A librarian walks into a python.

Jeanine Finn
Jul 21, 2017 · 4 min read
Photo by Torkild Retvedt via Flickr CC

I had a vague plan to “learn some Python” before starting my new library job in August.

It has gotten kind of complicated.

My idea was to learn some Python coding skills to automate data collection for my work in open data and data journalism.

There are a slew of off-the-shelf tools for different kinds of web data gathering, but I’ve found myself wanting to autmoate some data processes in ways that don’t exactly fit the ready-to-go solutions. The sites I wanted to scrape were way too inconsistently formatted. Or I wanted to normalize data across several different result sets without spending 3 months on it. Or I needed a dataset that was a tiny bit too large (or too small or too… something) for a pre-built solution. (Although running Chrome’s Twitter Archiver for Google Sheets has been a trip in a time of “covfefe” and other singular keywords.)

I could learn this on my own, right? Maybe even learn enough so I could teach a little bit to undergrad researchers in the fall in a data literacy workshop? I have a little bit of programming experience that has come along with working in the online world of libraries for awhile. But it’s been some time since I set out to learn a Whole New Thing. But I can do this. Right? I armed myself with a GitHub account and the best of itentions.

Turns out I had no idea how to get really get started. I was trying to find my way into this little sweet spot of “what the universe of Python is” intersected with “what I needed and realistically could do.”

right there?

So I started with some helpful discipline-specific tutorials, like this and this. As well as:

A trusty O’Reilly manual.

A syllabus from my faculty advisor with some great tools.

Lynda.com (through my public library account) offering a boat-load of online classes.

And Q and A sites in abundance.

But I kept getting just started on one path or the other…and then realizing I was getting more into the weeds than I needed (or thought I was). I needed to know this — but not that. I needed context. I wanted to know where this ended before I downloaded three pieces of software and spent an hour on the introductory tutorial.

What I needed was some meta-knowledge to help me articulate MY specific questions so I could sort the resources more efficiently. But I didn’t know how to do that out the outset.

My research needs, like most, emerged most clearly in interaction — as a dialogue with the sources. Essentially a classic reference interview.

This clicked for me when I saw Scholarly Kitchen’s take on an Oxford University Press white paper on the concept of academic reference in the 21st century. The paper, entitled Navigating research: How users understand, discover, and utilize reference resources, makes the point that this meta level of resource discovery is crucial all along scholarly development — not just for young scholars or undergrads. Although formalized “reference” sources in libraries may have all but disappeared, they find ample data showing learners still need that type of guidance.

…resources offering guidance to a field of study and its scholarship retain appeal to users, as a bridge between introductory materials and increasingly specialized research publications, and to support work in interdisciplinary fields.

This need for contextualizing guidance was reiterated by students, faculty, and librarians alike. Nearly every respondent wanted it, and wanted it to be dynamic and readily available. Quick and accessible was key.

“but if they have to go to 8 different sites to find that background essay they’re looking for, I’m not as convinced that that is something they are going to do” — a librarian quoted on p. 16.

As for me — I’m patient (stubborn) and will keep poking along and learning this thing. I am also going to keep looking for the dynamic and contextualizing Python source I need. Probably.

But not everyone works that way — or should have to. I am going to keep thinking about how we librarians do the reference thing in distributed 21st century work environments. We’re all interdisciplinary, but we still need expertise.

How do we meet that need across platforms, modes, and specialization? And how does it arrive just in time? I don’t know yet, but I’m glad we’re all asking these questions.

Do I really need a GitHub account though?

)

Jeanine Finn

Written by

Librarian and post doc researcher in Southern California. Data, libraries, and pesky social questions around information. All opinions are my own.

Welcome to a place where words matter. On Medium, smart voices and original ideas take center stage - with no ads in sight. Watch
Follow all the topics you care about, and we’ll deliver the best stories for you to your homepage and inbox. Explore
Get unlimited access to the best stories on Medium — and support writers while you’re at it. Just $5/month. Upgrade