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Project Management in Academic Libraries: A Case Study of Retrospective Conversion and Serials Automation Projects in the University of Botswana
Abstract
Academic libraries have increasingly been involved in managing their resources of equipment, staff and information by making tough decisions in the climate of ‘less for more’. ICTs have provided the means to meeting most of these challenges. Librarians have had to recognize that functions such as moving library collections, consortia management, software migration, retrospective conversion of catalogs, and serials automation require management expertise which have often been provided either through contracts or by choosing the ‘do-it-yourself ’ route. In a broad context, a project can be defined as a unit of work that has clearly defined objectives, scope, expectations of results, and deliverables. To produce the deliverables, a project typically involves a project plan, project tasks, responsibilities necessary to achieve the tasks, resources to complete the tasks and time frames to complete them. Describes two projects: the retrospective conversion of the card catalogue, and the serials automation projects at the FET Library which became necessary when the former Botswana Polytechnic Library became a branch of the University of Botswana Library in 1996. Both projects were started as part of the normal duties in the library of six junior staff and two professionals and involved staff training, scheduling of duties, writing of in-house manuals, all based on project management principles. The retrospective conversion project covered an estimated 8,000 records, while the serials covered the 250 titles on current subscription. Identifies constraints such as staffing, training and retraining; equipment malfunction and access to online resources; and conflict of work priorities. The lessons learned from running the two projects are shared with highlights on project management concepts as a means of managing library resources for the optimum benefit of the institution, staff and patrons.
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