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What kinds of technical skills are most frequently used in the IT side of librarianship, such as for a systems librarian? For example, what programming languages, development tools, or online services are most frequently used?
Edit: More specifically, what is most often used in academic libraries? I'm asking as someone that is interested in pursuing librarianship with a specialty in systems/IT.
punkerplus
It’s difficult to say without knowing the size and type of library environment (public, academic, special etc…) In smaller organizations you will likely care for anything that plugs into a wall and in larger organizations you may be so specialized as to focus exclusively on one part of the ILS database. Also, it matters a great deal if you are expected to be something like a Reference (or other specialty)/Systems Librarian.
I have found that the basic information covered in the CompTIA A+ and Nek + exams have served me well in a wide range of environments. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CompTIA
Further, a thorough knowledge of database architecture and the various ways database content can be rendered on the web is a must. I’ve found the classes I took on SQL, HTML, CSS and XML very useful over the years.
Lately it seems every organization I deal with is working with a CMS https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_Content_Management_System (here I mean content management system though academic environments will expect you to also know course management systems). You won’t be able to predict what kind of CMS a particular organization will have but learning all you can about LAMP https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LAMP_%28software_bundle%29 will help and inform a lot of the type of work you will do likeetting content from the ILS to the OPAC.
Any programming language you learn will be useful. For the most part, I’ve been able to convert a given task to my favorite programming language.
I think understanding how the Web works, and how to put together Web applications is the most important thing for a "tech" librarian to understand. There are lots of tool and framework options out there, but a deep understanding of how they are all similar is worth a great deal. I think this because, well, the Web is the way things are moving, and might just catch on some day...
Well, as someone who is currently working on writing a job description for an IT position in a library, here's what I'm including as must haves:
I think knowledge of (and experience with) specific technologies is good, but what is better is an understanding of basic principles behind library (and Web) IT; what's also important is to have a willingness and desire to be a lifelong learner. Just thinking about my last four jobs, I've developed an in-house XML-driven digital collections site, worked with CONTENTdm (an out-of-the-box digital collections system), worked on a scientific data repository using DSpace (a Java-based repository system), and worked with Omeka (a PHP-based digital collections system).
Some libraries are big into Ruby/RoR and others are big PHP, Java, or Python shops. I think being able to adapt to changing environments and evaluate a variety of different technologies is the skill to develop. The engagement is important too. If you're just starting out (even before school), get involved (in any way) in some of the open source library projects out there... or pursue something you're interested in (start hacking it together and learn a language, any language, as you go). The code4lib community, though rowdy, is also good place to learn about what's going on with many of the people who will be your colleagues.
Do these three things, and you'll have the foundation to understand most of the software around you:
After that, you'll understand the applications in front of you on a new level. If you can slowly learn how that set works, you can quickly learn the new stuff at your next school/library.
As a technology instructor in library school, I feel it incumbent upon me to note that if you're starting from more or less zero, you are highly unlikely to be able to acquire sufficient skills for many straight-up systems-librarian gigs in the scant two years (assuming full-time attendance) of courses you'll take.
This doesn't mean you should give up your ambitions! It does mean that you'll probably want to supplement your library-school education with a few programming courses on the side; I generally recommend the local community college. You may be able to crosslist a straight-up programming course or two from comp sci, but I'm not always sold on how well-taught or practical such courses are.
Alternately, if you're interested in systems administration, a certification or two in Linux and/or database administration would be a fine idea.
That said, I caution HEAVILY against the laundry-list approach to skills development that your question hints at. Picking up a disconnected laundry-list of half-learned skills might get you your first job, but it won't help you deal with what comes at you that's unfamiliar (and something always will!), and it won't help you with the constant skills acquisition that all technologists do.
Try doing (or helping with) projects, or apprenticing yourself to someone who does work you're interested in, instead of focusing so hard on that laundry-list. Projects and apprenticeships are how you learn by osmosis, and how you build a network of people you can call on for help when you need it.
So, to weigh in on this from a completely different perspective, you only really need a few skills:
Things all IT workers should know, regardless of work environment or position:
Things you may need to know, depending on a library's needs:
Most systems departments at larger institutions have multiple people handling subsets of these things (they'll have a database person, a web person, etc), and smaller institutions that I'm personally aware of tend to outsource large chunks of them, so the systems people can focus on what's most important to their institutions, so you probably don't need to be a complete jack of all trades.
Specific technologies come and go. If you want to be involved with software development, you should take some introductory computer science courses that really focus on the hows and whys, rather than "if you write this line of code, it will do this thing". Knowing more generic things like object-oriented programming are more important than knowing Java, for example. If you want to be involved with system administration, learn how to work in a unix-like environment. Install a "hard" linux distribution like Gentoo on your computer (or if you have one, a spare), where you're pretty much forced to learn how to manipulate the system without a GUI. Most of your server access is going to be via command line, and that's generally the best way I've found for forcing yourself to learn it.
Really, though, being willing and able to think, deduce logically, work through a process, and learn is much more important than the technology.