Area 51 notes, Nov. 4, 2010

Present: Danna, Terry, Mike R, Mike L, Carol, Mary, Shel, Chris

Guests: Ian McBride, Andy Wentink

We talked briefly about the Student Financial Services e-Billing project.  Danna is concerned about the deadline, and feels like better coordination and communication with the functional group is needed. (See notes about project management below!)

Mike informed us that the SRC would like the music move completed by June 1 to accommodate completion of MCFA renovations by Sept. 1.  Terry indicated this would be very difficult to accomplish, and may entail shifting of library materials and possibly shelving installation during the busy time at the end of the spring semester.  Mike will ask the Space Team to look at the feasibility of this as well.

There will be a Christmas party for LIS staff at 51 Main on Dec. 21.  Mike will seek permission to close the library ca. 4:00PM.

Mary Backus and Mike Roy are going to prepare a “case study” on how planning for the boat project has proceeded, including a discussion of whether or not it is actually a project (See below!).

Ian McBride and Andy Wentink from the Project Cabal discussed their findings and recommendations.  There was considerable discussion about project tools, the project directory, how projects are currently managed within LIS, etc.  It became clear from the report and discussion that we need to develop a clear strategy for managing projects, not simply select a project management tool.  Other aspects we discussed included:

*Creation of an inventory of how projects arrive in LIS
*A monthly report of new projects
*Solidifying the project directory workflow
*Clear definition of projects

The ADs will use a portion of the November retreat to discussion the issue more thoroughly and will then let the group know how we’d like to proceed.

We finished with a brief discussion about the best way forward with the learning management system comparison that the Curricular Technology Team is undertaking.