Web Project Management for Academic Libraries

291 Pages·2010·5.882 MB·English

by  Jody Condit Fagan and Jennifer Keach (Auth.)

Web Project Management for Academic
Libraries
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Web Project Management
for Academic Libraries
J C F
ODY ONDIT AGAN
AND
J A. K
ENNIFER EACH
Chandos Publishing
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Chandos Publishing is an imprint of Woodhead Publishing Limited
Woodhead Publishing Limited
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www.woodheadpublishing.com
First published in 2009
ISBN:
978 1 84334 503 9
© J.C.Fagan and J.A.Keach,2009
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List of figures and tables
Figures
2.1 Job titles of those responsible for all or most web projects 6
2.2 Amount of time spent managing web projects (n=87) 8
2.3 Hybrid job titles of those managing all or most web
projects 9
2.4 Academic degrees relevant to the web project manager 17
2.5 Selected project management certifications 18
2.6 Skill areas for project management 21
4.1 Examples of tasks and projects 48
4.2 Excerpt of library website goals from James Madison
University Libraries 50
4.3 Example project overview 56
5.1 Friedlein’s roles and responsibilities 65
5.2 Academic library web project team roles and
responsibilities 65
5.3 Decision-making tips for creating your team 77
6.1 The Keirsey temperaments 88
7.1 Example overview timeline 99
9.1 Example persona 140
9.2 Excerpt from an intranet page 153
10.1 WCAG 2.0 at a Glance 161
10.2 Excerpt from an overall style guide including accessibility
decisions 162
10.3 Example of a use-case scenario using a storyboard 166
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Web Project Management for Academic Libraries
10.4 Example of a wireframe mockup 166
10.5 Excerpt of a design style guide 169
11.1 Comparison of turnkey, open source, freely hosted, and
homegrown applications 176
11.2 Excerpt from a technical style guide 178
11.3 Example of an application flow diagram for a typical
login form 180
11.4 A simple web form: login_entry.aspx 181
11.5 Programming specifications for ‘login_entry.aspx’ 181
11.6 A one-to-one relationship 183
11.7 A one-to-many relationship 184
11.8 A many-to-many relationship 184
11.9 Examples of simple entity-relationship diagrams 184
12.1 Example of a simple, hand-drawn site map 201
12.2 Portion of a content inventory 202
12.3 Excerpt from a content style guide on writing 204
12.4 A model for chunking information 212
12.5 Example of a chunked text 212
13.1 Concept map WBS (created in Microsoft Word) 222
13.2 Outline WBS (created in Microsoft Word) 223
13.3 Example Gantt chart (created in Microsoft Project) 235
13.4 Documenting a schedule using a spreadsheet 240
14.1 Thank-you postcard (created with Wordle,
http://www.wordle.net/) 257
14.2 Example evaluation questions (created with Google
Documents) 260
Tables
2.1 Grouped responsibilities of those who manage all or
most web projects 7
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List of figures and tables
2.2 Departments where web project managers work 11
3.1 Challenges to successful project management in the
academic library 39
5.1 Combinations of teams working on web projects in
academic libraries 63
5.2 Scope of standing web committees 63
9.1 Survey of 100 people, with 90% response rate 142
9.2 Survey of 100 people, with 30% response rate 142
13.1 How often project management techniques are used in
academic libraries 220
13.2 How often project management tools are used across all
industries 220
13.3 Example of optimistic, realistic, and pessimistic estimates 230
13.4 Example of calculating estimates 231
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About the authors
Jody Condit Fagan, MLS, MA, currently serves as Content Interfaces
Coordinator and Associate Professor at James Madison University
Libraries & Educational Technologies. In this role she leads initiatives to
improve user access to collections across library systems such as the
library catalog, database and journal portals, and link resolvers, and also
coordinates usability testing efforts. She previously worked on web
projects as a librarian at Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, where
she also obtained a Masters degree in history. At both JMU and SIUC,
her positions have also included reference, instruction, and collection
development responsibilities. She is a proud graduate of the College of
Information Studies at the University of Maryland, College Park.
Jody is currently the editor of the Journal of Web Librarianship and
Chair of the American Library Association Poster Sessions Committee.
Her research interests surround user behavior in library web interfaces.
She has recently published articles in Information Technology and
Libraries, Computers in Libraries, and The Charleston Advisor, and has
presented regularly at conferences such as the American Library
Association, the American Society for Information Science and Technology,
Computers in Libraries, and Electronic Resources & Libraries. Additional
information about her extensive publications and presentations can be
found on her website, http://jcf-hp.blogspot.com/.
Jody is a proud aunt of three and enjoys visiting her family in Florida,
Washington, DC, and Southern Illinois. In her spare time, she enjoys
reading, watching the St. Louis Cardinals, and obsessing about her cats.
She currently lives in Broadway, Virginia, with her husband, Bryan
Fagan, a freelance writer and copyeditor.
Jennifer Keach, MLS, is currently Director of Digital Services and
Associate Professor at James Madison University Libraries & Educational
Technologies. In this role, she manages a 12-person department focused
on the library website, staff computing, and public computing. She also
provides library instruction and collection development for the Media
Arts & Design program, and traditional reference service for all subjects.
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Web Project Management for Academic Libraries
Her passions include brainstorming with colleagues to solve their
problems, coordinating the creation of technology solutions, and
organizing information in useful ways. Her research interests include
organizational communication and leadership. She has presented at the
EDUCAUSE Annual Conference and Computers in Libraries. Jennifer
earned her MLS from the University of Alabama in 1994.
Jennifer’s career path includes service both with the public and behind
the scenes, in libraries large and small. In her previous positions at James
Madison University, Bridgewater College, and Hampden-Sydney
College, she coordinated web development and management, research
databases, online reference, collection development, serials, instruction,
and an integrated library system. During most of her 15 years in
libraries, she has also provided reference service. This diversity of
experience encourages her to see web projects from diverse perspectives.
Jennifer is originally from the suburbs of Baltimore, Maryland, and
has made her home in rural Virginia with her husband, Dave Scott, a
high school English teacher. In her spare time, she enjoys international
travel, friendly poker, classic films, her dog Otis, and the great outdoors.
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Acknowledgements
We’d like to thank our colleagues and users at James Madison University
(JMU) for their encouragement and participation in our project
management education. We’d especially like to thank the current and
past members of JMU Libraries’ Digital Services department. We’d also
like to thank Sandy Maxfield, Associate Dean, and Ralph Alberico, Dean
of Libraries and Educational Technologies, for their support.
Additional colleagues who have played a significant role in our project
management education and support include Cheri Duncan and Bill
Hartman, with whom we have worked on many web projects; Brian
Cockburn, who introduced Jennifer to Ashley Friedlein’s book, Web
Project Management; and Lida Larsen, Susan Logue, and Keith
VanCleave, who served as Jody’s first library web mentors.
The following people directly contributed to this book by reading
chapters and serving as consultants: Greg Brown, Lydia Dixon, Greg
Spitzer, and Stefanie Warlick. We’d also like to thank Elizabeth Kline for
her indefatigable editorial assistance.
Finally, thanks go to our husbands, Bryan Fagan and Dave Scott, for
their encouragement, advice, and patience while we wrote this book (and
during all other times, too).
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