>
> 1. What do you want from a search and discovery layer?
> 2. What do you want from your systems people?
> 3. What should they want from you?
>
> What do systems people want from public services librarians? And what
> should they want from you?
>
[... discussion of people actually taking librarian stereotypes seriously
omitted ...]
To depart from my normal screwing around self , that so many people perceive
the issues in terms phrased in the original question is a huge problem.
Dividing people into groups -- each of whom thinks they "get it" while the
others don't -- is a recipe for perpetual whinefests and crummy service.
There is no substitute knowing what the heck you're doing. Among other
things, that requires coming to grips with reality -- i.e. what people,
data, and systems can/will do. Issuing something along the lines of an RFP
for the behavior of others is about as futile as it gets.
Even if your primary interest is in the user experience, you won't make good
choices if you don't understand the opportunities and challenges the data
and technologies you depend on present. If you're a data wrangler, you won't
get far if you don't have an appreciation for the end effect you're trying
to achieve for the users or the capabilities of systems to do what you want.
And if you're in systems, you're not doing anyone any good if you don't
understand how what you do relates to staff and user workflow.
kyle
Received on Tue Sep 21 2010 - 12:01:41 EDT