LIBR 282-06
LIBR 282-15
Seminar in Library Management: Project Management
Spring 2013 Greensheet

Dr. Michelle Chen
E-mail
Office Hours: Virtually, by appointment via e-mail or Blackboard IM. Blackboard Collaborate optional drop-in office hours will also be held as needed. More details TBA on the D2L course website.


Greensheet Links
Textbooks
SLOs
Competencies
Prerequisites
Resources
D2L Login and Tutorials
iSchool eBookstore
 

D2L Information: This course will be available beginning Wednesday, January 23rd, 12AM PST. You will be enrolled into the site automatically.

Course Description

LIBR 282 courses discuss applications of management theory to specific problems, including readings and discussions of the development of effective strategies for planning and implementing organizational change. Specific content of the course changes each time it is offered. Examples of topics studied include: Advocacy, Conflict Management, Digital Assets Management, Financial Management, Human Resources Management, Project Management, Leadership, Managing Information Technology, Grant Writing.

This section focuses on project management. Whether you plan to manage websites, design K-12 instructions, organize services in a library, develop systems, or lead an information center, you will likely find yourself needing to work with time and budget constraints. However, "many projects fail to deliver on time and within budget, and often poor project management is to blame" (Wysocki 2011). Therefore, learning how to avoid the pitfalls and manage your projects successfully is important for future professionals, no matter what your career goals, and this is the objective of this course.

In this course, we will examine project management roles and environments, the main project management process groups, the project management life cycle, the major project management techniques including traditional, agile, and extreme, project management approaches and tools, and how to control and evaluate these approaches effectively to achieve better outcomes strategically. Project management specifically applied to the library domain will also be discussed.

Students will be expected to participate in class, join case discussions, and work for projects. Upon completing this course, students will be able to learn practical project management concepts, tools and skills and become a more competent professional.

Course Requirements

Assignments

  • Participation and Discussions (45%, supports SLO#1SLO#2SLO#3SLO#4, SLO#5)
    Students are required to actively participate in class, make thoughtful contributions to class discussions, and complete activities as posted on the course website. Students will be evaluated for the involvement in and intellectual contribution to the collaborative learning environment.
  • Homework Assignments (30%, supports SLO#1SLO#2SLO#3SLO#4)
    Two individual assignments (equally weighted) will be given throughout the semester to help students review and reinforce what they have learned in class. Assignments contain a mixture of written essays, short answers, and case/article studies.
  • Review Quiz (10%, supports SLO#1SLO#2SLO#3SLO#4)
    One mid-semester quiz will be given in this course to help students understand the course contents better and keep up with the class progress. This open-book quiz will be conducted on the D2L course website during week 8 and consist of multiple choice questions and/or short answers. More details will be announced on D2L. 
  • Semester Project (15%, supports SLO#5)
    Students are expected to work in groups (created in week 4) on a semester project where project management skills and knowledge will be demonstrated and deliver an asynchronous presentation via Collaborate in the final class week (i.e., week 16). Students will have two options:
    • Choose a project management pitfall from their real-life experience and relate what we learned in class. Study and present what project management skills can be used to improve the tasks; or
    • Use the project I provide with where the project planning elements and problems are explicit and clearly defined. Study and present what project management skills can be used to improve the tasks.
      (More details will be announced on D2L.) 

Course Calendar (subject to change with fair notice)

Weeks Topics and Due Dates
Week 1
Jan 23-27
Introduction to Project Management
Week 2
Jan 28 - Feb 3
The Project Management Process Groups
Week 3
Feb 4-10
Project Planning
Discussion #1 Due Feb 10
Week 4
Feb 11-17
Project Planning (cont.)
Week 5
Feb 18-24
HBR Case Study: "American Constructors Inc.:
World Outreach Expansion Project"
Week 6
Feb 25 - Mar 3
Traditional Project Management
Discussion #2 and HW #1 Due Mar 3
Week 7
Mar 4-10
Continuous Process Improvement
Week 8
Mar 11-17
Review Quiz
Week 9
Mar 18-24
Risk Management
Week 10
Mar 25-31
Spring Break - No Class
Week 11
Apr 1-7
Guest Speaker: Agile Project Management in Practice
HW #2 Due Apr 7 
Week 12
Apr 8-14
Research Article Study: "Project Portfolio Management for
Academic Libraries", College and Research Libraries
Week 13
Apr 15-21
Extreme Project Management
Discussion #3 Due Apr 21
Week 14
Apr 22-28
Managing Complexity and Uncertainty
Week 15
Apr 29 - May 5
Project Management in Libraries
Week 16
May 6-12
Semester Project Presentations (asynchronous)

Grading

Deliverables Weights
Participation and Discussions 45%
Homework Assignments 30%
Review Quiz 10%
Semester Project 15%

All assignments must be submitted by 11:59PM (PST) on the day the assignment is due. Late assignments will be reduced by 20% of point value per day late. Please contact Dr. Chen if a medical or a family/personal emergency prevents you from submitting an assignment on time.

Course Workload Expectations

Success in this course is based on the expectation that students will spend, for each unit of credit, a minimum of forty-five hours over the length of the course (normally 3 hours per unit per week with 1 of the hours used for lecture) for instruction or preparation/studying or course related activities including but not limited to internships, labs, clinical practica. Other course structures will have equivalent workload expectations as described in the syllabus.

Instructional time may include but is not limited to:
Working on posted modules or lessons prepared by the instructor; discussion forum interactions with the instructor and/or other students; making presentations and getting feedback from the instructor; attending office hours or other synchronous sessions with the instructor.

Student time outside of class:
In any seven-day period, a student is expected to be academically engaged through submitting an academic assignment; taking an exam or an interactive tutorial, or computer-assisted instruction; building websites, blogs, databases, social media presentations; attending a study group;contributing to an academic online discussion; writing papers; reading articles; conducting research; engaging in small group work.

Course Prerequisites

LIBR 200, LIBR 204

Student Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion of the course, students will be able to:

  1. Describe the grant-seeking process.
  2. Conduct research to locate sources of grant funding, analyze grantmaker guidelines, and assess whether potential funding sources match an organization and a specific project.
  3. Describe funder perspectives and know how to communicate effectively with prospective grantmakers.
  4. Write persuasive material that clearly articulates purpose, responds to the needs of an audience, uses the appropriate voice and tone, and builds stakeholder support.
  5. Analyze an organization's grant-seeking practices, identify areas of potential improvement, and prioritize grant-seeking opportunities.
  6. Assess specific library needs and future service development, identifying appropriate projects for grant funding.
  7. Develop a competitive grant proposal, including budgets, implementation plans, and evaluation criteria.
  8. Discuss social information tools from an overarching and strategic perspective, and explain how they fit into competitive and other intelligence work.
  9. Use social tools for information collection and supplementing of traditional competitive intelligence tools.
  10. Use social tools from a competitive intelligence standpoint, and understand the specific implementations of these tools.
  11. Describe how competitive intelligence communities are using these tools for professional purposes.
  12. Demonstrate the ability to conduct competitive work using social tools.

Core Competencies (Program Learning Outcomes)

LIBR 282 supports the following core competencies:

  1. D Apply the fundamental principles of planning, management, marketing, and advocacy.
  2. E Design, query and evaluate information retrieval systems.
  3. H Demonstrate proficiency in identifying, using, and evaluating current and emerging information and communication technologies.
  4. I Use service concepts, principles, and techniques to connect individuals or groups with accurate, relevant, and appropriate information.
  5. N Evaluate programs and services based on measurable criteria.

Textbooks

Required Textbooks:

  • Wysocki, R. K. (2011). Effective project management: Traditional, agile, extreme. John Wiley & Sons. Available through Amazon: 111801619Xarrow gif indicating link outside sjsu domain

Grading Scale

The standard SJSU School of Information Grading Scale is utilized for all iSchool courses:

97 to 100 A
94 to 96 A minus
91 to 93 B plus
88 to 90 B
85 to 87 B minus
82 to 84 C plus
79 to 81 C
76 to 78 C minus
73 to 75 D plus
70 to 72 D
67 to 69 D minus
Below 67 F

 

In order to provide consistent guidelines for assessment for graduate level work in the School, these terms are applied to letter grades:

  • C represents Adequate work; a grade of "C" counts for credit for the course;
  • B represents Good work; a grade of "B" clearly meets the standards for graduate level work;
    For core courses in the MLIS program (not MARA) — INFO 200, INFO 202, INFO 204 — the iSchool requires that students earn a B in the course. If the grade is less than B (B- or lower) after the first attempt you will be placed on administrative probation.  You must repeat the class the following semester. If -on the second attempt- you do not pass the class with a grade of B or better (not B- but B) you will be disqualified.
  • A represents Exceptional work; a grade of "A" will be assigned for outstanding work only.

Students are advised that it is their responsibility to maintain a 3.0 Grade Point Average (GPA).

University Policies

General Expectations, Rights and Responsibilities of the Student

As members of the academic community, students accept both the rights and responsibilities incumbent upon all members of the institution. Students are encouraged to familiarize themselves with SJSU's policies and practices pertaining to the procedures to follow if and when questions or concerns about a class arises. See University Policy S90-5 at http://www.sjsu.edu/senate/docs/S90-5.pdf. More detailed information on a variety of related topics is available in the SJSU catalog at http://info.sjsu.edu/web-dbgen/catalog/departments/LIS.html. In general, it is recommended that students begin by seeking clarification or discussing concerns with their instructor. If such conversation is not possible, or if it does not serve to address the issue, it is recommended that the student contact the Department Chair as a next step.

Dropping and Adding

Students are responsible for understanding the policies and procedures about add/drop, grade forgiveness, etc. Refer to the current semester's Catalog Policies section at http://info.sjsu.edu/static/catalog/policies.html. Add/drop deadlines can be found on the current academic year calendars document on the Academic Calendars webpage at http://www.sjsu.edu/provost/services/academic_calendars/. The Late Drop Policy is available at http://www.sjsu.edu/aars/policies/latedrops/policy/. Students should be aware of the current deadlines and penalties for dropping classes.

Information about the latest changes and news is available at the Advising Hub at http://www.sjsu.edu/advising/.

Consent for Recording of Class and Public Sharing of Instructor Material

University Policy S12-7, http://www.sjsu.edu/senate/docs/S12-7.pdf, requires students to obtain instructor's permission to record the course and the following items to be included in the syllabus:

  • "Common courtesy and professional behavior dictate that you notify someone when you are recording him/her. You must obtain the instructor's permission to make audio or video recordings in this class. Such permission allows the recordings to be used for your private, study purposes only. The recordings are the intellectual property of the instructor; you have not been given any rights to reproduce or distribute the material."
    • It is suggested that the syllabus include the instructor's process for granting permission, whether in writing or orally and whether for the whole semester or on a class by class basis.
    • In classes where active participation of students or guests may be on the recording, permission of those students or guests should be obtained as well.
  • "Course material developed by the instructor is the intellectual property of the instructor and cannot be shared publicly without his/her approval. You may not publicly share or upload instructor generated material for this course such as exam questions, lecture notes, or homework solutions without instructor consent."

Academic integrity

Your commitment, as a student, to learning is evidenced by your enrollment at San Jose State University. The University Academic Integrity Policy F15-7 at http://www.sjsu.edu/senate/docs/F15-7.pdf requires you to be honest in all your academic course work. Faculty members are required to report all infractions to the office of Student Conduct and Ethical Development. The Student Conduct and Ethical Development website is available at http://www.sjsu.edu/studentconduct/.

Campus Policy in Compliance with the American Disabilities Act

If you need course adaptations or accommodations because of a disability, or if you need to make special arrangements in case the building must be evacuated, please make an appointment with me as soon as possible, or see me during office hours. Presidential Directive 97-03 at http://www.sjsu.edu/president/docs/directives/PD_1997-03.pdf requires that students with disabilities requesting accommodations must register with the Accessible Education Center (AEC) at http://www.sjsu.edu/aec to establish a record of their disability.

icon showing link leads to the PDF file viewer known as Acrobat Reader Download Adobe Acrobat Reader to access PDF files.

More accessibility resources.