Time and Project Management Strategies for Librarians

308 Pages·2013·2.266 MB·English

by  Jenny Dale, Ellie Dworak, Robin M. Fay, Libby Gorman, John C. Gottfried, Kelli Hines, Carol Smallwood, Jason Kuhl, Lisa Fraser

Time and Project Management
Strategies for Librarians
Edited by Carol Smallwood, Jason Kuhl,
and Lisa Fraser
Foreword by Robert P. Holley
THESCARECROWPRESS,INC.
Lanham•Toronto•Plymouth,UK
2013
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BritishLibraryCataloguinginPublicationInformationAvailable
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Timeandprojectmanagementstrategiesforlibrarians/editedbyCarolSmallwood,JasonKuhl,Lisa
Fraser.
pagescm
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
ISBN978-0-8108-9052-7(pbk.:alk.paper)--ISBN978-0-8108-9053-4(ebook)1.Librarians--
Timemanagement.2.Libraryadministration.3.Librarypersonnelmanagement.I.Smallwood,Car-
ol,1939–editorofcompilation.II.Kuhl,Jason,1975–editiorofcompilation.III.Fraser,Lisa,1963–
editorofcompilation.
Z682.35.T55T462013
025.1--dc23
2012046129
ThepaperusedinthispublicationmeetstheminimumrequirementsofAmerican
NationalStandardforInformationSciencesPermanenceofPaperforPrintedLibrary
Materials,ANSI/NISOZ39.48-1992.
PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica
Contents
Acknowledgments vii
Foreword ix
Introduction xi
I:ManagementStrategies 1
1 ConsultYourStakeholdersandPrioritizewithSixSigma
Tools 3
ElizabethNelson
2 DailyOperations 9
PamelaO’Sullivan
3 FeudalSocietyoftheStacks 13
EricOwen
4 NecessarySacrifices 23
LeEttaSchmidt
5 ProductivetotheCore:CoreCompetenciesandthe
ProductiveLibrarian 33
JennyDaleandLyndaM.Kellam
6 RuralLibrarians,FarmOutYourWork 41
MichelleA.McIntyre
II:WorkingwithStaff 51
7 CirculationStaffing 53
KimberlyWells
8 Going,Going,Gone:ManagementStrategiesforTimeand
StaffWhenThereIsLittleofEither 61
AmberLannonandSaraHolder
9 Staff-LevelManagementofLibraryReferenceServices:Not
JustPersonnelEconomy,anEnhancedServiceSystem 71
ThreasaWesley
III:Students,Volunteers,andInterns 81
10 InternsandVolunteers:FindingandDeployingFreeLabor 83
PortiaKapraunandBethM.Sheppard
iii
iv Contents
11 MakingtheBestofaReducedStaff:UtilizingStudent
WorkerstoReachLibraryGoals 89
EmyNelsonDecker
12 StudentWorkersontheJob:MaximizingOutput 97
PortiaKapraunandBethM.Sheppard
IV:MonitoringTimeandProjects 103
13 DevelopingandImplementingaProjectChart 105
JessicaShombergandDaardiSizemore
14 HowManyHoursinMyDay?HowManySlicesinMyPie?
PersonalProductivityfortheBusyLibrarian 115
JohnC.Gottfried
15 ALibrarian’sTimeManagementToolkit 125
EllieDworak
16 NimbleProjectManagementfortheTimeandBudget
Challenged 135
ErinWhite
17 ANovelApproachtoProjectManagement:SevenLessons
fromNaNoWriMo 141
KarenMunro
18 TimeManagementforBusyAcademicLibrarians:
StrategiesforSuccess 149
WilliamH.WeareJr.
V:GettingOrganized 159
19 AvoidingInformationOverload 161
MeredithSelfon
20 ForEveryLibrarianaTo-DoList 167
SarahTroy
21 OptimizeSmallLibraryEfficiencywithDailyRoutinesand
OrganizationalStrategies 177
StephanieSweeney
22 ThePowerofLists 187
MeredithSelfon
23 TameYourE-mail 191
ErinWhite
VI:UsingTechnology 197
24 Let’sNotMeet:MakingtheMostofTimewith
AsynchronousCollaboration 199
Jolanda-PietavanArnhemandJerryM.Spiller
Contents v
25 MakingMemoryPortable 209
SanjeetMann
26 SocialMediaasTimeDrain:TheMythofEfficiency 215
JenniferNardine
VII:Work–LifeBalance 225
27 ManagingProfessionalandFamilyCommitments 227
LibbyGorman
28 TimeManagement,ReducingStress,andGetting
Organized 235
LindaBurkeyWade
29 WorkingfromHome,orHowtoGetItAllDonewithout
GoingCrazy 245
ElizabethNelson
30 WhatPersonalLife? 251
PamelaO’Sullivan
VIII:ProfessionalDevelopment 255
31 GettingThingsDoneintheLibrary 257
SanjeetMann
32 TheHighRoadorEasyStreet?SavingTimebyPicking
YourBattles 263
KelliHinesandDeborahFarber
33 WhenDoIHaveTimetoBeProfessionallyActive? 271
RobinFay
Index 279
AbouttheCoeditorsandForewordAuthor 287
AbouttheContributors 289

Acknowledgments
Carol Luers Eyman, outreach and community services coordinator,
NashuaPublicLibrary,Nashua,NewHampshire
Jeffrey A. Franks, associate professor and head of reference at Bierce
Library,UniversityofAkron,Ohio
Larry Grieco, library director, Gilpin County Public Library, Black
Hawk,Colorado
ElizabethJ.Hylen,contributor,BringingVisual,Literary,andPerforming
ArtsintotheLibrary(ALAEditions,2013)
Rita Marsales, cataloger, Menil Foundation Library, Houston, Texas;
AmericanLibrariescontributor
JackMontgomery,professor/librarian,WesternKentuckyUniversity
Heather Payne, corporate liaison to the libraries, City College, Fort
Lauderdale,Florida
Geoffrey P. Timms, electronic resources and web services librarian,
MercerUniversity,Macon,Georgia
vii

Foreword
Time and Project Management Strategies for Librarians focuses on solutions
to the key challenge for the twenty-first-century librarian: doing more
with less. The thirty-three essays provide valuable tips, from the macro-
level of management strategies for the entire library to the microlevel of
thelibrarianwhohasdifficultycopingwithincreasingdemands.Dealing
with cuts at the library level requires doing the right thing in the most
effectiveway.Librariansshouldidentifythemostimportanttasksforthe
library, eliminate nonessential functions and processes (Schmidt), stop
striving for absolute accuracy, optimize daily routines (O’Sullivan and
Sweeny), and schedule staff effectively (Lannon/Holder). Libraries
should also rely more on less expensive or free staff, including volun-
teers, interns (McIntyre and Kapraun/Sheppard), and students (Decker
and Kapraun/Sheppard). Case studies include reorganizing circulation
(Wells) and reference (Wesley). History buffs will appreciate the ex-
tendedmetaphorofthelibraryasafeudalsociety(Owen).
Some principles apply to both the library and individual librarians.
Buildingoncorecompetenciesisagoodstrategyforboth(Dale/Kellam).
Projectandtimemanagementskillsareneededtoavoidoverload.Project
management focuses on successfully completing special tasks for both
thelibrary(Shomberg/Sizemore)andtheindividual(White).Inoneofthe
most original essays, Munro presents lessons from the National Novel
Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), in which each author’s goal is to write
fiftythousandwordsinthirtydays.Thetwoessaysontimemanagement
dealwithtools(Dworak)andfindingtimetowrite(Weare).Pickingyour
battlesbyselectingonlythosethatcanbewonandareworththeeffortto
fight is another way to avoid dissipating energies (Hines/Farber). Gott-
fried puts it all together with practical advice on personal productivity
throughsettingandmeetinggoals.
Lists are one of the more important ways to get organized (Troy and
Selfon), whether written on the back of an envelope or created with the
latest Web tools. Technology has created new challenges as librarians
mustcopewithinformationoverload(Selfon),e-mail(White),andsocial
media (Fay). Libraries that adopt social media face the risk of having
TwitterandFacebookbecomeatimedrain(Nardine).
Technology offers solutions. Librarians can save time by using asyn-
chronous collaboration to complete library tasks more effectively and
avoid time-intensive meetings (van Arnhem/Spiller). Similarly, working
ix