Afternoon all...
I've been watching this thread going for a little while - through its
several changes of subject line!
I've been holding back as the debate seems to entail very strong
feelings on both sides, but as geek I could hold back no longer... I
have broadly three threads to interject:
1. love and attention
It's clear from Alex's postings that he is not loved where he works
and this is common for technologists working in libraries. Karen
Schneider talked about the need for every library to have a good
developer on staff to explore ideas and has talked about the notion
of "artisan software". I heard her talk about these at things at
code4lib last year (http://www.dynamicorange.com/blog/archives/
code4lib_2007.html). If you want strong developers to work as part of
your team then you need to look at the working environments you're
competing with - Joel Spolsky is well-known for his stance on
recruiting, keeping and motivating developers (here's a piece about
private offices http://www.joelonsoftware.com/items/2006/07/30.html,
but there is much more on his site that might help you understand
what commercial developers are seeking).
The questions I think many libraries need to ask themselves are:
Can we do what we need to do without good developers?
Why would a good developer choose to work here instead of applying
to LibraryThing?
Good developers get looked after in good environments, they are
respected, trusted and asked to contribute to the overall strength of
the team. In a good environment a developer shouldn't feel they have
to fight for every single change no matter how small; as Alex feels.
2. subsidising your workplace
When Alex was told that he would have to do work in his spare time in
order to show people the benefit he was being asked to subsidise his
employer. However nicely put the underlying message is that he is not
trusted enough to warrant even the smallest investment of time.
It is perfectly reasonable, of course, not to invest in every idea -
there is never enough time or money to do everything and priorities
must be called. That's not what Alex was told, though. He was told
that to pursue his idea he should subsidise the library by working on
his own time. This strikes me as very, very wrong.
3. trust
When we go to the doctor we trust them to understand our problem and
prescribe the appropriate treatment. If we find we no longer trust
the doctor's judgement then we find a new doctor. Surely the same
should be true of any expert we employ? There is clearly a spectrum
of knowledge of computing on this list - that's normal life and a
balance is important. When a doctor has a patient who knows nothing
about medicine yet continually debates and/or refuses treatment
(http://northmed.blogspot.com/2007/04/difficult-doctors-difficult-
patients.html for a humorous thread on it). Of course there is a huge
difference between doctors and geeks, but fundamentally the same
trust issue applies; you need someone you trust to provide a solution
to a problem you can't solve yourself.
In short - the geeks that we desperately need working in all of our
libraries have many other options open to them; environments where
they will be trusted, respected and listened to. Why would Alex
choose to continue working where he is unloved, untrusted and asked
to subsidise his employer?
rob
Rob Styles
Programme Manager, Data Services, Talis
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Received on Mon Sep 03 2007 - 07:56:33 EDT