This is Part 1 of a two-part webinar produced by the Coalition to Advance Learning in Archives, Libraries, and Museums. To register for both parts, go to the 'Register to Attend' button at right.

Join your colleagues from archives, libraries and museums for a two-part, interactive learning webinar that will introduce the fundamentals of project management: planning a project. All of our fields struggle with unstable budgets and dynamic technology, so learning to think and act in terms of projects is critical—it can be the difference between turning an idea into a successful, resourced initiative or not. Led by representatives from the Institute of Museum and Library Services, the webinars will focus on the key elements of a project plan: the idea, the audiences, funding options, a work plan, an evaluation, and more. We will also discuss how to critically examine your project ideas, asking, Is it fundable? Valuable? Sustainable? And if not, what could you do differently? While learning these fundamentals, you will also benefit from the insights and experiences shared by your fellow participants from across archives, library, and museum institutions.

How Will I Benefit?

After participating in this two-part webinar, attendees will be better able to articulate:

• Why project management is a critical skill
• What it takes to turn an idea into a fundable project
• Where to learn more about project management
• How to evaluate staff and institutional capacities to manage a project

Who Should Attend

This topic is relevant to all organizational roles: you may be currently managing or soon will be managing a project, or you may be a contributor to a current or future project.  

Presenters and Moderators

• Robert Horton, Associate deputy director, IMLS
• Sarah Fuller, Program specialist, IMLS

Key Elements of a Project Plan

This session will describe how careful planning leads to more successful projects. We will cover how to develop an idea, define your audience, look at funding options, do an environmental scan, assess your resource capacity and needs, and develop a project scope and schedule for implementation. Attendees will be invited to use the two weeks between webinars to outline a project idea based on these key principles. Submitted project plans will be reviewed by webinar moderators with individual feedback provided for each submission.

Access Recording

• View Video Recording (on YouTube)
• View Webinar Recording (To receive a certificate for viewing recording, you will be prompted to log in to our free Course Catalog.)

Webinar Attachments

• View slides (pdf)
  
• View chat (xls)
• Worksheet: Articulating the Idea (doc)
• Worksheet: Identifying Audiences and Key Constituencies (doc)

Related Resources and Links

• Project Management Learning Needs - identified by webinar registrants
  
• Project Management Resources and Learning
• Shared in chat:
  • Thesaurus for Use in College and University Archives

See also, Part 2: Evaluating Your Project Plan

In this highly interactive second session, we will use sample project ideas and case studies to look at how we can assess the strength of a project plan before it is implemented. We will also discuss other project management resources and where to learn more about the topic.

About the Coalition to Advance Learning in Archives, Libraries and Museums

This is the inaugural project from the Coalition to Advance Learning in Archives, Libraries and Museums, which is supported by grants from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Institute of Museum and Library Services. The purpose of the Coalition is to work in deliberate coordination across organizational boundaries to devise and strengthen sustainable continuing education and professional development (CE/PD) programs that will transform the library, archives, and museum workforce in ways that lead to measurable impact on our nation’s communities.