[Michlib-l] Library Student

[Mutch, Andrew]

Michelle S.,

 

If you're the person responsible for designing or managing the web site,
you'll need those coding skills. The migration to content management
systems (and before that, software that relied on web page templates)
has largely eliminated the need for the average content contributor to
be able to hand code HTML. But the content editing portion of those
systems is just a piece of the overall system and if you're the person
tasked with managing the web site, often times, you'll need to poke
around under the hood to tweak settings, code, etc. to get it to do
exactly what you (or your staff) want it to do. That's where an
understanding of the various scripting languages can make you an
invaluable part of the technology team (especially if it's a team of 1!)



More adventurous individuals go beyond tweaking and actually write their
own code or assist others in writing the code to create
modules/plug-ins/etc. that are customized to meet a particular need for
a library or a community. You'll often find an off-the-shelf solution
that's pretty close but needs some adjustment to meet the needs of your
library. That's where an understanding of the underlying coding can
allow you to make changes without breaking it. Even if you don't do that
kind of work in your day job, there are opportunities to contribute in
various ways to projects inside and outside the library community if you
want to further develop those skills.

 

Andrew Mutch

Library Systems Technician

Waterford Township Public Library

 

From: michlib-l-bounces at mail.mcls.org
[mailto:michlib-l-bounces at mail.mcls.org] On Behalf Of Michelle Sawicki
Sent: Monday, February 10, 2014 10:40 AM
To: michelle wise
Cc: michlib-l at lists.mcls.org
Subject: Re: [Michlib-l] Library Student

 

I am finishing up the Web Design/Information Management Certificate at
Wayne State this semester. When I am done I will have a basic
understanding of html, css, php, java script and some other scripting
languages. I think it is fabulous to obtain these skills, but I am not
sure how practical they will be in my upcoming positions. What Wayne
State focuses on is the actual coding itself. If I were to create a
library website by hand/scratch, this would be an invaluable skill.
However, every library I have worked at has used an editor to create
their website. There really isn't a need to keep reinventing the wheel.
So I am guessing I will ultimately be using an editor too some day, if
web design is a part of my future job at all. I am glad I learned
scripting languages though...but how relevant will it be for my job and
how long will the skills I have learned remain relevant? I don't know...




Michelle Sawicki
Circulation Team Leader
Thomas M. Cooley Law School
3475 Plymouth Road
Ann Arbor, MI 48105
734-372-4900 x8767

 

On Thu, Feb 6, 2014 at 5:14 PM, michelle wise
<michellew1989 at hotmail.com> wrote:

I am currently signed up to take my summer semester classes, which would
finish off my MLIS degree if I stopped there. My questions are: do you
have certificates with your degree, do you or did you have much
experience before-hand, and does your library look at certificates OR
experience more when it comes to hiring?

I am an online student at Wayne State University. The two certificates I
was planning on getting are {Library Services to Children and Adults,
Public} and {Information Management for Librarians-Web Design and
Development}. Each certificate is basically (one semester) 4 months of
effort and $4,400- is it worth it? I would love to be a Teen Librarian
in a public library with some web elements. 

If you wouldn't mind adding your position/Title with your comments,
please do. Any recommendations would be very helpful.

Thank you,

                        ~Michelle Wise~


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