I am just shy of 30 years of full time experience as an information systems professional. Currently I manage a development team at the United Nations Dag Hammarskjöld Library, which means I mainly develop library information systems, but I’m also responsible for IT security, DevOps, and cloud infrastructure.

I’ll use a rubric similar to what others are using, but especially with information systems, as I’m fond of saying, I don’t even really know at this point what I know.

Project Management: While I’m not certified in any particular methodology, I have been practicing project management for many years now. I am comfortable breaking down tasks and structuring work according to known parameters, such as when building tools and platforms that leverage common patterns, or when aiming for clearly defined outcomes. That said, I wouldn’t consider myself particularly good at this, especially when the scope is less well defined.

Development: This is a strong point for me. My current development stack includes Python, HTML, JavaScript (both server side and client side), and CSS, backed by various databases: MongoDB, Ontotext GraphDB, and Postgres. I’m also familiar with integration of search engines.

Design/UX: Because of the size of my team, I have to moonlight as a UX professional. I have a basic grasp of design and UX concepts, but this is certainly not my strength. That said, I learned HTML programming in the 90s like many others did, by looking at sites I liked and trying to copy them. That same sensibility has served me well enough to date…

Graphics Design and Art: I am capable with digital image creation and basic editing, and I like to make logos, art, and such. Who knows if we’ll need any, but I thought I’d throw it out there.

Infrastructure and Deployment: This is an aspect that I haven’t seen covered as often as other aspects. I have a strong grasp of the components necessary to deploy web applications, keep them online, and ensure they can be maintained, especially on a budget.

Outreach/Social Media: I consider myself chronically allergic to publicity of any kind, which may seem like a funny thing to hear from someone who has been blogging publicly for many years, posts plenty on social media, and even publishes things for people to buy. All that’s to say I haven’t the first clue how to actually market anything. I could stand to learn!

Documentation: Since I do like to write, I also like to explain things. I’m always eager to help structure documentation that serves different audiences, though I am not always as diligent in filling it in.

Research: I like to think this is something I know how to do, but so far in my Digital Humanities journey, I have found that research in a humanities context feels substantively different from what I had done many years ago in my Information Systems MS, even while the methods themselves are basically the same. That said, I feel pretty confident in my research skills.