Awesomeness
Have I told you lately how awesome my library is? Not just my own job, but my whole library. There are a few snags here and there, of course, but in general my library is full of awesomeness.
My library has a team of web developers on staff who are dedicated to creating open source software for us (and the world, of course, since that is the point of open source). So a few years ago, they created an open source library catalogue called [VuFind]. And last week there was a mini-conference on campus for developers from around the world. There were only 50-some attendees, but they were international! That is so exciting! Someone came all the way from Australia for a day-and-a-half conference about our software! (I do hope they were also taking vacation in the U.S., though, as otherwise I really don't think the travel would be worth it.)
So the mini-conference was on Wednesday and Thursday, and then yesterday morning I was hanging out in Special Collections for my regular Friday morning shift. As cool as we are, pretty much no one ever walks in without an appointment. But yesterday, one of my coworkers came in with a guest because they were waiting for the library director who wasn't in his office. And my coworker's guest was from the National Library of Ireland! I got to talk about our awesome collections, show off our scanning lab, and mention my upcoming exhibit on Irish travel writing. And the NLI guy mentioned a postcard collection that might be of interest to me for my exhibit!
You guys! The National Library of Ireland uses (and helps develop!) our little VuFind software!! [How cool is that?]
I don't have anything to do with developing software or anything, but it makes me so happy to be in an open source environment and be part of a library team that's making an impact in the world! It's so awesome! :D
This entry was originally posted at http://winkingstar.dreamwidth.org/277603.html.
My library has a team of web developers on staff who are dedicated to creating open source software for us (and the world, of course, since that is the point of open source). So a few years ago, they created an open source library catalogue called [VuFind]. And last week there was a mini-conference on campus for developers from around the world. There were only 50-some attendees, but they were international! That is so exciting! Someone came all the way from Australia for a day-and-a-half conference about our software! (I do hope they were also taking vacation in the U.S., though, as otherwise I really don't think the travel would be worth it.)
So the mini-conference was on Wednesday and Thursday, and then yesterday morning I was hanging out in Special Collections for my regular Friday morning shift. As cool as we are, pretty much no one ever walks in without an appointment. But yesterday, one of my coworkers came in with a guest because they were waiting for the library director who wasn't in his office. And my coworker's guest was from the National Library of Ireland! I got to talk about our awesome collections, show off our scanning lab, and mention my upcoming exhibit on Irish travel writing. And the NLI guy mentioned a postcard collection that might be of interest to me for my exhibit!
You guys! The National Library of Ireland uses (and helps develop!) our little VuFind software!! [How cool is that?]
I don't have anything to do with developing software or anything, but it makes me so happy to be in an open source environment and be part of a library team that's making an impact in the world! It's so awesome! :D
This entry was originally posted at http://winkingstar.dreamwidth.org/277603.html.