Project Management: Tools and Techniques for Today’s ILS Professional

Citation

McGill, L. (2006), "Project Management: Tools and Techniques for Today’s ILS Professional", Library Review, Vol. 55 No. 3, pp. 222-223. https://doi.org/10.1108/00242530610656019

How many ILS professionals have taken on project work either as part of an existing role, or even a new role with little experience and even less training in project management? This is not a new phenomenon across any of the information and library sectors – there have always been projects of varying size and complexity, and there has often been a need to adapt traditional authoritarian project management approaches to develop more appropriate people focused methodologies. In true collaborative style we usually start by contacting other professionals with experience of similar projects to learn from their good practice and mistakes. ILS workers have always needed a guide like this one by Barbara Allan, which advocates a co‐operative and collaborative approach and which illustrates theory with real ILS case studies and models of good practice. What makes this book particularly timely, however, is the increasing level of complexity that affects ILS project work in an electronic and global environment. Projects now regularly cross several cultural boundaries – organisational, disciplinary, and geographical. ILS professionals increasingly require sophisticated people management, communication, and financial skills and an understanding of how information and communication technologies (ICT) can enhance project management and communication.

Part 1 offers an introduction to the range and breadth of ILS projects and highlights some of the common constraints that can impact on outcomes. In addition to the usual limitations in relation to staffing, time allocation and budgeting, the author also raises the question “when does an ILS task become a project”. There follows an excellent example in which an attempt to define a fairly simple task within formal writing constraints “re‐framed” the task as a project, which in turn allowed it to be managed and successfully completed. Part 2 on “Systems and processes” explores the basics of project management, such as project planning, implementation, evaluation, dissemination, funding and budgeting. All are illustrated using case studies ranging in size, scale and complexity. Of particular use in this section is a chapter on money which provides a simple explanation of the bidding process for external funding.

Part 3 focuses on the human – and arguably the most challenging – side of project management. It begins by looking at the roles, responsibilities and development of team members and goes on to consider the challenges and advantages of working collaboratively. Issues arising from the increasing need to work in multidisciplinary teams across cultural boundaries are discussed in depth throughout this section, as are the increasing incidence of working in virtual teams through the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) such as email, discussion boards, chat and video conferencing facilities. The author offers an interesting adaptation of Gilly Salmon’s five‐stage model of learning and teaching online for virtual team work and offers simple and practical ideas to encourage effective team communication and participation. The chapter on partnership uses two detailed case studies to illustrate real examples of the challenges and methods used to overcome these. The book ends with a discussion of the issues relating to professional development and concludes that providing support for ILS professionals in project management and multidisciplinary teamwork is essential across all sectors of ILS work.

Although the index is not particularly comprehensive, the headings and subheadings within the content pages prove more than adequate for quick reference. One additional feature that would perhaps have been useful for the author to include is a list of the case studies with a brief description of each, coupled with the relevant page numbers; this would enable users to source case studies on their own quickly. Those with some experience on working on ILS projects will find themselves nodding in recognition as they read this book, but many will still find this book a useful reference source due to its comprehensive coverage. For anyone new to project management it is an excellent practical guide – every library should have at least one copy, as should every newly qualified ILS professional.