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Project Management Skills: A Literature
Review and Content Analysis of
Librarian Position Announcements
Jane Kinkus
Project management is pervasive in the literature and practice of many
industries, including finance, IT, engineering, and biotechnology. The
recent rapid proliferation of complex library services such as virtual
reference and digital repositories suggests that the role of librarians is
becoming increasingly project-oriented.This article presents an overview
of professional project management and a literature review from the
library science and management literatures. A content analysis of librarian position announcements was conducted, and indicates that project
management skills are in demand for librarians. However, it is unclear
whether current library science literature and education adequately address project management skills or other traditionally “extra-librarian”
leadership qualities now needed to effectively manage project based
initiatives in libraries.

re project management skills
in demand for librarians?
Winston and Hoffman observe that the coverage of project management techniques in libraries
has been scant,1 although the term “project
management” can be found increasingly
frequently in the literature of library science. For example, a search for articles
from 2005 in the Wilson Library Literature
and Information Science database returned 23 articles with the term “project
management” in the subject field, over
half of which were peer-reviewed. Articles
with titles like “Project Management and
Libraries,” “Managing Your Library’s
Technology Projects,” “Pace’s Maxims for
Homegrown Library Projects,” and “Un-

der Budget, on Time, and in Sync: How to
Stage Successful Rollouts,” indicate that
librarians are interested in what project
management is and how to do it. Library
involvement with project management
is also supported by the Association of
Research Libraries’Office of Management
and Leadership...