Project Management in the Library Workplace

Alice L. Daugherty is Associate Professor and Coordinator of Acquisitions and Electronic Resources, at The University of Alabama Libraries. She writes and presents widely on issues of library services and collections. She earned her MLIS from Wayne state University in 2003. Samantha Hines got her MS in library and information science from University of Illinois in 2003 and has worked in a variety of libraries. She's currently the Associate Dean of Instructional Resources at Peninsula College in Port Angeles WA, but previously worked in various roles at the University of Montana for 12 years. She is a prolific scholar and frequent conference presenter on issues of library services, copyright and publishing, and middle management.

Contributed by librarians from universities in North America, the 17 essays in this volume detail concepts, experiences, and forecasts for the use of project management in library administration. They describe various elements of project management, including pre-project planning, workplace culture, common roots between librarianship and project management, and the disadvantages of project management in a library setting; how project management principles can be used to build community engagement and relationships through the lens of faculty partnerships; how project management frameworks can be used by those without formal authority; the development of project management processes in a library; the use of project management techniques in digital projects; how project management tools can be combined with change management techniques; how product management techniques can change collection service models in university archives and special collections; the value of full-time project management positions; how protocols like Six Sigma, Lean, and Scrum have been applied in libraries; using a project management mindset as an administrative approach to creating workplace efficiencies and building employee leadership skills; project management in a new library storage facility; and what project management training can offer for library professionals, including how techniques can be implemented within a library and the benefits and limitations for training library professionals in the Scrum project management framework.

• Chapter 1. Using Pre-Project Planning to Manage Workload; Twila Camp, Barbara Laufersweiler, Sarah Robbins Chapter 2. Fostering a culture of project management practices – a maturity model for libraries; Erla P. Heyns and Sasja Huijts Chapter 3. Common Roots, Different Systems: Project Management and Librarianship; Samantha Hines Chapter 4. The Best-Laid Plans of Mice and Men Often Go Awry: The Disadvantages of Project Management; Joy M. Perrin Chapter 5. Sprinting towards Faculty Engagement: Adopting Project Management Approaches to Build Library-Faculty Relationships; Pamella R. Lach and Brian Rosenblum Chapter 6. Shadow Project Management: Using the Project Management Body of Knowledge to Informally Manage Library Projects; Steven Ovadia Chapter 7. Academic Library Implementation of Project Management Standards; Kirsten Clark and Kate McCready  Chapter 8. Integration of Project Management Techniques in Digital Projects; Kate Dohe and Robin Pike Chapter 9. Combining Project Management and Change Management for Project Success in Libraries; Melissa Fraser-Arnott Chapter 10. From Collection Silos to Digital Content Hubs: Digital Project Management in Special Collections and University Archives; Angela Fritz Chapter 11. The Value of Full-Time Project Management Positions: PMO Nuts and Bolts at Hesburgh Libraries; Anastasia Guimaraes, Laurie McGowan, Miranda VanNevel, Zheng Wang Chapter 12. Borrowed From Business: Using Corporate Strategies to Manage Library Projects; Sara Holder Chapter 13. Using a ‘Project Management Mindset’ as an Administrative Approach to Creating Workplace Efficiencies & Building Employee Leadership Skills; Kris JohnsonChapter 14. Accidental Project Management in a New Library Storage Facility; Timothy Hackman, Margaret Loebe Chapter 15. Effective Project Management Techniques to Prepare Information Professionals for the Future Workforce; Rajesh Singh and Lindsay Jankovitz Chapter 16. Projects, Programmes, Strategy and Leadership in the Research Library; J. Stephen Town Chapter 17. Increasing Effectiveness of Library Projects Through ScrumMaster Certification; Mike Waugh