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New Librarians as Project Managers: A Project Cataloger Tells All
by Marcy Strong

Most librarians are adept at managing their routine tasks – those everyday, predictable and repetitive chores that we handle with ease due to their frequent occurrence.  However, just when the routines start to become mundane, a project can loom in the future.  Projects, unlike routines, are temporary and finite.  They have a distinct beginning and end and often involve teams of people both inside and outside a department.  Their unfamiliarity can cause anxiety, especially for librarians who are not only new to the profession, but new to the working world as well.  However, new librarians may have more experience to draw from than they realize, and if they combine this knowledge with some helpful strategies, they can manage projects successfully. 

As a recent library school graduate, I started my cataloging position with little “real” professional experience.  This new job would involve managing one project immediately, with a promise of several more to come.  How could I take on this role?  I had never managed a project … or had I?  When I thought about my leadership experience, I realized that it could take many forms.  For instance, I helped manage a career development panel for the American Library Association student chapter during graduate school. This event required finding speakers and a location, coordinating dates and times, and most importantly, selecting a snack menu.  The more I thought about it, the more I realized this was a great example of project management; I definitely had a pool of skills and experiences that I could rely on to help myself in the future.  Such skills can come from many different types of experiences: have you ever been a student officer?  Organized an event?  Taken an active role in community service?  Coached a sport?  Taught a class?  You may have more project management experience than you realize. 

Even if you haven’t done any of those things and cannot think of any leadership roles you’ve assumed, you have probably been part of a project team.  Being part of a project team gives you a different and valuable perspective of how a project is managed.  A successfully run project may give you an idea of how a project should be organized or an appropriate strategy for reaching project goals.  A less successful project may give you an even better idea of how a project should be managed because you have been a witness to that project’s shortcomings.  As a student I was involved with a project that was headed by a “team” of managers.  Although this shared management plan seemed like the ideal solution for our busy student lives, it only created more problems down the road.  Tasks were not completed and issues were not resolved because there was no clear authority to complete or resolve them.  It was assumed that someone else on the team would fix the problem, and as a result, no one did.  That experience taught me the importance of clearly delegating any responsibilities in the project and encouraging the team to approach me if they have any questions or concerns. 

Project Management Steps 

An important first step in project management is defining the project, including the purpose, tasks, schedule and budget.  The purpose is the point of the project and the reason that your library is taking the time, effort and cost to undertake such a venture.  When the purpose is clearly defined, outlining the tasks is the next logical step.  This breaks your project down into manageable pieces and can make it feel more feasible.  What is your final deadline and how can the tasks be arranged in order to meet that deadline?  Schedules need to be maintained so the project can be completed in the expected time.  Finally, the expenses of the project need to be considered, and the library needs to determine if the department budget will be sufficient or if outside funding will be required for completion. 

Binghamton University Libraries recently received a significant gift from a professor emeritus of the Department of Anthropology.  This gift included collections of maps, serials, and approximately 14,000 manuscripts from a non-profit organization related to the field of development anthropology.  All of these manuscripts, many of which are unique or rare works about areas in the developing world, needed to be cataloged and processed in our local system.  The sheer size of the collection seemed daunting, but when we analyzed why we were undertaking this project and how we were going to do it, the project started to fall into place. 

The purpose of this project was simple: to provide access to a collection of documents that would otherwise remain unknown and unused.  Cataloging this particular collection seemed especially valuable due to the rarity of some of the manuscripts included.  That was the easy part; the challenge lay in outlining a workflow and setting up the tasks that would lead us towards the completion of this project and the cataloging of all the materials included.  So I began by selecting the first several boxes of manuscripts and cataloging them myself to get a feel for what the material might look like and the particular cataloging issues that might emerge.  From there I developed a workflow and created a tutorial that provided step-by-step instructions for members of the project team.  In creating the tutorial, I tried to be particularly clear on areas where the project differed from procedures common to daily cataloging tasks.  To illustrate these differences, I used image-capturing software to demonstrate how those steps looked in the local catalog.  The key to making this project manageable for the staff was to reduce their work as much as possible.  With that in mind, I elected to create bibliographic record templates for the manuscripts that included the MARC fields necessary for the project.  Many of the manuscripts covered topics in specific geographic regions in developing areas of the world, so I also provided a suggested list of subject headings to be consulted as a first step before using OCLC. 

Although the majority of the work was to be handled by the Cataloging Department, the project would not move forward without the assistance of individuals in other areas of the library.  Due to the size of the manuscript collection, the boxes were housed in our off-site storage facility and a delivery schedule had to be arranged with Circulation to drop off new boxes and return cataloged boxes in the correct order.  I also had to create a processing policy for the manuscripts, which are sent to Book Preparation to be prepared after cataloging.  Should the materials be labeled, tattle-taped, and/or barcoded?  Those decisions had to be made and communicated with Book Preparation before any cataloged boxes arrived on their shelves. 

Once the documentation was in order and I felt fairly confident with the process, I organized and presented a training session for members of the project team (7 members of the Cataloging Department).  This meeting gave me the opportunity to discuss the history of the collection and why it had been selected for processing so the team would understand its importance as well.  I brought the boxes I had been working on to give them an idea of what to expect and then I went through the cataloging process with the team.  When the meeting was complete, each member of the team left with a box of manuscripts, a step-by-step set of instructions and the encouragement to ask any questions at any time. 

Don’t Lose Track of Time and Money 

Planning and implementing the tasks involved in a project is the bulk of the work.  You will almost certainly run into small and not-so-small hiccups in the process that you did not foresee, but careful planning and control will prevent many other problems from interrupting your progress.  Fortunately, the manuscript cataloging project at Binghamton does not have to adhere to a tight schedule, nor does it require any outside funding.  It is actually a low priority project for most of the team members and it is something for them to work on when their regular work is running low or they need a little variety in their day.  With 14,000 manuscripts to catalog, I anticipate that we will be working on this project for years to come.  However, many projects do have to be concerned with schedules, and one useful way to manage these concerns is with a Gantt chart (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gantt_chart).  Gantt charts can show the length of time for the entire project, as well as subprojects and specific tasks within the project.  Estimated and actual times can be shown simultaneously.  Regardless of whether or not a Gantt chart is used, a project manager should plan the project schedule realistically and also build in enough flexibility that delays can be absorbed into later phases. 

Efficient budget maintenance is also a key concern in project management, and a manager should be aware of the various types of costs that could affect the project.  Direct costs are those that relate directly to the project, such as materials or specialized labor.  In a specialized cataloging project, direct costs might include a foreign language cataloger to handle language materials not typically handled by the library or specific equipment or supplies that directly benefit the project.  Indirect costs are not directly related to the project and can include items such as rent or general office supplies.  This distinction in costs is particularly important when a project requires outside funding, as some granting agencies prefer to fund direct costs only. 

Making Your Experience Work 

Becoming a skilled project manager will only happen with time and experience.  However, leadership experience can be found in many forms; your personal background in school, work, community service, or as a member of a project management team may provide a stronger foundation than you realize.  Combining your personal experience with a strategy for thorough project management can produce results your library will benefit from for years to come.  

About the Author: 

Marcy Strong graduated from the State University of New York (SUNY) at Albany in May 2004 with a Master of Information Science degree.  She is a Catalog Librarian at Binghamton University.

Article published Oct 2005

Disclaimer: The ideas expressed in articles are those of their respective authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the LIScareer editors.

Page last updated 10/04/2005
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