The LIS Project Directory initiative is underway! For those who may have missed the brief introduction at the May 21st All LIS staff meeting, one of the primary goals of this effort is to gather information about projects that LIS is (or will be) involved in, and to make this information available to members of our community. The expectation is that the LIS Project Directory will help raise awareness about the diverse and exciting work that we do in support of the College’s mission and help inform our planning efforts.

Starting this week, a familiar representative from each area will begin connecting with workgroup leaders, team leaders, and project managers to collect a basic set of information about each project that LIS is involved in. Ron McKinnon, Joseph Watson, Dan Frostman, and Bryan Carson will be reaching out to their respective areas to gather this data and also to ensure that we are collecting the right information about projects. Once the collection effort has concluded, the LIS Administration will review all of the projects for inclusion in a web-based LIS Project Directory.

Several people have asked for clarification about what should be considered a  “project”. For the purposes of this initiative, a project is currently considered to be a one-time, multi-task endeavor that has a specific scope of work, a beginning and an end, and concludes with a deliverable result. Some projects may require planning or involve the efforts of multiple people, others may require sponsorship or even budget approval. It is important to note that daily work activities and related responsibilities are not currently considered projects.

So, be on the lookout for these “project scouts” as they begin to visit workgroups to find out what we have going on! If you have questions about this initiative, please feel free to contact me at x5480 or cnorris@middlebury.edu.

– Chris