[CODE4LIB] Assistant Scientist position available at the MBLWHOI library

[Hamed, Ahmed A.]

Apologies for cross-listing
Go to :
https://mbl.simplehire.com/applicants/jsp/shared/frameset/Frameset.jsp
Under Scientist link:
*Assistant Scientist*View
  01-10-2008 Scientist MBLWHOI library
Posting Details  Posting Number:   005 Reference Code:
Department:
  MBLWHOI library Position Type:   Scientist Position Title:
Assistant Scientist Position
Summary:   The MBLWHOI Library at the Marine Biological Laboratory seeks
highly motivated information scientists to join a growing team of
library-based researchers. The successful candidate will join a community of
librarians and researchers that are internationally recognized as defining
the current trends and practices in marine information sciences and
biological/biomedical informatics. Additional Information:   In addition
to providing leadership in advancing current research projects at the
Library (such as the uBio and MBLWHOI Library Herbarium projects), the
successful candidate will develop an extramurally funded research program
that furthers the core missions of the library in addition to capitalizing
on the highly collaborative environment in the Woods Hole scientific
community. S/he will also evaluate the existing and anticipated needs of the
MBLWHOI patrons and collaborators to motivate the development of novel tools
and resources that can be used by the scientific community at-large.
Expertise will be provided by the successful candidate towards for the
development of tools and techniques for natural language processing,
indexing, ontologies, data mining, and knowledge integration across a range
of biological and biomedical resources. S/he will stay abreast of current
developments in information science, informatics, and related disciplines
through the participation and representation at international meetings and
committees. The successful candidate will help guide the direction of an
Ellison Medical Foundation (EMF) funded initiative to develop a web portal
for aging. In this capacity, s/he will also serve as a liaison between the
EMF-funded initiative and the biodiversity informatics group of the
Encyclopedia of Life initiative, which is also located at the Marine
Biological Laboratory. Basic Qualifications:   The successful candidate
will have a PhD in Informatics, Information Science or a related field, as
well as least two years of relevant experience in biological/biomedical
informatics and/or library science, a publication record within relevant
informatics journals, and the ability to attract extramural funding. Formal
training in biological science (e.g., molecular biology, biochemistry,
biophysics) is highly desirable. Demonstrable experience with database
management systems (such as MySQL), programming (e.g., Perl, PHP, Ruby,
C/C++, and Java) is required. Preferred Qualifications:   Physical
Requirements   Required Applicant Documents:   Resume/CV
Cover Letter
References Special Instructions to Applicants:

-- 
Ahmed Abdeen Hamed, MS
Scientific Informatics Project Leader
MBLWHOI Library
Marine Biological Laboratory
7 MBL Street
Woods Hole, MA 02543 USA
+1 508 289 7676
[EMAIL PROTECTED]

[CODE4LIB] Converting Elsevier CSV usage reports to COUNTER XML?

[David Fiander]

Elsevier provides a variety of options for downloading ScienceDirect
journal usage stats, including HTML, PDF, and CSV, but the one format
they don't support is COUNTER-compliant XML, even for the COUNTER
reports.

So, before I burn off a couple of days on this, has anybody written a
utility that can convert Elsevier CSV to COUNTER XML?

- David

Re: [CODE4LIB] grand metadata tool ideas

[Jonathan Rochkind]

LibLime is working on something similar with their biblios.net tool.  
beta.biblios.net.


They say they'll have the SSL cert issues fixed by tommorow. :)

Jonathan

Will Sexton wrote:

[cross-posted to web4lib and code4lib lists]

We’re embarking on a project to adopt or build a metadata tool at Duke 
University Libraries. Before we’re immersed in architectures, designs, 
workflows, schedules, layers, platforms, capacities, etc., I’d like to 
indulge in some guilt-free big thinking. I thought I’d just kind of 
put the question out there: What are some of the big ideas that could 
inform the development of a metadata tool?


I invite conversation here and on our Digital Collections Blog 
(http://library.duke.edu/blogs/digital-collections/), where I've 
posted an extended version of this message. Other conversations will 
occur in various venues over the next month or so. I’ll try to pull 
together and post on anything I see, hear, read or say. In the 
meantime, I’ll share one big idea that I’ve been considering; I’m not 
saying it’s THE big idea or even implying that we’ll follow through on 
it at Duke. It’s just one way to bend our thinking about this project.


The idea follows from a blog post that Lorcan Dempsey wrote in May, 
mentioning an example of a “shared cataloging environment” 
(http://orweblog.oclc.org/archives/001641.html). When I read it, I 
wondered, what if you take that idea to its logical (illogical?) 
extreme: a metadata tool as a software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform.


I've elaborated on the idea in the blog post 
(http://library.duke.edu/blogs/digital-collections/2008/11/24/grand-metadata-tool-ideas/). 
I welcome any feedback on this idea, including, “You could never make 
it work!” (why?). I’m interested in any other “big thoughts” that 
people may have related to possibilities for a metadata tool platform.


Will
--
Will Sexton
Metadata Analyst / Programmer
Duke University Libraries



--
Jonathan Rochkind
Digital Services Software Engineer
The Sheridan Libraries
Johns Hopkins University
410.516.8886 
rochkind (at) jhu.edu

[CODE4LIB] grand metadata tool ideas

[Will Sexton]

[cross-posted to web4lib and code4lib lists]

We’re embarking on a project to adopt or build a metadata tool at Duke 
University Libraries. Before we’re immersed in architectures, designs, 
workflows, schedules, layers, platforms, capacities, etc., I’d like to 
indulge in some guilt-free big thinking. I thought I’d just kind of put 
the question out there: What are some of the big ideas that could inform 
the development of a metadata tool?


I invite conversation here and on our Digital Collections Blog 
(http://library.duke.edu/blogs/digital-collections/), where I've posted 
an extended version of this message. Other conversations will occur in 
various venues over the next month or so. I’ll try to pull together and 
post on anything I see, hear, read or say. In the meantime, I’ll share 
one big idea that I’ve been considering; I’m not saying it’s THE big 
idea or even implying that we’ll follow through on it at Duke. It’s just 
one way to bend our thinking about this project.


The idea follows from a blog post that Lorcan Dempsey wrote in May, 
mentioning an example of a “shared cataloging environment” 
(http://orweblog.oclc.org/archives/001641.html). When I read it, I 
wondered, what if you take that idea to its logical (illogical?) 
extreme: a metadata tool as a software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform.


I've elaborated on the idea in the blog post 
(http://library.duke.edu/blogs/digital-collections/2008/11/24/grand-metadata-tool-ideas/). 
I welcome any feedback on this idea, including, “You could never make it 
work!” (why?). I’m interested in any other “big thoughts” that people 
may have related to possibilities for a metadata tool platform.


Will
--
Will Sexton
Metadata Analyst / Programmer
Duke University Libraries

Re: [CODE4LIB] Looking for your thoughts on the future of Libraries

[Jonathan Rochkind]

What is necessary, at least for some IT people in a library, is to have 
a particular interest in libraries, and particular knowledge of 
library's business and needs and directions.   You can have some just 
straight IT people who happen to be working in a library, but I firmly 
believe that you also need people who are "librarians" in the sense of 
having special interest and knowledge in libraries.


Requiring an MLIS degree is perhaps one way of trying to select these 
people. Of course, it's very imperfect, since you can easily be one of 
these people without an MLIS degree, and in truth just getting a piece 
of paper doesn't ensure you are one of these people either.


But really, the same could be said for almost any librarian job in a 
library, not just IT jobs.  The quality of most MLIS programs is, in my 
opinion, rather poor (even the best are generally only decent, not 
great), and I don't place much credence on this MLIS degree as any kind 
of an accurate gatekeeper of quality of applicants.


But I think it is important that some (if not all) IT people in a 
library are not just IT people who happen to be working in a library, 
but do have a special interest in libraries, and have developed special 
expertise in libraries.  Which is not to say that experience in IT 
outside of library land is not also helpful, whether in the same person, 
or among the mix of a library IT department or community.


Jonathan

Cloutman, David wrote:

I have to say, I couldn't agree more with John's sentiments about the
MLS not being as necessary for library technologists as the people
writing these job description seem to think it is. Between the time I
earned my MLIS and the time that I accepted my current position, I spent
seven years as a Web developer outside of libraryland. The technical and
communications skills I learned from my MLIS program helped me as a
consultant, both in getting started learning the technology that I used
in my practice, and developing a process in doing business analysis.
However, the MLIS was simply one path to that career, and I think, based
on the diversity of education I see in the IT and programming
professions, it is one of many, including a formal computer science
education. 


What I hear on the inside of libaryland to justify the MLIS requirement
is something that I haven't heard as often on the outside. The core
assumption seems to be, "we're different", which is true, but the
conclusion, which I find to be erroneous, is, "therefore you must be one
of us". Than means, a candidate must have a MLS. Of course this is
malarkey. What makes a technologist good at their job in the vast
majority of situations, in my opinion, is not the individuals knowledge
of the domain that their client works in, but their ability to conduct
proper business analysis in developing technical strategies, without
applying too many implicit assumptions. In most cases, it is not
necessary for a programmer to have specific domain knowledge to work for
a particular organization or on a specific project. One needn't
necessarily be a CPA or an MBA to write financial software, or to have a
JD to write legal software, for instance. In some specific instances
domain expertise can be helpful, but usually lack of domain expertise is
successfully mitigated by a developer forming a working relationship
with a non-technical domain expert. Personally, I don't see why this
model, which is applied in most organizations and most situations,
cannot be successfully applied in a library setting. 


In fact, I might go so far as to say that the MLIS in the hands of
someone who's experience is primarily as a technologist, may be as much
of a hindrance as a help. The fact is that they don't really teach you
that much in library school that maps to the day to day operations of a
library. The degree coursework generally involves a lot of information
theory and reading of scholarly literature. The reality is more about
maintaining regular operations and dealing with minutia of day to day
decision making. If I had walked into my current job without my
experience working with a diverse set of organizations (public, private,
small, medium, large), and the experience of sitting down with a person
who does something that I know nothing about, and then writing software
for them, I would be about as useful to my current employer as a brick.
If I had walked in with just the MLIS under my belt and some technical
knowledge, I would have made too many assumptions about my organization,
I wouldn't have asked enough questions, I wouldn't have engaged in
rigorous business analysis, and I certainly wouldn't have seen the
analogous nature of my library's operations with other organizations out
in the world that are  not libraries. 


I'm not saying the MLIS degree is bad, or that a library technologist
should think themselves unqualified for having the degree. What I am
saying is libraries are unique, but that uniqueness is not in itself
uni

Re: [CODE4LIB] Looking for your thoughts on the future of Libraries

[Cloutman, David]

I have to say, I couldn't agree more with John's sentiments about the
MLS not being as necessary for library technologists as the people
writing these job description seem to think it is. Between the time I
earned my MLIS and the time that I accepted my current position, I spent
seven years as a Web developer outside of libraryland. The technical and
communications skills I learned from my MLIS program helped me as a
consultant, both in getting started learning the technology that I used
in my practice, and developing a process in doing business analysis.
However, the MLIS was simply one path to that career, and I think, based
on the diversity of education I see in the IT and programming
professions, it is one of many, including a formal computer science
education. 

What I hear on the inside of libaryland to justify the MLIS requirement
is something that I haven't heard as often on the outside. The core
assumption seems to be, "we're different", which is true, but the
conclusion, which I find to be erroneous, is, "therefore you must be one
of us". Than means, a candidate must have a MLS. Of course this is
malarkey. What makes a technologist good at their job in the vast
majority of situations, in my opinion, is not the individuals knowledge
of the domain that their client works in, but their ability to conduct
proper business analysis in developing technical strategies, without
applying too many implicit assumptions. In most cases, it is not
necessary for a programmer to have specific domain knowledge to work for
a particular organization or on a specific project. One needn't
necessarily be a CPA or an MBA to write financial software, or to have a
JD to write legal software, for instance. In some specific instances
domain expertise can be helpful, but usually lack of domain expertise is
successfully mitigated by a developer forming a working relationship
with a non-technical domain expert. Personally, I don't see why this
model, which is applied in most organizations and most situations,
cannot be successfully applied in a library setting. 

In fact, I might go so far as to say that the MLIS in the hands of
someone who's experience is primarily as a technologist, may be as much
of a hindrance as a help. The fact is that they don't really teach you
that much in library school that maps to the day to day operations of a
library. The degree coursework generally involves a lot of information
theory and reading of scholarly literature. The reality is more about
maintaining regular operations and dealing with minutia of day to day
decision making. If I had walked into my current job without my
experience working with a diverse set of organizations (public, private,
small, medium, large), and the experience of sitting down with a person
who does something that I know nothing about, and then writing software
for them, I would be about as useful to my current employer as a brick.
If I had walked in with just the MLIS under my belt and some technical
knowledge, I would have made too many assumptions about my organization,
I wouldn't have asked enough questions, I wouldn't have engaged in
rigorous business analysis, and I certainly wouldn't have seen the
analogous nature of my library's operations with other organizations out
in the world that are  not libraries. 

I'm not saying the MLIS degree is bad, or that a library technologist
should think themselves unqualified for having the degree. What I am
saying is libraries are unique, but that uniqueness is not in itself
unique amongst the universe of organizations, and does not disqualify
libraries from the benefits of working with a skilled, non-MLS
technologist. MLS or no MLS, a successful technologist in a library must
fundamentally have business analysis skills. 

Currently in libraryland, I see a lot of excellent libraryish ideas
coming out non MLS technologists, and a lot of hogwash coming from MLS
technologists. I'm not saying that MLS necessarily equals hogwash in the
technology department, but what I will definitively say is that a lot of
the library technology pundants out there lack experience outside of
libraryland, and a lot of what I hear is proposed is done with a willful
ignorance of how the rest of the world approaches similar problems and a
broader perspective of current technology trends.

So, John, you get three big cheers from me for your CS degree, and your
experience outside of libraryland.

diversityOfExperience++
groupthink--

Sorry for the lengthy rant, everyone. This has been on my mind for a
while. Happy Thanksgiving to those of you in the US.

- David


---
David Cloutman <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Electronic Services Librarian
Marin County Free Library 

-Original Message-
From: Code for Libraries [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of
John Fereira
Sent: Saturday, November 22, 2008 2:22 PM
To: CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU
Subject: Re: [CODE4LIB] Looking for your thoughts on the future of
Libraries



Over the past several weeks I've taken n

Re: [CODE4LIB] Code4libNYC SIG Meeting this Wednesday

[Ed Summers]

On Tue, Nov 11, 2008 at 4:13 PM, Jay Datema <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> I suggest using  http://wiki.code4lib.org.
>
> Also, it would be good to set dates and locations for these meetings
> collaboratively on this listserv, I think.

Sorry to be late getting back on this -- so is it ok to retire
nyc.code4lib.org then?

//Ed

[CODE4LIB] request for c4lc09 presentation-proposals has ended

[Birkin James Diana]

Sunday has ended (everywhere on earth).

A *sincere* thanks to those who have submitted proposals. The quantity  
and quality and range are impressive. To those who did not submit  
proposals, but who wish to share info with conference attendees, note  
that lightning talks are a valued part of the conference. Voting  
procedures will be announced shortly.




---
Birkin James Diana
Programmer, Integrated Technology Services
Brown University Library
[EMAIL PROTECTED]