> From: Eric Lease Morgan <emorgan_at_ND.EDU>
> Most of us couldn't design a relational database if we had to,
> and most of us are unable to distinguish the difference between a
> database and an index. I'm certainly not saying that understanding
> these technologies are the only issues in the creation of "next
> generation" library catalog, but I am saying that until we raise our
> level of knowledge we will continue to be held hostage to commercial
> software that does not do what we want it to do.
A very interesting point- and one that I secretly jump for joy and say
"Hallelujah!" to. I am currently in library school and receive mixed
messages from advisors and professors on the topic of studying
database design/theory and programming- on one hand, I took a
terrific database design course this past semester, and plan on
crossing over to the IT side of things to continue studying database
theory as part of my coursework. On the other hand, I hear other
professors saying things like "I don't know why this is even being
taught... Librarians simply aren't going to be _doing_ that sort of
thing [database design, programming]."
Meanwhile, I am convinced that the only way we are going to survive as
a profession and possibly move to the (gasp!) forefront in the
development of information organization tools is if we _do_ learn
these "sort of things", teach these things, design and generally
accept these things. I have encountered enough poorly designed
databases and websites in various libraries and museums I've worked in
to realize that unless one is working in a big library supported by a
solid IT department, knowledge of database design and programming is
going to be necessary. And even if one _is_ working in a big library
supported by an IT dept, the contribution of a librarian who
understands computing is invaluable, whether she is directly designing
software or not.
Two cents.
Heather Y.
An MLIS grad student
Received on Wed Jun 21 2006 - 17:56:20 EDT