Introduction

It is likely that one of the first things you do in a new professional role is to get involved with project management. Perhaps your workplace is running a project your managers would like you to get involved with, or someone has asked you to manage a small-scale project. You might be specifically employed to do project work – there are frequently project-based roles in library and information science (LIS), which may appeal especially to early career professionals. These roles frequently have short-term contracts (of a year or less), and allow you to gain experience in different areas of LIS work. There may also be the chance to turn a project position into a permanent role with your employer. Your project involvement might be:

These projects might be formal or informal, work-based or external. Allan (2004, 6) classifies projects into the following categories:

Whatever the type of project, they will all have certain things in common.

What is a project?

A project is a task, which has the following characteristics:

The success of a project is measured by these characteristics: a successful project is one that is completed on time, within budget, and achieves its goals.

Project work frequently requires you to collaborate across departments and disciplines. While projects might just involve library or archive staff, it is more likely that they will also require the involvement of other departments, such as finance, information technology (IT) and human resources. The ability to liaise with staff from different departments is a core skill required for project work.

Although projects can be large and complex, they can also be small-scale and relatively simple.