I've not been a list member in some years and recently joined again. I hope this question - "Whither the ILS or LSP" - is not off-putting. I wonder if this problem has been solved to death? Here is why I ask.
I received my MLS from Mizzou in May '86 and started my first library job in June '86. Fast forward and I've worked 40 years. That includes 9 years in the library automation industry and 9 more years as a systems librarian. The only thing I've never done is write a serious piece of code. Last November, out of curiosity and boredom, I started "vibe" coding. I tried out a variety LLMs before I found one I like using. It cost me $300 or so over 6 months. Not an outrageous amount of money. A first lesson is it is a rush to see the machine write code, and I can easily spend myself broke without some discipline.
My tools of choice are Golang, SQL, the Rego configuration language, and the Qwen3.6 Plus model on opencode.ai.
I have the bare skeleton of something remotely like a product. It's made of 37.5K lines of Golang (excluding a vast amount of generated gRPC protobuf stubs) and 1,350 of lines SQL for MariaDB. It compiles and I can load bib and authority records to my heart's content. All greenfield code based on years spent supporting 6 ILSs, large and small. It was at this point I remembered the sage advice of "Cookiness Evereat" on Sesame Street, who said, "Wait! Me gotta stop, and think!"
"Do I really want to build this thing? Really?" Nine years on The Dark Side made me and broke me. When I found myself perilously close to doing things to my customers and not for them, I quit. I've felt guilty about that for decades. Does the profession truly need another tool and am I the person to build it? I do not know. I do know I can't make this decision alone. I am posting here looking for honest feedback. Truly, I may be of more use quietly advancing someone else's project under their leadership.
FYI, I'm an app admin at Creighton University in Omaha, NE. I don't speak for Creighton in any way, shape or form. I'll finish 20 years there in January 2027. Thank you in advance for your time and help. I wish you all peace and Days Without Drama (tm).
Mark Andrews
Received on Mon Jun 08 2026 - 21:09:24 EDT