Not to put too fine a point on it, but Tomasz's comments are a gross
over-simplification and apply only to larger libraries and library
systems.
Roughly a third of US public libraries serve populations under 3,000
and have fewer than 3 FTE's. Our total annual budget is around $110k
and I can assure you that hiring a qualified IT pro is out of the
question for us.
I worked with a local IT guy to try to develop a model for hiring
someone cooperatively between a number of local small libraries but
without success. We got hung up on the logistical aspects of how to
divide the work and compensation between the different libraries.
A consortium would solve the problem, but good luck selling that idea
in a state whose motto is "Live free or die" :-)
Cab Vinton, Director
Sanbornton Public Library
Sanbornton, NH
On Mon, Sep 8, 2008 at 11:47 AM, Tomasz Neugebauer
<Tomasz.Neugebauer_at_concordia.ca> wrote:
> I think that libraries *choose* not hire people with information technology skills. Hiring an IT professional with project management expertise might be perceived as an admission that librarians are not self-sufficient, that they need software engineers and information systems analysts to innovate the library. Libraries attempt to hide this "insufficiency" by choosing instead to 'outsource' IT needs. The idea here is to buy the library technology needs like a product, just like they have been buying books - business as usual. The result is the perpetuation of insufficient information technology expertise within libraries. This is a choice (a mistake), not a result of 'impossibility'.
Received on Mon Sep 08 2008 - 16:20:45 EDT