Here's a roundup of my best blog posts on Research Methods. I love learning and teaching these tips to make people into better scholars and writers.
Enhance Your LIS Career
The past several years for me have been quite a journey. I started my own consulting business, wrote a few books, started teaching at universities, worked with a number of clients, and expanded my professional network substantially. I also shared some of the lessons I learned from working as a self-employed archivist. Here are some of the most popular posts on my career advice.
How to Master Archival Projects
I've compiled some of my best post posts on archival management. I love being a consultant who can help organizations fund, set up, or expand their archives programs. Interested in learning more about what I do? Check out my services.
How to Manage Archival Project Risks and Assumptions
As you plan your archival project, analyze its risks and their impacts. Assessing and proactively mitigating risks guards against problems. Projects also have assumptions that should be explored before executing the project.
Risk refers to circumstances existing outside your control that impact the project. Successful projects ensue when your team addresses problems before they occur. They may not foretell all difficulties, and unlikely obstacles may still arise. Reactive project managers resolve issues when they happen, but proactive project managers determine issues beforehand.
What Makes a Successful Archival Project?
Success criteria specify how the project is executed. Archival projects have universal success criteria that include finishing the project on schedule, keeping costs within budget, and meeting the goals that have been agreed upon by the project stakeholders and team—but that’s not all. Additionally, deliverables and objectives are sometimes referred to as critical success factors.
Modifying Schedules for Archival Projects
By their nature, all archival projects have elements of uncertainty. Obstacles, some inevitable, can cause missed deadlines, cost overruns, and poor performance. Archivists must expect problems and re-plan activities and shift resources as unforeseen challenges occur. Modifying the schedule is one way to solve problems related to project delays.
Following the Critical Path for Archival Projects
Forty Resume Tweaks to Get You an Interview
During your job search, a well-crafted resume is vital. As a representation of yourself, it is the first impression you make on potential employers. Like any piece of writing that has been reviewed multiple times, you tend not to read it after awhile. If you’ve been job seeking without success, looking at your resume with new eyes many land you an interview—and your next library job.
How Procurement Works for Archival Projects
Since archival projects require you to work in new ways, you may not have the necessary equipment or skills internally. For resources beyond your organization, the procurement process includes solicitation, evaluation, selection, contracting, and management.
As part of your procurement, you should include a project procurement plan. You will then have to review and approve the plan, define your selection criteria, identify potential vendors, create a statement of work, and create contract change processes.
Archival Project Scheduling Tips
Plans for archival projects have expressions of how to meet quality, budget, and time expectations. Archivists heading projects should calculate the funds required to deliver the specified products within the proposed timeframe. Archival project managers need to demonstrate that planned activities, number and types of staff, and time frames are all realistic. The project must have a reasonable chance of succeeding in achieving its objectives, especially given its schedule.