Library Discovery Developer

Description

Did you know that libraries have more than books? Libraries today have so much more than just books, but unfortunately a lot of patrons aren’t aware of everything that libraries own and everything that libraries can do for them.  At ByWater Solutions, we are trying to change that by delighting users as we connect them to all of the library’s unique content via Aspen Discovery and the LiDA app!

ByWater Solutions is a small and close knit group of technology specialists who work in a fast paced and family oriented environment that places a great deal of attention on quality of life and satisfaction while helping set up libraries for success. 

Aspen Discovery, used by hundreds of thousands of users every day, is a quickly growing open source discovery layer with strong roots (in development for 15 years!) and a diverse group of library partners.  We are innovating in a number of areas and are actively working with our partners to constantly improve the software and our implementations, all while providing world class support. Aspen Discovery is a great chance to work on software that can truly make a difference in people’s lives by providing equal access to a wide variety of information to everyone.  

As a developer on Aspen Discovery, you will have the opportunity to work on a wide variety of projects and challenges. Depending on your experience and interests, some of the possible areas you might work on include:

• Tracking issues that libraries find through the code to determine the root cause of their questions. 

• Working on LiDA, a mobile application for Aspen Discovery using React and PHP. 

• Building and revising functionality in the Aspen Discovery front end using a combination of PHP, JavaScript, and CSS. 

• Building and revising functionality in the Aspen Discovery back end using Java, MySQL/MariaDB and Solr.

• Investigating performance issues and tuning MySQL/MariaDB. 

• Deploying code to cloud servers with git and creating processes to make deployments run more efficiently.

• Performing system updates and tuning of Linux servers.

• Performing code reviews for team members and members of the community. 

• Working with the Aspen Discovery Team to improve our internal processes. 

• Helping your team members learn new skills.

• Participating in the Aspen Community.

We want you to have fun, be challenged, and make a difference for our partners and their patrons. The more areas you are comfortable in the better!

What to expect at ByWater (but also expect the unexpected)

Your First Week

• Firehose gets turned on :) 

• Meet your coworkers (we’re all really nice)

• Setup your computer 

• Setup your development environment

• Get access to all the key systems (gmail, ticketing system, payroll systems, etc)

• Attend team meetings

• Get a demo of Aspen Discovery

• Watch recorded tutorials of Aspen Discovery functionality 

• Watch past trainings of Aspen Discovery 

• Ask lots of questions

New stuff your Second Week

• Work on a few bugs to gain a familiarity with the code base. 

• Attend ticket time where we talk through support issues and identify solutions

• Attend a set of partner implementation meetings to see how we work with partners to configure their systems and become more familiar with Aspen

• Keep asking questions

New stuff your First Month 

• Attend Aspen Gatherings to get introduced to the community

• Work with the team to revise goals/OKRs to be more measurable and add goals for yourself 

• Keep working on bug fixes and start work on a new feature

• Help test and review code contributed by the other developers on the team, ask questions about how the code works

• Keep learning more about Aspen!

New stuff your First 3 months

• Complete shadowing of an implementation

• Do more development including bug fixes and new features
   

New stuff your First 6 months and beyond

• Assist in fine tuning internal processes

• Provide feedback on our existing development processes to help us become more efficient

• Keep asking questions!

This is a full-time, telecommuting (permanent) position which requires working from home and some travel requirements.  ByWater offers performance bonuses, 401k, medical, great pay, on the job skills training and the chance to work with a talented group of team members.

If this sounds like you send your resume and cover letter to hr@bywatersolutions.com