Should librarians learn to code?

That depends on what you mean by “code.” But knowing how to make computers do things is a useful skill, and as Robert Hernandez notes, “It’s not magic.”

One thing I love about librarians is their ability to look backward and forward, to preserve the past and enable the future. When I was in library school, the professor who taught us about the history of books and libraries also taught us how to build websites. We can do both. We can speak JavaScript right along with the languages of ancient manuscripts.

Should all librarians learn to code? As David Holmes of the PandoDaily pointed out when he asked whether journalists should learn to code, this isn’t a yes-no question. “Learning code could mean anything from spending a few hours to get familiar with HTML [to] taking a full courseload of computer science classes at a university,” he says. Being able to make computers do things is a skill you can take as far as you like: Some of us will become proficient programmers, and others will keep it basic. Those who aren’t fluent in the latest computing language can still build blogs and infographics and online tutorials. And any information professional will benefit from knowing how to fix a bit of HTML web text and being able to talk about technical needs with the people who are the experts.

David Holmes was kind enough to allow me to adapt his flowchart on whether journalists should learn to code. Many thanks, David, for your generosity.  Ω

Source: Adapted with permission from a flowchart by David Holmes/PandoDaily.