| Are you one of those people
who really believe that if you want anything done right, you have to do
it yourself? (I know I am.) However, sometimes another person or organization
really could do as good a job as you could do yourself (almost). On occasion
you have to stop worrying about how well the job gets done, and only be
concerned that it does get done. Still, I maintain, there are those
times when you really can do it better than anyone else, and it's not just
your imagination or pride telling you that.
This idea of "anything you
can do, I can do better" does arise in the library world from time to time.
And librarians are pretty good, I think, at sharing their accomplishments
with each other, through networking, consortial groups, conferences, and
papers. I want to encourage that sort of idea sharing, which is one reason
that we chose this month's topic of Home-Grown Technology Solutions. CIL
magazine is all about everyday information professionals sharing their
knowledge, thereby preventing colleagues from having to reinvent the wheel.
And what better way to do that than for us to publish stories about how
your peers built their own solutions to problems that plague many others?
There is one classic case
where you can definitely do something better yourself—when the tool that
you need hasn't been created by vendors. So it was with the Gemini Observatory
library. There just wasn't an OPAC that was right for a very small special
library that didn't have much money. After looking around for a couple
years and questioning various vendors, this determined librarian teamed
with a scientist/programmer from her company, and they grew their own OPAC
from seed. It has all the functionality she needed, and it's still working
just fine, thank you. Share her triumph by reading the article that begins
on page 20.
If you think that's impressive,
don't miss the story about the guy who built his own backup server, from
discarded parts, for no money. At first he was just experimenting, but
then he made a real failover server, and it was put to the test (and passed!)
when the library's Web site was hacked. And in the true spirit of sharing
for the greater good, he gives you all the details, starting on page 24.
These are just two examples.
There are two more features (one about building a relational database,
one about creating a portal for a global corporation) and also our usual
columns. Don't miss Techman's Techpage, which is a quick primer for making
your own good-looking brochures and handouts—a job small enough that you
can
realistically tackle it. Perhaps it could be a jumping-off point for greater
things?
So for all of you who have
too little money or too much pride to hire designers, programmers, or vendors,
take heart: People just like you have made important projects work. I hope
their stories inspire you.
Kathy Dempsey, Editor
kdempsey@infotoday.com
|
