50+ student employees who rotate at these service points.  There
> are times when there are students who are late reporting to a service
> point, no-shows, or suddenly there's a long line and only one person at a
> staffed service desk.  At a meeting recently, I was listening to a work
> leader lament how, if she is the only person there, she is just too busy to
> make a phone call or send an email asking for help - a common occurrence.
>  After I heard her, I wondered how possible it would be to create some sort
> of desktop 'app'.  One that requires only one click and is smart enough to
> know its service desk location and is sent to the right folks who could
> come assist right away, upon demand.  These would be on Windows
> workstations.
>
> Recently, I've seen many encouraging responses to the latest 'getting
> started...' emails and feel motivated to write to this listserv as I'm
> eager to learn and to try to do this myself.  I hope that this will be a
> simple enough project for me but I'm just not sure where to start or what I
> should be looking at.  So, here I am, not a librarian, nor a coder.  I
> write to this listserv seeking suggestions, ideas and encouragement.  :)
>
> Thank you -
> Cindy
>

[CODE4LIB] A newbie seeking input/suggestions

[Greenspun, Cindy]

Hello -

I'm a newbie to this listserv.  I'm not a librarian, nor am I a coder.   I 
primarily do systems related work with our library management system, run SQL 
reports as needed and project management.  I also work for Access Services and 
even though I'm considered IT, I'm not in the library IT department.  This is a 
new position in my department and we're still figuring things out as we go 
along.

I work in one of the many libraries at Yale University.  In the department I 
work in, we have three busy service points - two circulation desks and a 
privileges/registration office.  There are about 50/60 staff members and 
roughly 50+ student employees who rotate at these service points.  There are 
times when there are students who are late reporting to a service point, 
no-shows, or suddenly there's a long line and only one person at a staffed 
service desk.  At a meeting recently, I was listening to a work leader lament 
how, if she is the only person there, she is just too busy to make a phone call 
or send an email asking for help - a common occurrence.  After I heard her, I 
wondered how possible it would be to create some sort of desktop 'app'.  One 
that requires only one click and is smart enough to know its service desk 
location and is sent to the right folks who could come assist right away, upon 
demand.  These would be on Windows workstations.

Recently, I've seen many encouraging responses to the latest 'getting 
started...' emails and feel motivated to write to this listserv as I'm eager to 
learn and to try to do this myself.  I hope that this will be a simple enough 
project for me but I'm just not sure where to start or what I should be looking 
at.  So, here I am, not a librarian, nor a coder.  I write to this listserv 
seeking suggestions, ideas and encouragement.  :)

Thank you -
Cindy

[CODE4LIB] Job: Project Manager at University College Dublin - National University of Ireland, Dublin

[jobs]

The Office of the Vice-President for Research supports the President's vision
of UCD becoming a research intensive university by building an environment
that supports and attracts world class research, enhances UCD's research
reputation and builds confidence in UCD as a destination for quality research
investment.

  
UCD has developed an internationally competitive research system by creating a
continuum across science, engineering, humanities, business and
the arts through key interdisciplinary programmes that are
underpinned by fundamental research and scholarship. These
programmes partner with over 350 companies, voluntary bodies and government to
address national research priorities and to generate new
knowledge. The outputs of academic research are often
thought to be academic publications however the societal contribution of
university research extends beyond academic publishing. UCD has identified the
need to capture and comprehensively convey the full extent
of outputs from its research activities by further development of its
knowledge-management infrastructure for research. The university now seeks to
develop a technology system to extend the range of capture of research outputs
for storage in, and retrieval from, the UCD research repository and integrate
it with other University systems in a manner that
will:

  
• Create and build up a comprehensive corpus of academic research outputs over
the course of an individual's academic
career.

• Provide for the documentation of all research outputs (e.g., patents,
methods/protocols, designs, maps, recordings, music, exhibitions,
performances, policies, diagnostics, tools, scales, devices, etc. as well as
engagement activities that transfer and share knowledge and ideas with public
audiences.

• Provide for the retrieval, analysis and reporting of selections, groupings
and subsets of the qualitative and quantitative data in different ways and
combinations over time.

• Allow for the allocation of measures in the future such as may be determined
to be relevant to evaluation of societal impact of these activities.

  
UCD is seeking a Project Manager to lead the development of this project in
Phase 1 and guide the design of the
technology system and university wide processes envisaged as key outputs of
the project this year.

  
**Salary: **€55,000 per annum  
  
**Principal Duties and Responsibilities**  
Although the post holder may be asked to take on other responsibilities as
required to support the growth and development of the project, the Project
Manager will be primarily responsible for the following
functions:

• Establish and implement the governance structures of the project to ensure
best practise in engagement and decision making within the university
operating
environment.

• Develop strategic understanding and build the knowledge of stakeholders by
providing synthesis of the state of the art in this field
through consultation with experts and exemplars of best practise in education,
medicine , industry, libraries and government in Europe and
internationally.

• Work with key staff and experts to develop and produce an overarching
strategic five year maturity framework and roadmap for the development of
UCD's research knowledge management infrastructure which will deliver key
university objectives and meet the needs of its constituencies nationally and
internationally. The roadmap will encompass people, process and technology
streams and associated
deliverables.

• Establish effective working relationships and feedback mechanisms with key
influencers and decision makers in UCD to ensure that initiatives are in line
with strategic plans and that they are implementable within key departments
e.g. UCD Research, Communications, Library, I.T. services,
Management Services Unit, Colleges/Schools, Research Centres, Institutes and
major programmes.

• Develop and provide the programme plan for 2013 with supporting project
plans; take responsibility for the management, implementation and deliverables
of the programme plan for 2013 including the design and implementation of
measures of success and key performance
indicators.

• Play a leading role in developing and implementing feasible project plans
and facilitate the priorities and sequencing of the work through the Steering
and Technical groups.

• Maintain a risks register and continuous improvements log, provide regular
reporting and maintain all the programme and project documentation in line
with best practise project management
methodologies.

• Work with key stakeholders to identify potential sources of funding and
investment for the ongoing development of UCD's research knowledge management
infrastructure in European programmes and support the development of
partnerships and collaborative funding bids in this
area.

• Perform specified data analysis and studies to support strategic decision
making under the direction of the RMS and reporting manager.

  
  
**Selection criteria**  
Selecti

[CODE4LIB] Job: Java Backend Developer at Europeana

[jobs]

The Hague, Netherlands, 13 February 2013 -

**What will be the core responsibilities of this job?**  
  
Your responsibility is to research, design, develop, and maintain the data
infrastructure that lies at the foundation of the Europeana digital library
system portal, API and external interfaces as part of the Europeana core
development team in agile manner. You work with the unique Europeana dataset
of cultural heritage collections and develop semantic tools and techniques to
serve this data to the Europeana end users.

You work closely with business requirement owners to assess feasibility,
specify and scope of tools and feature requirements.

Improving and maintaining the quality of the code by utilizing the proofed
coding and automated testing practices will be part of your core
responsibilities as well.

You will also work with Europeana internal and partner projects to facilitate
distribution of Europeana data using different semantic standards and
technologies.

  
**What set of skills and knowledge should you bring?**  

  * University level education in computer science or a related field, or an 
equivalent combination of education and experience
  * 5+ years of research and software development experience
  * Hands-on experience with designing and implementing semantic systems that 
handle large data
  * Experience with working with humanities data or multilingual data is a 
strong advantage
  * Excellent written and spoken English
  * Ability and desire to work as part of a team and experience of modern 
development methodologies, such as Agile/SCRUM
  * Development knowledge and experience
a) Thorough knowledge of and experience in Java development (Hibernate, JUnit,
Spring) in Linux, Apache environments

b) Knowledge and experience in semantic libraries and platforms (Lucene, SOLR)
and industry standards (RDF, SKOS, Linked Open Data)

c) Knowledge on XML, XSLT, XML Schema, and other XML-related standards

d) Experience on relational databases (e.g. PostgreSQL, ) and/or document
databases (e.g. MongoDB)

e) Experience on different SW development lifecycle tools and skills: Hudson,
SVN, Unit testing, and integration tools, such as Maven

Basic knowledge of Front end and other related technologies is an asset:

a) Experience in CSS, HTML, JavaScript, preferably working to a Java-based
backend

b) PHP

  
**Soft Skills**  

  * Open minded, rich with new ideas
  * Able to see the big picture
  * Able to balance between maintainable long term solutions, and short tern 
needs.
  * Team player
**What are the benefits?**  
  
We offer a good basic salary which is in line with the Collective Labour
Agreement for Research Centres, scale 10 (€ 2.500 - € 3.800,- gross per month,
holiday allowance and annual bonus not included) depending on your experience
and skills. In addition, you will have 42 days holiday per year, a holiday
allowance (8%), an annual bonus (around 8%) and good fringe benefits.

  
Along with this job comes the great opportunity to travel in Europe
occasionally.

  
It's also important to know that we are based in the National Library of the
Netherlands, in The Hague, close to the Central Station.

  
**What is the Recruitment procedure?**  
  
Please send your CV with a covering letter (both in English) outlining what
interests you about this position to: j...@europeana.eu

  
Should you have any additional questions or information you require before
deciding whether to apply please send a mail to j...@europeana.eu.

  
Please respond to us before the 4th March 2013

  
More about us:

  
For more information see: [http://europeana.eu/portal/aboutus.html](http://eur
opeana.eu/portal/aboutus.html)



Brought to you by code4lib jobs: http://jobs.code4lib.org/job/6391/

Re: [CODE4LIB] Question on CONTENTdm and Linked Data

[Matthew Sherman]

Thanks, both of those give me a much better idea.  I know I had used
CONTENTdm data with a Google map almost 2 years ago for a class project but
that involved extracting the data from the admin end into an excel table,
so these show marked improvement.


On Wed, Feb 20, 2013 at 9:27 PM, Chad Nelson  wrote:

> Hi Matt,
>
> The largest hurdle you would face with linked data and ContentDM are the
> inconsistently persistent URLs (to say nothing of the application specific
> jankyness in the url).  When an item is added to a collection in ContentDM,
> it is assigned an ID which is used in the URL, ie
>
> http://digitalcollections.library.gsu.edu/cdm/singleitem/collection/ajc/id/805/
>  .
> However, if at a later point, you make a change to that item, say updating
> the OCR text, the item is given a new ID, and thus is accessed at a new
> URL. However, the old URL does not redirect to the new one, it just dead
> ends, ironically at an error page with a 200 HTTP request status header!
> Wreaks havoc on search engines or any other system that relies on
> persistent URLs, as a Linked data system *may* want to do. :(
>
> That said, ContentDM 6 does have an API through which you can get data
> about any record. It's a little inconsistent, and the docs aren't amazing,
> but you can get most everything out of it that you'd want. So, if you had
> coordinates where and image was taken stored in a metadata field, you could
> use the API to get them and push that onto a Google map. So if you have a
> collection that is static, you probably don't have to worry about the URL
> borking feature they have included.
> More about the ContentDM API:
> http://www.contentdm.org/help6/custom/customize2f.asp
>
> Hope that helps and good luck.
> Chad
>
>
> On Wed, Feb 20, 2013 at 5:25 PM, Matthew Sherman
> wrote:
>
> > Hello Code4Lib,
> >
> > I was wondering if anyone has had success in using digital data or
> > resources that are stored in CONTENTdm in any linked data projects.  I
> have
> > tried utilizing CONTENTdm data for a small Google Map in the past and
> found
> > it quite difficult to use.  At the same time I have not used CONTENTdm in
> > over a year so I do not know if they have made it easier to exact and
> > utilize information from the system.  I am working on an interview
> > presentation and one of the parts I am trying to tackle involves working
> a
> > set of data into a user friendly system related to a specific
> > topic, possibly using a map.  I know these folks have CONTENTdm currently
> > so I was wondering if I would be able to present a way to work with the
> > existing system or if I should be saying that to make this project work
> > they need to put it into a different CMS.  Any insight folks have had
> > working with linked data in CONTENTdm would be quite welcome.  Thanks.
> >
> > Matt Sherman
> >
>

Re: [CODE4LIB] GitHub Myths (was thanks and poetry)

[Megan O'Neill]

Jonathan++

The more the merrier, says I. If we decide we need complete record of all
the poetry we create at some point in the future, we can deal with that
then. For right now, everybody have fun!

This is supposed to be fun, right?


On Thu, Feb 21, 2013 at 10:33 AM, Andrew Hankinson <
andrew.hankin...@gmail.com> wrote:

> Also, as a side note (and of interest to some) you *can* add pull requests
> to your repo:
>
> https://gist.github.com/piscisaureus/3342247
>
>
> On 2013-02-21, at 10:29 AM, Shaun Ellis  wrote:
>
> > If you read my email, I don't tell anyone what to use, but simply
> attempt to clear up some fallacies.  Distributed version control is new to
> many, and I want to make sure that folks are getting accurate information
> from this list.
> >
> > Unfortunately, this statement is not accurate either:
> >
> > // There's a sneaky lock-in effect of having one open tool (git hosting)
> which is fairly easy to move in and out and interoperate with, linked to
> other closed tools (such as their issues tracker and their non-git pull
> requests system) which are harder to move out or interoperate. //
> >
> > GitHub's API allows you to easily export issues if you want to move them
> somewhere else:
> > http://developer.github.com/v3/issues/
> >
> > Pull-requests are used by repository hosting platforms to make it easier
> to suggest patches.  GitHub and BitBucket both use the pattern, and I don't
> understand what you mean by it being a "closed tool".  If you're concerned
> about "barriers to entry", suggesting a patch using only git or mercurial
> can be done, but I wouldn't say it's easy.
> >
> > ... and what Devon said.
> >
> > -Shaun
> >
> >
> > On 2/21/13 9:34 AM, MJ Ray wrote:
> >> Shaun Ellis 
> >>> * Myth #1 : GitHub creates a barrier to entry.
> >>
> >> That's a fact, not a myth.  Myself, I won't give GitHub my full legal
> >> name and I suspect there are others who won't.  So, we're not welcome
> >> there and if we lie to register, all our work would be subject to
> >> deletion at an arbitrary future point.
> >>
> >> There's a couple of other things in the terms which aren't simple, too.
> >>
> >> [...]
> >>> * Myth #4 : GitHub is monopolizing open source software development.
> >>>  > "... to its unfortunate centralizing of so much free/open
> >>>  > source software on one platform.)"
> >>>
> >>> Convergence is not always a bad thing. GitHub provides a great, free
> >>> service with lots of helpful collaboration tools beyond version
> control.
> >>>   It's natural that people would flock there, despite having lots of
> >>> other options.
> >>
> >> Whether or not it's a deliberate monopolising attempt, I don't think
> >> that's the full reason.  It's not only natural effect.  There's a
> >> sneaky lock-in effect of having one open tool (git hosting) which is
> >> fairly easy to move in and out and interoperate with, linked to other
> >> closed tools (such as their issues tracker and their non-git pull
> >> requests system) which are harder to move out or interoperate.
> >>
> >> Use github if you like.  Just don't expect everyone to do so.
> >>
> >> Hope that explains,
> >>
>



-- 
Megan O'Neill Kudzia
Web Services & Emerging Technologies Librarian
Stockwell-Mudd Library
Albion College
602 E. Cass St.
Albion, MI 49224

Re: [CODE4LIB] GitHub Myths (was thanks and poetry)

[Andrew Hankinson]

Also, as a side note (and of interest to some) you *can* add pull requests to 
your repo:

https://gist.github.com/piscisaureus/3342247


On 2013-02-21, at 10:29 AM, Shaun Ellis  wrote:

> If you read my email, I don't tell anyone what to use, but simply attempt to 
> clear up some fallacies.  Distributed version control is new to many, and I 
> want to make sure that folks are getting accurate information from this list.
> 
> Unfortunately, this statement is not accurate either:
> 
> // There's a sneaky lock-in effect of having one open tool (git hosting) 
> which is fairly easy to move in and out and interoperate with, linked to 
> other closed tools (such as their issues tracker and their non-git pull 
> requests system) which are harder to move out or interoperate. //
> 
> GitHub's API allows you to easily export issues if you want to move them 
> somewhere else:
> http://developer.github.com/v3/issues/
> 
> Pull-requests are used by repository hosting platforms to make it easier to 
> suggest patches.  GitHub and BitBucket both use the pattern, and I don't 
> understand what you mean by it being a "closed tool".  If you're concerned 
> about "barriers to entry", suggesting a patch using only git or mercurial can 
> be done, but I wouldn't say it's easy.
> 
> ... and what Devon said.
> 
> -Shaun
> 
> 
> On 2/21/13 9:34 AM, MJ Ray wrote:
>> Shaun Ellis 
>>> * Myth #1 : GitHub creates a barrier to entry.
>> 
>> That's a fact, not a myth.  Myself, I won't give GitHub my full legal
>> name and I suspect there are others who won't.  So, we're not welcome
>> there and if we lie to register, all our work would be subject to
>> deletion at an arbitrary future point.
>> 
>> There's a couple of other things in the terms which aren't simple, too.
>> 
>> [...]
>>> * Myth #4 : GitHub is monopolizing open source software development.
>>>  > "... to its unfortunate centralizing of so much free/open
>>>  > source software on one platform.)"
>>> 
>>> Convergence is not always a bad thing. GitHub provides a great, free
>>> service with lots of helpful collaboration tools beyond version control.
>>>   It's natural that people would flock there, despite having lots of
>>> other options.
>> 
>> Whether or not it's a deliberate monopolising attempt, I don't think
>> that's the full reason.  It's not only natural effect.  There's a
>> sneaky lock-in effect of having one open tool (git hosting) which is
>> fairly easy to move in and out and interoperate with, linked to other
>> closed tools (such as their issues tracker and their non-git pull
>> requests system) which are harder to move out or interoperate.
>> 
>> Use github if you like.  Just don't expect everyone to do so.
>> 
>> Hope that explains,
>> 

Re: [CODE4LIB] GitHub Myths (was thanks and poetry)

[Shaun Ellis]

If you read my email, I don't tell anyone what to use, but simply 
attempt to clear up some fallacies.  Distributed version control is new 
to many, and I want to make sure that folks are getting accurate 
information from this list.


Unfortunately, this statement is not accurate either:

// There's a sneaky lock-in effect of having one open tool (git hosting) 
which is fairly easy to move in and out and interoperate with, linked to 
other closed tools (such as their issues tracker and their non-git pull 
requests system) which are harder to move out or interoperate. //


GitHub's API allows you to easily export issues if you want to move them 
somewhere else:

http://developer.github.com/v3/issues/

Pull-requests are used by repository hosting platforms to make it easier 
to suggest patches.  GitHub and BitBucket both use the pattern, and I 
don't understand what you mean by it being a "closed tool".  If you're 
concerned about "barriers to entry", suggesting a patch using only git 
or mercurial can be done, but I wouldn't say it's easy.


... and what Devon said.

-Shaun


On 2/21/13 9:34 AM, MJ Ray wrote:

Shaun Ellis 

* Myth #1 : GitHub creates a barrier to entry.


That's a fact, not a myth.  Myself, I won't give GitHub my full legal
name and I suspect there are others who won't.  So, we're not welcome
there and if we lie to register, all our work would be subject to
deletion at an arbitrary future point.

There's a couple of other things in the terms which aren't simple, too.

[...]

* Myth #4 : GitHub is monopolizing open source software development.
  > "... to its unfortunate centralizing of so much free/open
  > source software on one platform.)"

Convergence is not always a bad thing. GitHub provides a great, free
service with lots of helpful collaboration tools beyond version control.
   It's natural that people would flock there, despite having lots of
other options.


Whether or not it's a deliberate monopolising attempt, I don't think
that's the full reason.  It's not only natural effect.  There's a
sneaky lock-in effect of having one open tool (git hosting) which is
fairly easy to move in and out and interoperate with, linked to other
closed tools (such as their issues tracker and their non-git pull
requests system) which are harder to move out or interoperate.

Use github if you like.  Just don't expect everyone to do so.

Hope that explains,

Re: [CODE4LIB] Providing Search Across PDFs

[Jay Luker]

On Wed, Feb 20, 2013 at 2:33 PM, Nathan Tallman  wrote:
> @Péter: The VuFind solution I mentioned is very similar to what you use
> here. It uses Aperture (although soon to use Tika instead) to grab the
> full-text and shoves everything inside a solr index. The import is managed
> through a PHP script the crawls every URL on the sitemap. The only part I
> don't have is removing deleted, adding new, and updating changed
> webpages/files. I'm not sure how to rework the script to use a list of new
> files rather than the sitemap, but everything is on the same server so that
> should work.

Nathan,

A first step could be to record a timestamp of when a particular URL
is fetched. Then modify your PHP script to send an "If-Modified-Since"
header with the request. Assuming the target server adheres to basic
HTTP behavior, you'll get a 304 response and therefore know you don't
have to re-index that particular item.

(As an aside, could Google be ignoring items in your sitemap that it
thinks haven't changed?)

Maybe I'm misunderstanding though. The sitemap you mention has links
to html pages which then link to the PDFs? So you have to parse the
HTML to get the PDF URL? In that case, it still seems like recording
the last-fetched timestamps for the PDF URLs would be an option. I
know next to nothing about VuFind, so maybe the fetching mechanism
isn't exposed in a way to make this possible. I'm surprised it's not
already baked in, frankly.

One other thing that's confusing is the notion of "over 1000 PDFs"
taking a "long, long time". Even on fairly milquetoast hardware, I'd
expect solr to be capable of extracting and indexing 1000 PDF
documents in 20-30 minutes.

--jay

Re: [CODE4LIB] GitHub Myths (was thanks and poetry)

[Devon]

If you're not willing to provide even your name to make use of a free
service, then I dare say you are erecting your own barriers. Such is your
choice, of course, but I don't think others need to be compelled
to accommodate the barriers you create for yourself.

And just because the terms of use are not unconditional, or perfectly to
your liking, does not mean you're not welcome to use it. You are.

/dev


On Thu, Feb 21, 2013 at 9:34 AM, MJ Ray  wrote:

> Shaun Ellis 
> > * Myth #1 : GitHub creates a barrier to entry.
>
> That's a fact, not a myth.  Myself, I won't give GitHub my full legal
> name and I suspect there are others who won't.  So, we're not welcome
> there and if we lie to register, all our work would be subject to
> deletion at an arbitrary future point.
>
> There's a couple of other things in the terms which aren't simple, too.
>
> [...]
> > * Myth #4 : GitHub is monopolizing open source software development.
> >  > "... to its unfortunate centralizing of so much free/open
> >  > source software on one platform.)"
> >
> > Convergence is not always a bad thing. GitHub provides a great, free
> > service with lots of helpful collaboration tools beyond version control.
> >   It's natural that people would flock there, despite having lots of
> > other options.
>
> Whether or not it's a deliberate monopolising attempt, I don't think
> that's the full reason.  It's not only natural effect.  There's a
> sneaky lock-in effect of having one open tool (git hosting) which is
> fairly easy to move in and out and interoperate with, linked to other
> closed tools (such as their issues tracker and their non-git pull
> requests system) which are harder to move out or interoperate.
>
> Use github if you like.  Just don't expect everyone to do so.
>
> Hope that explains,
> --
> MJ Ray (slef), member of www.software.coop, a for-more-than-profit co-op.
> http://koha-community.org supporter, web and library systems developer.
> In My Opinion Only: see http://mjr.towers.org.uk/email.html
> Available for hire (including development) at http://www.software.coop/
>



-- 
Sent from my GMail account.

Re: [CODE4LIB] PHP YAZ

[Stephen Marks]

I've done it before, but it's been a while. What problem are you having 
particularly?


s


On Feb-20-2013 1:57 PM, Brent Ferguson wrote:

Is there anyone that has experience working with PHP and YAZ on a Windows Box...

Have a few questions to help clarify what is needed to get up and running...

Brent Ferguson, MLS
Web Developer / Reference Librarian - Elkhart Public Library
http://www.myepl.org/epl




--



Stephen Marks
Digital Preservation Librarian
Scholars Portal
Ontario Council of University Libraries

step...@scholarsportal.info
416.946.0300

"Fearlessness is better than a faint heart for any man who puts his nose 
out of doors. The length of my life and the day of my death were fated 
long ago." --Skírnismál

[CODE4LIB] Full Legal Names on the Web, was GitHub Myths (was thanks and poetry)

[Michael Schofield]

@Shaun,

That is really interesting. I never looked at Github that way. I jumped on the 
github bandwagon for purely selfish, web-culture reasons and for the purpose of 
having a code portfolio (even if I'm a little embarrassed by it). This split 
topic I'd like to see maybe in another thread is about giving full legal names 
to web services. If anyone watched the PS4 reveal last night, you might have 
noticed that PS4 is giving up gamertags (read: aliases) for full names to 
easily integrate with other social platforms. Even though I'm late to the game, 
for the last year I've been using solely my full name as username (where I can 
get it) so, frankly, I grab it before any of the other Michael Schofield's can.

Sorry for the digression,

Michael
ns4lib.com, etc.

-Original Message-
From: Code for Libraries [mailto:CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU] On Behalf Of MJ Ray
Sent: Thursday, February 21, 2013 9:35 AM
To: CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU
Subject: Re: [CODE4LIB] GitHub Myths (was thanks and poetry)

Shaun Ellis 
> * Myth #1 : GitHub creates a barrier to entry.

That's a fact, not a myth.  Myself, I won't give GitHub my full legal name and 
I suspect there are others who won't.  So, we're not welcome there and if we 
lie to register, all our work would be subject to deletion at an arbitrary 
future point.

There's a couple of other things in the terms which aren't simple, too.

[...]
> * Myth #4 : GitHub is monopolizing open source software development.
>  > "... to its unfortunate centralizing of so much free/open  > source 
> software on one platform.)"
> 
> Convergence is not always a bad thing. GitHub provides a great, free 
> service with lots of helpful collaboration tools beyond version control.
>   It's natural that people would flock there, despite having lots of 
> other options.

Whether or not it's a deliberate monopolising attempt, I don't think that's the 
full reason.  It's not only natural effect.  There's a sneaky lock-in effect of 
having one open tool (git hosting) which is fairly easy to move in and out and 
interoperate with, linked to other closed tools (such as their issues tracker 
and their non-git pull requests system) which are harder to move out or 
interoperate.

Use github if you like.  Just don't expect everyone to do so.

Hope that explains,
--
MJ Ray (slef), member of www.software.coop, a for-more-than-profit co-op.
http://koha-community.org supporter, web and library systems developer.
In My Opinion Only: see http://mjr.towers.org.uk/email.html
Available for hire (including development) at http://www.software.coop/

Re: [CODE4LIB] Providing Search Across PDFs

[gibert julien]

As far as the google custom search solution, I'd add that sometimes it 
yields weird results : for instance, we indexed a site and for a given 
search term, google says "about 16 results" (we have 10 hits displayed 
on the page) and when we click on page 2, it says "about 12 results" 
(showing the two remaining hits). Ok, it says "about", but it's a bit 
strange anyway that the system is not able to compute the proper number 
of hits upfront (it occurs while using labels refinement.)

On the other hand, it's super easy to set up...

Le 20/02/2013 20:33, Nathan Tallman a écrit :

@Jason and @Michele: I'd rather stay away from a Google solution. The
reason being that they don't index everything. Our sitemap is submitted
nightly and out of about 6000 URLs only 1500 are indexed. I can't make sure
Google indexes the PDFs or be sure that they always will. (If I'm
misunderstanding this, please let me know.)

@Péter: The VuFind solution I mentioned is very similar to what you use
here. It uses Aperture (although soon to use Tika instead) to grab the
full-text and shoves everything inside a solr index. The import is managed
through a PHP script the crawls every URL on the sitemap. The only part I
don't have is removing deleted, adding new, and updating changed
webpages/files. I'm not sure how to rework the script to use a list of new
files rather than the sitemap, but everything is on the same server so that
should work.


On Wed, Feb 20, 2013 at 12:53 PM, Nathan Tallman  wrote:


My institution is looking for ways to provide search across PDFs through
our website. Specifically, PDFs linked from finding aids. Ideally searching
within a collection's PDFs or possibly across all PDFs linked from all
finding aids.

We do not have a CMS or a digital repository. A digital repository is on
the horizon, but it's a ways out and we need to offer the search sooner.
I've looked into Swish-e but haven't had much luck getting anything off the
ground.

One way we know we can do this through our discovery layer VuFind, using
it's ability to full-text index a website based on a sitemap (which would
includes PDFs linked from finding aids). Facets could be created for
  collections, and we may be able to create a search box on the finding aid
nav that searches specifically that collection.

But, I'm not sure how scalable that solution is. The indexing agent cannot
discern when a page was updated, so it has to re-scrape,
everything, every-night. The impetus collection is going to have about over
1000 PDFs. And that's to start. Creating the index will start to take a
long, long time.

Does anyone have any ideas or know of any useful tools for this project?
Doesn't have to be perfect, quick and dirty may work. (The OCR's dirty
anyway :-)

Thanks,
Nathan







--
signature
*Julien Gibert*
Agence Bibliographique de l'Enseignement Supérieur
227, avenue Professeur Jean Louis Viala
34193 Montpellier cedex 5
Tél : 33 (0)4 67 54 84 07
Fax : 33 (0)4 67 54 84 14

Re: [CODE4LIB] Fuseki and other SPARQL servers

[Ethan Gruber]

Thanks everyone for the info. This soothed my apprehensions of running
Fuseki in a production environment.

Ethan


On Wed, Feb 20, 2013 at 4:05 PM, Ross Singer  wrote:

> I'll add that the LARQ plugin for Fuseki (which adds Lucene indexes) is
> pretty awesome, as well.
>
> -Ross.
>
> On Feb 20, 2013, at 3:57 PM, John Fereira  wrote:
>
> > If forgot about that.  That issue was created quite awhile ago and I
> hadn't check on it in a long time.  I've found that Jetty has worked fine
> in our production environment so far.  As I wrote earlier, I have it
> connecting to a jena SDB that is used for a semantic web application (VIVO)
> that was developed here.  Although we have the semantic web application
> running on a different server than the SDB database I found the performance
> was fairly significantly improved by having the Fuseki server running on
> the same machine as the SDB.
> >
> > -Original Message-
> > From: Code for Libraries [mailto:CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU] On Behalf Of
> Ethan Gruber
> > Sent: Wednesday, February 20, 2013 2:52 PM
> > To: CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU
> > Subject: Re: [CODE4LIB] Fuseki and other SPARQL servers
> >
> > Hi Hugh,
> >
> > I have investigated the possibility of deploying Fuseki as a war in
> Tomcat (
> > https://issues.apache.org/jira/browse/JENA-201) because I wasn't sure
> how the default Jetty container would respond in production, but since you
> aren't having any problems with that deployment, I may go ahead and do that.
> >
> > Ethan
> >
> >
> > On Wed, Feb 20, 2013 at 2:39 PM, Hugh Cayless 
> wrote:
> >
> >> Hi Ethan!
> >>
> >> We've been using Jena/Fuseki in papyri.info for about a year now, iirc.
> >> We started with Mulgara, but switched. It's running in its own Jetty
> >> container in our system, but I've had no performance issues with it
> >> whatever.
> >>
> >> Best,
> >> Hugh
> >>
> >> On Feb 20, 2013, at 14:31 , Ethan Gruber  wrote:
> >>
> >>> Hi all,
> >>>
> >>> I have been playing around with Fuseki (
> >>> http://jena.apache.org/documentation/serving_data/index.html) for a
> >>> few months to get my feet wet with accessing and querying RDF.  I
> >>> quite like it. I find it well documented and easy to set up.  We
> >>> will soon deploy a SPARQL server in a production environment, and I
> >>> would like to know if others on the list have experience with Fuseki
> >>> in production, or have
> >> other
> >>> recommendations.  Mulgara is off the table as it inexplicably
> >>> conflicts with other apps installed in Tomcat.
> >>>
> >>> Thanks,
> >>> Ethan
> >>
>

Re: [CODE4LIB] GitHub Myths (was thanks and poetry)

[MJ Ray]

Shaun Ellis 
> * Myth #1 : GitHub creates a barrier to entry.

That's a fact, not a myth.  Myself, I won't give GitHub my full legal
name and I suspect there are others who won't.  So, we're not welcome
there and if we lie to register, all our work would be subject to
deletion at an arbitrary future point.

There's a couple of other things in the terms which aren't simple, too.

[...]
> * Myth #4 : GitHub is monopolizing open source software development.
>  > "... to its unfortunate centralizing of so much free/open
>  > source software on one platform.)"
> 
> Convergence is not always a bad thing. GitHub provides a great, free 
> service with lots of helpful collaboration tools beyond version control. 
>   It's natural that people would flock there, despite having lots of 
> other options.

Whether or not it's a deliberate monopolising attempt, I don't think
that's the full reason.  It's not only natural effect.  There's a
sneaky lock-in effect of having one open tool (git hosting) which is
fairly easy to move in and out and interoperate with, linked to other
closed tools (such as their issues tracker and their non-git pull
requests system) which are harder to move out or interoperate.

Use github if you like.  Just don't expect everyone to do so.

Hope that explains,
-- 
MJ Ray (slef), member of www.software.coop, a for-more-than-profit co-op.
http://koha-community.org supporter, web and library systems developer.
In My Opinion Only: see http://mjr.towers.org.uk/email.html
Available for hire (including development) at http://www.software.coop/

[CODE4LIB] Job: Head Of Library Technology at Radford University

[jobs]

John P. McConnell Library at Radford University seeks a collaborative, user-
centered Head of Library Technology to provide leadership to a highly
committed and outstanding technology department.

  
The Head of Library Technology brings vision and expertise to planning,
developing, implementing and maintaining robust information technology
supporting the library's mission. The position administers
and supervises the department and manages library technology budgets and
purchases.

  
Required Qualifications:

  * Master's degree in Information Science, Information Technology, Library 
Science, or related field
  * At least 3 years of progressively responsible experience in information 
technology management and supervision of staff;
  * Extensive IT administration and management experience in libraries, and on 
a diverse variety of IT platforms;
  * Extensive experience with integrated library systems, networking, server 
management and the programming essential to a technologically robust library;
  * Excellent oral and written communication skills, and a demonstrated ability 
to facilitate technical communication among a variety of stakeholders;
  * Demonstrated success in collaborative project management in applying 
innovative technologies to enhance library services;
  * Enthusiasm and deep understanding of the role and possibilities of 
technology in teaching, learning, and research pursuits.
Preferred Qualifications:

  * ALA-accredited Master's degree;
  * Broad range of experience and expertise in a wide variety of library 
technologies including: operating systems, web design and management, 
scripting, enterprise databases, content management systems, digital asset 
repositories design and management;
  * Demonstrated ability to prepare successful grant proposals for technology 
projects;
  * IT degree.
The Head of Library Technology position is full-time and holds rank as a
professional faculty member. Librarians at Radford
University are not tenure-track.

  
Salary is commensurate with qualifications and experience.

  
All applicants must apply online at http://jobs.radford.edu to be considered
for the position.

  
Radford University is a comprehensive, state-supported institution focused on
providing outstanding academic programs in a student-centered
environment. The university is well known for its strong
faculty/student bonds and innovative use of technology in the learning
environment. Radford is located by the New River in the
scenic mountains of Southwest Virginia, 40 miles from Roanoke.

  
All new hires to Radford University are subject to E-Verify to verify
employment eligibility. Radford University is an EO/AA
employer committed to diversity.



Brought to you by code4lib jobs: http://jobs.code4lib.org/job/6389/