When I meet new people and tell them that I work at the Library of Congress, the first question is usually “What do you do there?” When I explain that part of my job is to oversee a group that develops software, the reaction is often one of surprise: “What? Libraries develop software?”
Yes. Yes they do.
There are a number of groups at the Library of Congress that develop and customize software: the ILS Office, the U.S. Copyright Office, the Network Development and MARC Standards Office and the central Library IT Systems department. I have the distinct pleasure of working with the Repository Development Center (RDC) at the Library, which is responsible for the development of a number of web applications and tools that support the acquisition, management, preservation and delivery of digital collections. The RDC is busy on many fronts.