Maybe I should clarify. Using shared hosting via reputable hosts like Dreamhost (who I use and recommend) would be an excellent way to host a a dozen, to a few dozen community sites – maybe more. The resources that these sites will incur will be minimal and the costs will still be low. Yes, maintaining your own hardware and admin-ing it as well does take a certain kind of soul that is a bit rare in our profession (it also takes more of an upfront investment).

I agree with you completely – even if we don’t do this, being able to talk and understand a conversation about it is an important skill set.

Flipping the design role onto a community partner is an interesting switch. I would tend to think this would be less likely than libraries doing it themselves. As services go, we’re used to offering a lot and getting little in return – businesses, not so much.

Here, here! to the soft skills you mention and to hoping that LIS programs start to recognize the value of, say, a dual MLIS/CS degree.

I, too, have enjoyed the conversation!

Many thanks,
~kyle~

“Hosting, as well, takes little to no knowledge to create subdomains and register new domains with intuitive web-based dashboards and panels at a low cost for initiatives we’re talking about.”

That’s what is involved with maintaining your own personal hosting account on a web server. However, much, much more is involved with maintaining a web server that will house dozens of community websites.

I am not pooh-poohing your original idea. I know very well how important it is to refresh and update the core competencies of librarians/LIS students. I once worked as a web hosting administrator, and I’ve worked on the web in some form or fashion for the last 16 years or so. I know that people who have the skillset that I have are hard to come by in our profession, although more and more people with web experience are making the leap to librarianship. Yay, for that! I say.

But what I’ve also come to understand is that libraries, especially public libraries like my own, are extremely overtaxed, and expecting staff to develop the core competencies to be well-versed in web production is a large hurdle. I would rather devote the time to teaching LIS students/staff just enough to be dangerous, while focusing more on teaching them the language and terminology so that they can talk to systems/server administrators/web hosting companies, etc. in a language that these more technical people can understand.

As community hubs, I wish libraries would work more toward forming partnerships with other businesses who can provide these services to us. In the end, by working more closely with the developers/designers who are experts in areas where we fall short, we would reduce the time required to develop website projects, regardless of how small/how large they are.

There are many roles involved with bringing a website to life, as I’m sure you know. Until we can reach a critical mass of developer librarians, what I’d like to see is LIS programs start to focus on web project management skills, information architecture, usability, and user experience, the soft — but necessary — skills that don’t require a great deal of technical know-how.

I’ve enjoyed the conversation.