LibraryServices
Project Management
UCL DIS INSTG002
2 February 2016
Andrew PreaterHead of Library Information Systems
@preater
Overview
• Our context
• My take on project
management
• Project management in
libraries
• Opportunities and pitfalls
Imperial College London context
Library Services context
What is project management?
What we talk about
when we talk about
project management
Hodgson, D. (2005) ‘Putting on a professional performance’: performativity, subversion and project
management’, Organization, 12 (1) pp.51-68 [Online] DOI: 10.1177/1350508405048576 (Accessed 1
February 2016)
Butler, J. (1990) Gender trouble. New York, NY: Routledge.
What is special about a ‘project’?
• Change
• Time-limited ie. they end
• Cross-function
• Each is unique
• Risky businessTSO (2009) Managing successful projects with PRINCE2. 5th edn. London: TSO.
Cicmil, S. Hodgson, D., Lindgren, M., and Packendorff, J. (2009) ‘Project management behind the façade’, ephemera, 9
(2), pp. 78-92 [Online]. Available at: http://www.ephemerajournal.org/sites/default/files/pdfs/9-2ephemera-may09.pdf
(Accessed: 1 February 2016)
What is special about a ‘project’?
• Change
• Time-limited ie. they end
• Cross-function
• Each is unique
• Risky businessTSO (2009) Managing successful projects with PRINCE2. 5th edn. London: TSO.
Cicmil, S. Hodgson, D., Lindgren, M., and Packendorff, J. (2009) ‘Project management behind the façade’, Ephemera, 9
(2), pp. 78-92 [Online]. Available at: http://www.ephemerajournal.org/sites/default/files/pdfs/9-2ephemera-may09.pdf
(Accessed: 1 February 2016)
Why manage projects?
Maybe you don’t
need to!
Why manage projects?
• Maybe you don’t need to
• Planning and managing
change
• Risk and quality
• Learning & development
How big is a “project”?
5 days BAU
30 days change
90 days small
180 days medium
>180 days big
When not to manage projects?
Case 1. Federated
search project brief“After investigation, we recommend that [the library]
does not pursue a federated search product at this
stage, but awaits developments in library management
systems that may address those requirements not
already met by existing connections between our
catalogue and eresources and through information
literacy training…”
PRINCE2 Project Brief: what we could
have done
• Project definition
• Business case
• Product description
• Project approach
• Project management team structure
• Role descriptions
• References
TSO (2009) Managing successful projects with PRINCE2. 5th edn. London: TSO.
A word about PRINCE2
TSO (2009) Managing successful projects with PRINCE2. 5th
edn. London: TSO.
You will
encounter this
methodology
More words about PRINCE2
TSO (2009) Managing successful projects with PRINCE2. 5th edn. London: TSO.
“Project Initiation Document (PID)”
“Senior User”
“Deliverable” or “Product”
“Lessons Log”
“Stakeholders”
etc. etc.
A word about agile
Rubin, K.S. (2012) Essential scrum. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Addison-Wesley.
'Workshop exploring agile project parameters' by Flickr user Improve It, license
CC-BY. Available at: https://flic.kr/p/3paWa5
Project management in libraryland
What sort of projects?
• Our own projects
• Information technology
• Estates / buildings
• Cross-College
• Above-College
Inheriting someone else’s project
Case 2.
Inheriting
someone
else’s project
work
Inheriting someone else’s project
Where’s my…?
• PID
• End project report
• Lessons learned report
• Post-project review
• Follow-on actions
Real world big project: system
migration
Case 3. Ex Libris
Alma at Imperial
College London
Objective #1, from the project docs
“To improve user service and enhance student
experience”
Project teams: how big?
Main project team
Acquisitions
Circulation
Knowledgebase and access
Collection development
Communication
Data migration
Document Supply (ILL)
Metadata & Inventory
Discovery
Reporting
Reading Lists
Systems
User Management
Total 83
staff
Alma project phasing
What did the project sponsor want to
realise?
Print and e-resource workflows
What did the project sponsor want to
realise?
Print and e-resource workflows
Review and improve policy and
processes
What did the project sponsor want to
realise?
Print and e-resource workflows
Review and improve policy and
processes
Technology platform
What did the project sponsor want to
realise?
Print and e-resource workflows
Review and improve policy and
processes
Technology platform
Standardized approach to
analytics
What happened? Alma live, July 2013
What did the staff think?
What happened to those workflows
and processes?
What lessons did we learn?
Do business analysis
Lesson #1 : Do business analysis
Interlending
lean / kaizen
process
improvement
exercise
33
Library Staff I have reviewed
the item request
I have validated the
request
I have requested
the item
I have checked that
the item arrived
I have requested
the item
Student /
Academic
I am waiting for my
item to arrive
I have received an
update
I have received the
requested item
I am looking for an
item for research
I have notified of
the due date
I have returned /
renewed the item
‘Get It’
Search
Primo ‘Articles
& More’
Doc Del
Tab
ASK the
Library
Primo ‘Books
& More’
Signed In
Pre-
populated
Form
Not
Signed In
Blank Form
Registered
User
RegisterRequest
Registration
Primo ‘Books
& More’
Allowance
Level
Challenge
Level
Submit Request
Review
RequestValidate
Request
Cancelled
Request
Cancel Request
Search
Engine
Request
Additional
Information
Databases
Publishers
British Library
Catalogue
British Library
(BL) Art
UK
Institutions
Alma Form
Campus Library
Request to Central
to Place
BL Availability
Status Report
OCLC
FormGoogle Spread
Sheet
Request Item
Manual Update
Receive
Request
Manual Update
BL End User
BL Doc Del
Supplier
Notification
Physical Receipt
Student /
Academic
Journey
Notified Not
Available
Return Item
Manual Update
Due Date
Notification
High Level
Principles
It is easy to find out
what I need to do
It is simple and requires
minimal data entry
I know that my request has
been processed
I know that my request is
on its way and when to
expect it
My request
arrives where I
need it to and is
simple to retrieve
It is simple to return my item
and I am reminded about my
due dates
Library
Staff
Journey
Lesson #1 : Interlending ‘journey’
34
Library Staff I have reviewed
the item request
I have validated the
request
I have requested
the item
I have checked that
the item arrived
I have requested
the item
Student /
Academic
I am waiting for my
item to arrive
I have received an
update
I have received the
requested item
I am looking for an
item for research
I have notified of
the due date
I have returned /
renewed the item
‘Get It’
Search
Primo ‘Articles
& More’
Doc Del
Tab
ASK the
Library
Primo ‘Books
& More’
Signed In
Pre-
populated
Form
Not
Signed In
Blank Form
Registered
User
RegisterRequest
Registration
Primo ‘Books
& More’
Allowance
Level
Challenge
Level
Submit Request
Review
RequestValidate
Request
Cancelled
Request
Cancel Request
Search
Engine
Request
Additional
Information
Databases
Publishers
British Library
Catalogue
British Library
(BL) Art
UK
Institutions
Alma Form
Campus Library
Request to Central
to Place
BL Availability
Status Report
OCLC
FormGoogle Spread
Sheet
Request Item
Manual Update
Receive
Request
Manual Update
BL End User
BL Doc Del
Supplier
Notification
Physical Receipt
Student /
Academic
Journey
Notified Not
Available
Return Item
Manual Update
Due Date
Notification
High Level
Principles
It is easy to find out
what I need to do
It is simple and requires
minimal data entry
I know that my request has
been processed
I know that my request is
on its way and when to
expect it
My request
arrives where I
need it to and is
simple to retrieve
It is simple to return my item
and I am reminded about my
due dates
Library
Staff
Journey
Primo / Library
Search
Primo Form
Doc Del Tab Form
Primo User
Experience
Registration
Allowances
Cancellations
Review each
request
Manual Item
Request
Multiple Steps
OCLC Requests
Manual Alma
Update
No Tracking
Analytics
No Tracking
Analytics
No Tracking
Analytics
Manual Doc Del
Form Alma Update
BL Plug In
Lesson #1 : Interlending ‘pain points’
“We are also reminded regularly that
even the changes the vendor agrees
to make cause the vendor
inconvenience, and that we should
change our procedures to align with
the technology […] we don't like
being told that we're not doing things
right, from the vendor’s point of view”
- anonymous Alma site
Breeding, M. (2016). ‘Perceptions 2015: An international survey of library automation’. Available at:
http://librarytechnology.org/survey-2015-comments.pl#Alma
What lessons did we learn?
Do business analysis
Rescope to meet goals
‘Reality Triangle’ (Walsh)
Resources
Concept from Barry Walsh, University Information
Systems and Financial Management Services,
Indiana University
‘Triangle of objectives’ (Lock)
Quality
Time Resources
Lock, D. (2007) The essentials of project management.
3rd edn. Aldershot: Gower.
#2 Rescope to meet goals
Rescoped / altered deliverables
• Finance integration
• Workflow analysis
• Metadata optimisation
• Reading lists
What lessons did we learn?
Do business analysis
Rescope to meet goals
Set expectations in planning
#3: Set expectations in planning
“We view Alma as an immature
product with great potential. Basic
functionality is fairly solid though
resource sharing of materials across
the consortium is labor intensive and
wrought with problems. Analytics and
the ability to generate custom reports
or otherwise assess data is very
poorly developed […]”
- anonymous Alma siteBreeding, M. (2016). Perceptions 2015: An international survey of library automation. Available at:
http://librarytechnology.org/survey-2015-comments.pl#Alma
What lessons did we learn?
Do business analysis
Rescope to meet goals
Set expectations in planning
Plan for bugs & snags
#4: Plan for bugs & snags
Key issues in:
• ILL & subscriptions workflow
• Staff training
• Systems Team dependency
• Staffing changes
What next for the Library?
Re-evaluating and improving
processes
Staff certification
Focus on user experience
Revisit key integrations
One
•Two
• Three
» Four
Five
@imperiallibrary
@preater