They won't know how to use specific libraries, but they can sometimes help with things like how to install iPython on a Mac or Windows machine.
It does seem like some of this would make a good online course. There's some good stuff here http://faculty.washington.edu/rjl/classes/am583s2013/notes/i... which goes with the "High performance scientific computing" Coursera course, and of course there's the Software Carpentry site.
It does seem like some of this would make a good online course. There's some good stuff here http://faculty.washington.edu/rjl/classes/am583s2013/notes/i... which goes with the "High performance scientific computing" Coursera course, and of course there's the Software Carpentry site.