Systems Librarianship
Author: C. Sean Burns
Date, version 2: 2024-04-01
Email: sean.burns@uky.edu
Website: cseanburns.net
GitHub: @cseanburns
Introduction
The goal of this book is to provide a technical introduction to the basics of systems librarianship using Linux. The book is used alongside a course on systems librarianship that the author teaches.
The course teaches the following skills:
- how to use cloud computing resources and create virtual machines;
- how to use the Linux command line in order to become more efficient computer users and more comfortable with using computers in general;
- how to document technical information using Git and GitHub;
- how to create a LAMP server, websites, and create a bare bones OPAC;
- how to install and configure content management systems, and;
- how to install and configure an integrated library system.
The main overarching goals of this work are:
- to foster self-efficacy with computers and an enthusiasm for foundational computer technologies, and
- to provide library science students a starting point in a career in systems librarianship or related positions.
About This Book
I created and began teaching a Systems Librarianship course in 2023 in order to help librarians become proficient in the kinds of technology used to manage and provide electronic resources. I also want to help library science students see systems librarianship as a potential career path.
Since I use this book for my Systems Librarianship course, which I teach in the spring semesters, this book will be a live document. Each semester that I teach this course, I will update the content in order to address changes in the technology and to edit for clarity when I discover some aspect of the book causes confusion or does not provide enough information.
This book is not a comprehensive introduction to systems librarianship. For example, this book does not cover software coding nor managerial duties, like issuing requests for proposals for software products, or budgeting. It is designed as an entry level course in the technical aspects of systems librarianship and is meant to go hand-in-hand with other courses taught in our library science program. That includes my course on electronic resource management but also other courses that my colleagues teach.
A small part of this book draws from my course on Linux Systems Administration, which I teach in the fall semesters in our undergraduate ICT program.
If you use this work, in whole or in part, please reach out to me to let me know. I accept suggestions for improvement, via email or GitHub.
Technical Note
I write the text for this work in Markdown and use mdBook to build the output. The Markdown source code is in GitHub: Systems Librarianship. Use the search function on this site to search for specific topics or keywords. If the reader desires a PDF copy of this work, the printer icon at the top right of the page will print to PDFs.
The content in this book is open access and licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Feel free to fork it on GitHub and modify it for your own needs.