Microsoft Word - September_ITAL_Maceli_proofed.docx


What	
  Technology	
  Skills	
  Do	
  Developers	
  
Need?	
  A	
  Text	
  Analysis	
  of	
  Job	
  Listings	
  in	
  
Library	
  and	
  Information	
  Science	
  (LIS)	
  	
  
from	
  Jobs.code4lib.org.	
  

	
  
	
  Monica	
  Maceli	
  

	
  

INFORMATION	
  TECHNOLOGY	
  AND	
  LIBRARIES	
  |	
  SEPTEMBER	
  2015	
  	
  

	
   	
   	
   	
  

8	
  

ABSTRACT	
  

Technology	
  plays	
  an	
  indisputably	
  vital	
  role	
  in	
  library	
  and	
  information	
  science	
  (LIS)	
  work;	
  this	
  rapidly	
  
moving	
  landscape	
  can	
  create	
  challenges	
  for	
  practitioners	
  and	
  educators	
  seeking	
  to	
  keep	
  pace	
  with	
  
such	
  change.	
  In	
  pursuit	
  of	
  building	
  our	
  understanding	
  of	
  currently	
  sought	
  technology	
  competencies	
  
in	
  developer-­‐oriented	
  positions	
  within	
  LIS,	
  this	
  paper	
  reports	
  the	
  results	
  of	
  a	
  text	
  analysis	
  of	
  a	
  large	
  
collection	
  of	
  job	
  listings	
  culled	
  from	
  the	
  Code4lib	
  jobs	
  website.	
  Beginning	
  more	
  than	
  a	
  decade	
  ago	
  as	
  
a	
  popular	
  mailing	
  list	
  covering	
  the	
  intersection	
  of	
  technology	
  and	
  library	
  work,	
  the	
  Code4lib	
  
organization's	
  current	
  offerings	
  include	
  a	
  website	
  that	
  collects	
  and	
  organizes	
  LIS-­‐related	
  technology	
  
job	
  listings.	
  The	
  results	
  of	
  the	
  text	
  analysis	
  of	
  this	
  dataset	
  suggest	
  the	
  currently	
  vital	
  technology	
  skills	
  
and	
  concepts	
  that	
  existing	
  and	
  aspiring	
  practitioners	
  may	
  target	
  in	
  their	
  continuing	
  education	
  as	
  
developers.	
  	
  

INTRODUCTION 

For	
  those	
  seeking	
  employment	
  in	
  a	
  technology-­‐intensive	
  position	
  within	
  library	
  and	
  information	
  
science	
  (LIS),	
  the	
  number	
  and	
  variation	
  of	
  technology	
  skills	
  required	
  can	
  be	
  daunting.	
  The	
  need	
  to	
  
understand	
  common	
  technology	
  job	
  requirements	
  is	
  relevant	
  to	
  current	
  students	
  positioning	
  
themselves	
  to	
  begin	
  a	
  career	
  within	
  LIS,	
  those	
  currently	
  in	
  the	
  field	
  that	
  wish	
  to	
  enhance	
  their	
  
technology	
  skills,	
  and	
  LIS	
  educators.	
  The	
  aim	
  of	
  this	
  short	
  paper	
  is	
  to	
  highlight	
  the	
  skills	
  and	
  
combinations	
  of	
  skills	
  currently	
  sought	
  by	
  LIS	
  employers	
  in	
  North	
  America	
  through	
  textual	
  
analysis	
  of	
  job	
  listings.	
  Previous	
  research	
  in	
  this	
  area	
  explored	
  job	
  listings	
  through	
  various	
  
perspectives,	
  from	
  categorizing	
  titles	
  to	
  interviewing	
  employers;1,2	
  the	
  approach	
  taken	
  in	
  this	
  
study	
  contributes	
  a	
  new	
  perspective	
  to	
  this	
  ongoing	
  and	
  highly	
  necessary	
  work.	
  This	
  research	
  
report	
  seeks	
  a	
  further	
  understanding	
  of	
  the	
  following	
  research	
  questions:	
  

• What	
  are	
  the	
  most	
  common	
  job	
  titles	
  and	
  skills	
  sought	
  in	
  technology-­‐focused	
  LIS	
  positions?	
  
• What	
  technology	
  skills	
  are	
  sought	
  in	
  combination?	
  
• What	
  implications	
  do	
  these	
  findings	
  have	
  for	
  aspiring	
  and	
  current	
  LIS	
  practitioners	
  

interested	
  in	
  developer	
  positions?	
  	
  

As	
  detailed	
  in	
  the	
  following	
  research	
  method	
  section,	
  this	
  study	
  addresses	
  these	
  questions	
  
	
  

Monica	
  Maceli	
  (mmaceli@pratt.edu)	
  is	
  Assistant	
  Professor,	
  School	
  of	
  Information	
  and	
  Library	
  
Science,	
  Pratt	
  Institute,	
  New	
  York.	
  



	
  

WHAT	
  TECHNOLOGY	
  SKILLS	
  DO	
  DEVELOPERS	
  NEED?	
  |	
  MACELI	
  
doi:	
  10.6017/ital.v34i3.5893	
  

9	
  

through	
  textual	
  analysis	
  of	
  relevant	
  job	
  listings	
  from	
  a	
  novel	
  dataset—the	
  job	
  listings	
  from	
  the	
  
Code4lib	
  jobs	
  website	
  (http://jobs.code4lib.org/).	
  Code4lib	
  began	
  more	
  than	
  a	
  decade	
  ago	
  as	
  an	
  
electronic	
  discussion	
  list	
  for	
  topics	
  around	
  the	
  intersection	
  of	
  libraries	
  and	
  technology.3	
  Over	
  time,	
  
the	
  Code4lib	
  organization	
  expanded	
  to	
  an	
  annual	
  conference	
  in	
  the	
  United	
  States,	
  the	
  Code4Lib	
  
Journal,	
  and	
  most	
  relevant	
  to	
  this	
  work,	
  an	
  associated	
  jobs	
  website	
  that	
  highlights	
  jobs	
  culled	
  from	
  
both	
  the	
  discussion	
  list	
  and	
  other	
  job-­‐related	
  sources.	
  Figure	
  1	
  illustrates	
  the	
  home	
  page	
  of	
  the	
  
Code4lib	
  jobs	
  website;	
  the	
  page	
  presents	
  job	
  listings	
  and	
  associated	
  tags,	
  with	
  the	
  tags	
  facilitating	
  
navigation	
  and	
  viewing	
  of	
  other	
  related	
  positions.	
  Users	
  may	
  also	
  view	
  positions	
  geographically	
  or	
  
by	
  employer.	
  	
  
	
  	
  

	
  

Figure	
  1.	
  Homepage	
  of	
  the	
  code4lib	
  Jobs	
  Website,	
  Displaying	
  Most-­‐Recently	
  Posted	
  Jobs	
  and	
  the	
  
Associated	
  Tags.4	
  

In	
  addition	
  to	
  the	
  visible	
  user	
  interface	
  for	
  job	
  exploration,	
  the	
  website	
  consists	
  of	
  software	
  to	
  
gather	
  the	
  job	
  listings	
  from	
  a	
  variety	
  of	
  sources.	
  The	
  website	
  incorporates	
  jobs	
  posted	
  to	
  the	
  
Code4lib	
  discussion	
  list,	
  American	
  Library	
  Association,	
  Canadian	
  Library	
  Association,	
  Australian	
  
Library	
  and	
  Information	
  Association,	
  HigherEd	
  Jobs,	
  Digital	
  Koans,	
  Idealist,	
  and	
  ArchivesGig.	
  This	
  
broad	
  incoming	
  set	
  of	
  jobs	
  provides	
  a	
  wide	
  look	
  into	
  new	
  technology-­‐related	
  postings.	
  	
  

New	
  job	
  listings	
  are	
  automatically	
  added	
  to	
  a	
  queue	
  to	
  be	
  assessed	
  and	
  tagged	
  by	
  human	
  curators	
  
before	
  posting.	
  This	
  allows	
  manual	
  intervention	
  where	
  a	
  curator	
  assesses	
  whether	
  the	
  job	
  is	
  
relevant	
  to	
  technology	
  in	
  the	
  library	
  domain	
  and	
  to	
  validate	
  the	
  job	
  listing	
  information	
  and	
  
metadata	
  (see	
  figure	
  2).	
  Curating	
  is	
  done	
  on	
  a	
  volunteer	
  basis,	
  and	
  curators	
  are	
  asked	
  to	
  assess	
  
whether	
  the	
  position	
  is	
  relevant	
  to	
  the	
  Code4lib	
  community,	
  if	
  it	
  is	
  unique,	
  and	
  to	
  ensure	
  that	
  it	
  
has	
  an	
  associated	
  employer,	
  set	
  of	
  tags,	
  and	
  descriptive	
  text.	
  Combining	
  both	
  software	
  processes	
  



	
  

INFORMATION	
  TECHNOLOGY	
  AND	
  LIBRARIES	
  |	
  SEPTEMBER	
  2015	
  	
   	
   	
   	
  

	
   	
   	
   	
  

10	
  

and	
  human	
  intervention	
  in	
  the	
  job	
  assessment	
  results	
  in	
  the	
  ability	
  to	
  gather	
  a	
  large	
  number	
  of	
  
jobs	
  of	
  high	
  relevance	
  to	
  the	
  Code4lib	
  community.	
  As	
  mentioned	
  earlier,	
  Code4lib’s	
  origins	
  are	
  in	
  
the	
  area	
  of	
  software	
  development	
  and	
  design	
  as	
  applied	
  in	
  LIS	
  contexts.	
  These	
  foci	
  mean	
  that	
  most	
  
jobs	
  identified	
  as	
  relevant	
  for	
  inclusion	
  in	
  the	
  Code4lib	
  jobs	
  dataset	
  are	
  oriented	
  toward	
  developer	
  
activities.	
  The	
  Code4lib	
  jobs	
  website	
  therefore	
  provides	
  a	
  useful	
  and	
  novel	
  dataset	
  within	
  which	
  to	
  
understand	
  current	
  employment	
  opportunities	
  relating	
  to	
  the	
  intersection	
  between	
  technology—
particularly	
  developer	
  work—and	
  the	
  LIS	
  field.	
  	
  

	
  
Figure	
  2.	
  Code4lib	
  Job	
  Curators	
  Interface	
  Where	
  Job	
  Data	
  is	
  Validated	
  and	
  Tags	
  Assigned.5	
  

RESEARCH	
  METHOD	
  

To	
  analyze	
  the	
  job	
  listing	
  data	
  in	
  greater	
  depth,	
  a	
  textual	
  analysis	
  was	
  conducted	
  using	
  the	
  R	
  
statistical	
  package,	
  exploring	
  job	
  titles	
  and	
  descriptions.6	
  First,	
  the	
  job	
  listing	
  data	
  from	
  the	
  most	
  
recent	
  complete	
  year	
  (2014)	
  were	
  dumped	
  from	
  the	
  database	
  backend	
  of	
  the	
  Code4lib	
  jobs	
  
website;	
  this	
  dataset	
  contained	
  1,135	
  positions	
  in	
  total.	
  The	
  dataset	
  included	
  the	
  job	
  titles,	
  
descriptions,	
  location	
  and	
  employer	
  information,	
  as	
  well	
  as	
  tags	
  associated	
  with	
  the	
  various	
  



	
  

WHAT	
  TECHNOLOGY	
  SKILLS	
  DO	
  DEVELOPERS	
  NEED?	
  |	
  MACELI	
  
doi:	
  10.6017/ital.v34i3.5893	
  

11	
  

positions.	
  The	
  text	
  was	
  then	
  cleaned	
  to	
  remove	
  any	
  markup	
  tags	
  or	
  special	
  characters	
  that	
  
remained	
  from	
  the	
  scraping	
  of	
  listings.	
  Finally,	
  the	
  tm	
  (text	
  mining)	
  package	
  in	
  R	
  was	
  used	
  to	
  
calculate	
  frequency,	
  correlation	
  of	
  terms,	
  generate	
  plots,	
  and	
  cluster	
  terms	
  across	
  both	
  job	
  titles	
  
and	
  descriptions.7	
  

RESULTS	
  

Job	
  Title	
  Analysis	
  

Of	
  the	
  full	
  set	
  of	
  1,135	
  positions,	
  30	
  percent	
  were	
  titled	
  as	
  a	
  librarian	
  position;	
  popular	
  specialties	
  
included	
  systems	
  librarian	
  and	
  various	
  digital	
  collections	
  and	
  curation-­‐oriented	
  librarian	
  titles.	
  
Figures	
  3	
  and	
  4	
  detail	
  the	
  most	
  common	
  terms	
  used	
  in	
  position	
  titles	
  across	
  librarian	
  and	
  
nonlibrarian	
  positions.	
  

	
  

	
  

Figure	
  3.	
  Most	
  Common	
  Terms	
  Used	
  in	
  Librarian	
  Position	
  Titles.	
  

345 
89 

63 
59 

34 
29 

25 
25 
23 
21 
20 
20 
18 
18 
16 
14 
13 
13 
13 
12 
12 
11 
11 
11 
10 

librarian 
digital 

systems 
services 

metadata 
data 

technologies 
university 

technology 
web 

electronic 
resources 
assistant 

information 
emerging 

scholarship 
collections 

library 
management 

initiatives 
sciences 

cataloging 
projects 
research 

professor 

Top Title Terms - Librarian Positions 



	
  

INFORMATION	
  TECHNOLOGY	
  AND	
  LIBRARIES	
  |	
  SEPTEMBER	
  2015	
  	
   	
   	
   	
  

	
   	
   	
   	
  

12	
  

	
  

Figure	
  4.	
  Most	
  Common	
  Terms	
  Used	
  in	
  Nonlibrarian	
  Position	
  Titles.	
  

The	
  most	
  popular	
  job	
  title	
  terms	
  were	
  then	
  clustered	
  using	
  Ward’s	
  agglomerative	
  hierarchical	
  
method	
  (dendogram	
  in	
  figure	
  5).	
  Agglomerative	
  hierarchical	
  clustering,	
  of	
  which	
  Ward’s	
  method	
  
is	
  widely	
  used,	
  begins	
  first	
  with	
  single-­‐item	
  clusters,	
  then	
  identifies	
  and	
  joins	
  similar	
  clusters	
  until	
  
the	
  final	
  stage	
  in	
  which	
  one	
  larger	
  cluster	
  is	
  formed.	
  Commonly	
  used	
  in	
  text	
  analysis,	
  this	
  allows	
  
the	
  investigator	
  to	
  explore	
  datasets	
  in	
  which	
  the	
  number	
  of	
  clusters	
  is	
  not	
  known	
  before	
  the	
  
analysis.	
  The	
  dendograms	
  generated	
  (e.g.,	
  figure	
  5)	
  allow	
  for	
  visual	
  identification	
  and	
  
interpretation	
  of	
  closely	
  related	
  terms	
  representing	
  various	
  common	
  positions,	
  e.g.,	
  digital	
  
librarian,	
  software	
  engineer,	
  collections	
  management,	
  etc.	
  Given	
  that	
  job	
  titles	
  in	
  listings	
  may	
  
include	
  extraneous	
  or	
  infrequent	
  words,	
  such	
  as	
  the	
  organization	
  name,	
  the	
  cluster	
  analysis	
  can	
  
provide	
  an	
  additional	
  view	
  into	
  common	
  job	
  titles	
  across	
  the	
  full	
  dataset	
  in	
  a	
  more	
  generalized	
  
fashion.	
  	
  

182 
141 

116 
90 

86 
68 

65 
59 
59 
59 

55 
52 

49 
49 

40 
40 
40 
40 

38 
35 
34 
34 
33 
32 

24 

digital 
developer 

library 
manager 

specialist 
software 

web 
archivist 
services 

technology 
engineer 
director 

data 
systems 
analyst 

coordinator 
information 

senior 
metadata 

administrator 
lead 

project 
head 

programmer 
research 

Top Title Terms - Non-Librarian Positions 



	
  

WHAT	
  TECHNOLOGY	
  SKILLS	
  DO	
  DEVELOPERS	
  NEED?	
  |	
  MACELI	
  
doi:	
  10.6017/ital.v34i3.5893	
  

13	
  

	
   	
  

Figure	
  5.	
  Cluster	
  Dendrogram	
  of	
  Terms	
  Used	
  in	
  Job	
  Titles	
  Generated	
  Using	
  Ward's	
  Agglomerative	
  
Hierarchical	
  Method.	
  
	
   	
  
Tag	
  Analysis	
  

As	
  described	
  earlier,	
  the	
  Code4lib	
  jobs	
  website	
  allows	
  curators	
  to	
  validate	
  and	
  tag	
  jobs	
  before	
  
listing.	
  The	
  word	
  cloud	
  in	
  figure	
  6	
  displays	
  the	
  most	
  common	
  tags	
  associated	
  with	
  positions,	
  with	
  
XML	
  being	
  the	
  most	
  popular	
  tag	
  (178	
  occurrences).	
  Figure	
  7	
  contains	
  the	
  raw	
  frequency	
  counts	
  of	
  
common	
  tags	
  observed.	
  	
  



	
  

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14	
  

	
   	
   	
  

Figure	
  6.	
  Word	
  Cloud	
  of	
  Most	
  Frequent	
  Tags	
  Associated	
  with	
  Job	
  Listings	
  by	
  Curators.	
  



	
  

WHAT	
  TECHNOLOGY	
  SKILLS	
  DO	
  DEVELOPERS	
  NEED?	
  |	
  MACELI	
  
doi:	
  10.6017/ital.v34i3.5893	
  

15	
  

	
  

Figure	
  7.	
  Frequency	
  of	
  Commonly	
  Occurring	
  Tags	
  (frequency	
  of	
  fifty	
  occurrences	
  or	
  more)	
  in	
  the	
  
2014	
  Job	
  Listings.	
  

Job	
  Description	
  Analysis	
  

The	
  job	
  description	
  text	
  was	
  then	
  analyzed	
  to	
  explore	
  commonly	
  co-­‐occurring	
  technology-­‐related	
  
terms,	
  focusing	
  on	
  frequent	
  skills	
  required	
  by	
  employers.	
  Figures	
  8,	
  9,	
  and	
  10	
  plot	
  term	
  
correlations	
  and	
  interconnectedness.	
  Terms	
  with	
  correlation	
  coefficients	
  of	
  0.3	
  or	
  higher	
  were	
  
chosen	
  for	
  plotting;	
  this	
  common	
  threshold	
  chosen	
  broadly	
  included	
  terms	
  with	
  a	
  range	
  in	
  
positive	
  relationship	
  strength	
  from	
  moderate	
  to	
  strong.	
  	
  

Plots	
  were	
  created	
  to	
  express	
  correlations	
  around	
  the	
  top	
  five	
  terms	
  identified	
  from	
  the	
  tags:	
  XML,	
  
Javascript,	
  PHP,	
  metadata,	
  and	
  HTML	
  (frequencies	
  in	
  figure	
  7).	
  Any	
  number	
  of	
  terms	
  and	
  

178 
155 

152 
142 

125 
119 

114 
106 

101 
99 

90 
90 
89 
89 

86 
82 

79 
78 

70 
70 
69 
69 

66 
63 
62 

54 
53 
51 
51 
50 
50 

XML 
JavaScript 

PHP 
Metadata 

HTML 
Archive 

Cascading Style Sheets 
Python 

Integrated library system 
Java 

MySQL 
Dublin Core 

MARC standards 
Encoded Archival Description 

Ruby 
Drupal 

Project management 
SQL 

Metadata Object Description Standard 
Data management 

GNU/Linux 
Digital preservation 

Perl 
Digital library 

XSL Transformations 
Resource Description and Access 

Digital repository 
World Wide Web 

Management 
DSpace 
METS 

Frequency of Tags - 2014 Job Listings 



	
  

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16	
  

frequencies	
  can	
  be	
  plotted	
  from	
  such	
  a	
  dataset;	
  to	
  orient	
  the	
  findings	
  closely	
  around	
  the	
  job	
  listing	
  
text,	
  a	
  focus	
  on	
  the	
  top	
  terms	
  was	
  chosen.	
  These	
  plots	
  illustrate	
  the	
  broader	
  set	
  of	
  skills	
  related	
  to	
  
these	
  vital	
  competencies	
  represented	
  in	
  the	
  job	
  listings.	
  	
  
	
  

	
  
Figure	
  8.	
  Job	
  Listing	
  Terms	
  Correlated	
  with	
  “XML”	
  (most	
  popular	
  tag).	
  
	
  
	
  

	
  
Figure	
  9.	
  Job	
  Listing	
  Terms	
  Correlated	
  with	
  “Javascript”	
  (Second	
  Most	
  Popular	
  Tag),	
  including	
  
“PHP”	
  and	
  “HTML”	
  (third	
  and	
  fifth	
  most	
  popular	
  tags,	
  respectively).	
  



	
  

WHAT	
  TECHNOLOGY	
  SKILLS	
  DO	
  DEVELOPERS	
  NEED?	
  |	
  MACELI	
  
doi:	
  10.6017/ital.v34i3.5893	
  

17	
  

	
  
Figure	
  10.	
  Job	
  Listing	
  Terms	
  Correlated	
  with	
  “Metadata”	
  (fourth	
  most	
  popular	
  tag).	
  

	
  
Finally,	
  a	
  series	
  of	
  general	
  plots	
  was	
  created	
  to	
  visualize	
  the	
  broad	
  set	
  of	
  skills	
  necessary	
  in	
  
fulfilling	
  the	
  positions	
  of	
  interest	
  to	
  the	
  Code4lib	
  community.	
  As	
  detailed	
  in	
  the	
  title	
  analysis	
  
(figures	
  3	
  and	
  4),	
  apart	
  from	
  the	
  generic	
  term	
  librarian,	
  the	
  two	
  most	
  common	
  terms	
  across	
  all	
  job	
  
titles	
  were	
  digital	
  and	
  developer.	
  Correlation	
  plots	
  were	
  created	
  to	
  detail	
  the	
  specific	
  skills	
  and	
  
requirements	
  commonly	
  sought	
  in	
  positions	
  using	
  such	
  terms.	
  Figure	
  11	
  illustrates	
  the	
  terms	
  
correlated	
  with	
  the	
  general	
  term	
  of	
  developer,	
  while	
  figure	
  12	
  displays	
  terms	
  correlated	
  with	
  
digital.	
  The	
  implications	
  of	
  these	
  findings	
  will	
  be	
  discussed	
  further	
  in	
  the	
  following	
  discussion	
  
section.	
  	
  
	
  	
  
	
  



	
  

INFORMATION	
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18	
  

	
  
Figure	
  11.	
  Job	
  Listing	
  Terms	
  Correlated	
  with	
  “Developer.”	
  

	
  

	
  
Figure	
  12.	
  Job	
  Listing	
  Terms	
  Correlated	
  with	
  “Ddigital.”	
  



	
  

WHAT	
  TECHNOLOGY	
  SKILLS	
  DO	
  DEVELOPERS	
  NEED?	
  |	
  MACELI	
  
doi:	
  10.6017/ital.v34i3.5893	
  

19	
  

DISCUSSION	
  

Taken	
  as	
  a	
  whole,	
  the	
  job	
  listing	
  dataset	
  covered	
  a	
  quite	
  dramatic	
  range	
  of	
  positions,	
  from	
  highly	
  
technical	
  (e.g.,	
  senior-­‐level	
  software	
  engineer	
  or	
  web	
  developer)	
  to	
  managerial	
  and	
  leadership	
  
roles	
  (e.g.,	
  director	
  or	
  department	
  head	
  roles	
  centered	
  on	
  digital	
  services	
  or	
  emerging	
  
technologies).	
  These	
  findings	
  support	
  the	
  suggestions	
  of	
  earlier	
  research,8	
  which	
  advocated	
  for	
  LIS	
  
graduate	
  programs	
  to	
  build	
  their	
  offerings	
  not	
  just	
  in	
  technology	
  skills	
  but	
  also	
  in	
  technology	
  
management	
  and	
  decision-­‐making.	
  However,	
  the	
  Code4lib	
  jobs	
  dataset	
  is	
  a	
  one-­‐dimensional	
  view	
  
into	
  the	
  employment	
  process	
  and	
  is	
  focused	
  largely	
  on	
  the	
  developer	
  perspective.	
  Additional	
  
contextual	
  information,	
  including	
  whether	
  suitable	
  candidates	
  were	
  easily	
  identified	
  and	
  if	
  the	
  
position	
  was	
  successfully	
  filled,	
  would	
  provide	
  a	
  more	
  complete	
  view	
  of	
  the	
  employment	
  process.	
  
Prior	
  research	
  has	
  indicated	
  that	
  many	
  technology-­‐related	
  positions	
  in	
  LIS	
  are	
  in	
  fact	
  difficult	
  to	
  
fill	
  with	
  LIS	
  graduates.9	
  While	
  LIS	
  graduate	
  programs	
  have	
  made	
  great	
  strides	
  in	
  increasing	
  the	
  
number	
  of	
  courses	
  and	
  topics	
  covered	
  that	
  address	
  technology,	
  these	
  improvements	
  may	
  not	
  
benefit	
  those	
  already	
  in	
  the	
  field	
  or	
  wishing	
  to	
  shift	
  towards	
  a	
  more	
  technology-­‐focused	
  position.	
  

In	
  the	
  common	
  tags	
  and	
  terms	
  analysis,	
  experience	
  with	
  specific	
  LIS	
  applications	
  was	
  relatively	
  
infrequently	
  required,	
  with	
  the	
  Drupal	
  content	
  management	
  system	
  a	
  notable	
  exception.	
  More	
  
generalizable	
  programming	
  languages	
  or	
  concepts,	
  e.g.,	
  Python,	
  relational	
  databases,	
  XML,	
  etc.,	
  
were	
  favored	
  As	
  with	
  technology	
  positions	
  outside	
  of	
  the	
  LIS	
  domain,	
  employers	
  likely	
  seek	
  those	
  
with	
  the	
  ability	
  to	
  flexibly	
  apply	
  their	
  skills	
  across	
  various	
  tools	
  and	
  platforms.	
  This	
  may	
  also	
  
relate	
  to	
  the	
  above	
  challenges	
  in	
  filling	
  such	
  positions	
  with	
  LIS	
  graduates,	
  with	
  the	
  goal	
  of	
  opening	
  
up	
  the	
  position	
  to	
  a	
  larger	
  technologist	
  applicant	
  base.	
  

Common	
  web	
  technologies	
  popular	
  in	
  the	
  open-­‐source	
  software	
  often	
  favored	
  by	
  LIS	
  
organizations	
  continued	
  to	
  dominate,	
  with	
  a	
  clear	
  preference	
  for	
  candidates	
  well	
  versed	
  in	
  HTML,	
  
CSS,	
  JavaScript,	
  and	
  PHP.	
  Relating	
  to	
  these	
  skills,	
  web	
  development	
  and	
  design	
  practices	
  were	
  
often	
  intertwined	
  with	
  positions	
  requesting	
  both	
  developer-­‐oriented	
  skillsets	
  as	
  well	
  as	
  interface	
  
design	
  (e.g.,	
  figure	
  7).	
  Technologies	
  supporting	
  modern	
  web	
  application	
  development	
  and	
  
workflow	
  management	
  were	
  evident	
  as	
  well,	
  e.g.,	
  common	
  requirements	
  for	
  experience	
  with	
  
versioning	
  systems	
  such	
  as	
  Git,	
  popular	
  JavaScript	
  libraries,	
  and	
  development	
  frameworks.	
  Also	
  
striking	
  was	
  the	
  richness	
  of	
  the	
  terms	
  correlated	
  with	
  metadata	
  (figure	
  10),	
  including	
  mention	
  of	
  
growing	
  areas	
  of	
  expertise,	
  such	
  as	
  linked	
  data.	
  	
  

Interestingly,	
  the	
  general	
  correlation	
  plots	
  expressing	
  the	
  common	
  terms	
  sought	
  around	
  “digital”	
  
and	
  “developer”	
  positions	
  were	
  quite	
  varied.	
  While	
  the	
  developer	
  plot	
  (figure	
  11	
  above)	
  provided	
  
a	
  richly	
  technical	
  view	
  into	
  common	
  technologies	
  broadly	
  applied	
  in	
  web	
  and	
  software	
  
development,	
  the	
  terms	
  correlated	
  around	
  digital	
  were	
  notably	
  less	
  technical	
  (figure	
  12	
  above).	
  
While	
  there	
  was	
  a	
  clear	
  focus	
  on	
  digital	
  preservation	
  activities	
  and	
  common	
  standards	
  in	
  this	
  area,	
  
mention	
  of	
  terms	
  such	
  as	
  “grant”	
  indicated	
  that	
  these	
  positions	
  likely	
  have	
  a	
  broad	
  role.	
  The	
  term	
  
digital	
  was	
  frequently	
  observed	
  in	
  librarian	
  job	
  titles,	
  so	
  these	
  roles	
  may	
  be	
  tasked	
  with	
  both	
  
technical	
  and	
  administrative	
  work.	
  	
  



	
  

INFORMATION	
  TECHNOLOGY	
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20	
  

Finally,	
  there	
  are	
  inherent	
  difficulties	
  in	
  capturing	
  all	
  jobs	
  relating	
  to	
  technology	
  use	
  in	
  the	
  LIS	
  
domain	
  that	
  introduce	
  limitations	
  into	
  this	
  study.	
  While	
  the	
  incoming	
  job	
  feeds	
  attempt	
  to	
  broadly	
  
capture	
  recent	
  job	
  posts,	
  it	
  is	
  possible	
  that	
  jobs	
  are	
  missed	
  or	
  overlooked	
  by	
  the	
  job	
  curators.	
  
Given	
  the	
  lack	
  of	
  one	
  centralized	
  job-­‐posting	
  source	
  regardless	
  of	
  the	
  field,	
  this	
  is	
  a	
  common	
  
challenge	
  to	
  research	
  work	
  attempting	
  to	
  assess	
  every	
  job	
  posting.	
  And	
  as	
  mentioned	
  above,	
  there	
  
is	
  also	
  a	
  lack	
  of	
  corresponding	
  data	
  as	
  to	
  whether	
  these	
  jobs	
  are	
  successfully	
  filled	
  and	
  what	
  
candidate	
  backgrounds	
  are	
  ultimately	
  chosen	
  (i.e.,	
  from	
  within	
  or	
  outside	
  of	
  LIS).	
  	
  

CONCLUSION	
  

This	
  assessment	
  of	
  the	
  in-­‐demand	
  technology	
  skills	
  provides	
  students,	
  educators,	
  and	
  information	
  
professionals	
  with	
  useful	
  direction	
  in	
  pursuing	
  technology	
  education	
  or	
  strengthening	
  their	
  
existing	
  skills.	
  There	
  are	
  myriad	
  technology	
  skills,	
  tools,	
  and	
  concepts	
  in	
  today’s	
  information	
  
environments.	
  Reorienting	
  the	
  pursuit	
  of	
  knowledge	
  in	
  this	
  area	
  around	
  current	
  employer	
  
requirements	
  can	
  be	
  useful	
  in	
  professional	
  development,	
  new	
  course	
  creation,	
  and	
  course	
  revision.	
  
The	
  constellations	
  of	
  correlated	
  skills	
  presented	
  above	
  (figures	
  8–12)	
  and	
  popular	
  job	
  tags	
  (figure	
  
7)	
  describe	
  key	
  areas	
  of	
  technology	
  competencies	
  in	
  the	
  diverse	
  areas	
  of	
  expertise	
  presently	
  
needed,	
  from	
  web	
  design	
  and	
  development	
  to	
  metadata	
  and	
  digital	
  collection	
  management.	
  In	
  
addition	
  to	
  the	
  results	
  presented	
  in	
  this	
  paper,	
  the	
  Code4lib	
  job	
  website	
  provides	
  a	
  continuously	
  
current	
  view	
  into	
  recent	
  jobs	
  and	
  related	
  tags;	
  this	
  data	
  can	
  help	
  those	
  in	
  the	
  LIS	
  field	
  orient	
  
professional	
  and	
  curricular	
  development	
  toward	
  real	
  employer	
  needs.	
  

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS	
  

The	
  author	
  would	
  like	
  to	
  thank	
  Ed	
  Summers	
  of	
  the	
  Maryland	
  Institute	
  for	
  Technology	
  in	
  the	
  
Humanities	
  for	
  generously	
  providing	
  the	
  jobs.code4lib.org	
  dataset	
  for	
  analysis.	
  
	
  
REFERENCES	
  
	
  
1. Janie	
  M.	
  Mathews	
  and	
  Harold	
  Pardue,	
  “The	
  Presence	
  of	
  IT	
  Skill	
  Sets	
  in	
  Librarian	
  Position	
  
Announcements,”	
  College	
  &	
  Research	
  Libraries	
  70,	
  no.	
  3	
  (2009):	
  250–57,	
  
http://dx.doi.org/10.5860/crl.70.3.250.	
  	
  

2. Vandana	
  Singh	
  and	
  Bharat	
  Mehra,	
  “Strengths	
  and	
  Weaknesses	
  of	
  the	
  Information	
  Technology	
  
Curriculum	
  in	
  Library	
  and	
  Information	
  Science	
  Graduate	
  Programs,”	
  Journal	
  of	
  Librarianship	
  &	
  
Information	
  Science	
  45,	
  no.	
  3	
  (2013):	
  219–31,	
  http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0961000612448206.	
  	
  

3. “About”"	
  Code4lib,	
  accessed	
  January	
  6,	
  2014,	
  http://jobs.code4lib.org/about/.	
  
4. “code4lib	
  jobs:	
  all	
  jobs,”	
  Code4lib	
  Jobs,	
  accessed	
  January	
  12,	
  2015,	
  http://jobs.code4lib.org/.	
  	
  
5. “code4lib	
  jobs:	
  Curate,”	
  Code4lib	
  Jobs,	
  accessed	
  January	
  17,	
  2015,	
  
http://jobs.code4lib.org/curate/.	
  	
  

6. R	
  Core	
  Team,	
  R:	
  The	
  R	
  Project	
  for	
  Statistical	
  Computing,	
  2014,	
  http://www.R-­‐project.org/.	
  



	
  

WHAT	
  TECHNOLOGY	
  SKILLS	
  DO	
  DEVELOPERS	
  NEED?	
  |	
  MACELI	
  
doi:	
  10.6017/ital.v34i3.5893	
  

21	
  

7. Ingo	
  Feinerer	
  and	
  Kurt	
  Hornik,	
  “tm:	
  Text	
  Mining	
  Package,”	
  2014,	
  http://CRAN.R-­‐
project.org/package=tm.	
  	
  

8. Meredith	
  G.	
  Farkas,	
  “Training	
  Librarians	
  for	
  the	
  Future:	
  Integrating	
  Technology	
  into	
  LIS	
  
Education,”	
  in	
  Information	
  Tomorrow:	
  Reflections	
  on	
  Technology	
  and	
  the	
  Future	
  of	
  Public	
  &	
  
Academic	
  Libraries,	
  edited	
  by	
  Rachel	
  Singer	
  Gordon,	
  193–201	
  (Medford,	
  NJ:	
  Information	
  Today,	
  
2007).	
  

9. Mathews	
  and	
  Pardue,	
  “The	
  Presence	
  of	
  IT	
  Skill	
  Sets	
  in	
  Librarian	
  Position	
  Announcements.”