Project Management and Institutional Collaboration in Libraries

As most libraries in the United States struggle with declining financial support, combined with the ever-increasing need to incorporate new technology into services and the profusion of resources that are available, inter-institutional cooperation is becoming more common. Planning and implementing new projects in libraries is better carried out if the project is formally managed from the beginning to ensure an orderly and efficient completion to the project. Two institutions have developed new services that they sought to expand to other institutions. Though neither project set out to use project-management techniques, the development of the new services illustrates their practical use.