Re: What do I need to know?!

I knew you will reply!!

Thanks,
Constance
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Yuan-shang Constance Hsi
Coordinator, Catalog Division
Queens Library
89-11 Merrick Blvd., Jamaica, NY 11432
PH 718 990-0730  FX 718 990-8566
yuan.shang.hsi_at_queenslibrary.org



The information contained in this message may be privileged and confidential and protected from disclosure. If the reader of this message is not the intended recipient, or an employee or agent responsible for delivering this message to the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution or copying of this communication is strictly prohibited. If you have received this communication in error, please notify us immediately by replying to the message and deleting it from your computer.-----Original Message-----
From: Next generation catalogs for libraries
[mailto:NGC4LIB_at_LISTSERV.ND.EDU] On Behalf Of Jacobs, Jane W
Sent: Friday, April 16, 2010 2:49 PM
To: NGC4LIB_at_LISTSERV.ND.EDU
Subject: Re: [NGC4LIB] What do I need to know?!

I'm with Tim; get your hands dirty with some programming!  If nothing
else you'll have a jolly good time and enjoy your job a lot more.  If
you really accomplish something worthwhile you'll have job satisfaction
for a week at least.  But seriously, my experience is that very often,
despite having good IT people here, by the time I work out exactly what
I need to tell them in order to get to what I want I might as well
program it myself.  When I really can't I've at least gotten a grasp of
the complexities of the issue.
JJ

**Views expressed by the author do not necessarily represent those of
the Queens Library.**

Jane Jacobs
Asst. Coord., Catalog Division
Queens Borough Public Library
89-11 Merrick Blvd.
Jamaica, NY 11432
tel.: (718) 990-0804
e-mail: Jane.W.Jacobs_at_queenslibrary.org
FAX. (718) 990-8566



The information contained in this message may be privileged and
confidential and protected from disclosure. If the reader of this
message is not the intended recipient, or an employee or agent
responsible for delivering this message to the intended recipient, you
are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution or copying of
this communication is strictly prohibited. If you have received this
communication in error, please notify us immediately by replying to the
message and deleting it from your computer.-----Original Message-----
From: Next generation catalogs for libraries
[mailto:NGC4LIB_at_LISTSERV.ND.EDU] On Behalf Of Tim Spalding
Sent: Friday, April 16, 2010 2:24 PM
To: NGC4LIB_at_LISTSERV.ND.EDU
Subject: Re: What do I need to know?!

Sarah,

My inclination is to suggest you try to approach it from bottom up.
Buy a Ruby, Python, PERL or PHP book in the "Dummies" series and learn
enough programming to make you dangerous. I'd suggest something that
gets you into databases quickly. Most people don't realize how very
much programming a smart, organized person can learn in just a few
days. Once you have that, and have worked on a few fun projects of
your own, you can progress "up" to the sorts of questions you're
answering. Once you know what programming is, XML is cake, and RDA
just a flavor of cake.

I'm wary of the opposite way, where you try to learn technology from
the top down. Your knowledge then will always be tentative-a sort of
hearsay knowledge. You may acquire some knowledge, but you won't have
the authority to defend it. And don't librarians like authority? :)
Certainly you won't have a "skill" to put on your resume (and which,
outside libraries, could earn you twice your current salary). And you
certainly won't have a chance of discovering a new intellectual
passion.

Maybe, however, this is just how I learn. I'm a guy who took years of
dead languages because I couldn't stand the "hearsay experience" of
Aeschylus and Plautus in English. Since I didn't become an academic,
that time was largely wasted...

Do others think a top-down approach to technological knowledge is as
good or better than a bottom-up one?

Tim