Developing and Managing Digital Projects October 1718, 2002 WiLS and the Department of Public Instru

1
Developing and Managing Digital ProjectsOctober
17-18, 2002 WiLS and the Department of Public
Instruction
2
Collaboration and Digital Initiatives Promise,
Processes and Probabilities for Success

A Review of the Literature
Lee Konrad Digital Content Group University of
Wisconsin-Madison Libraries Lkonrad_at_library.wisc.e
du http//uwdcc.library.wisc.edu
3
Case Studies Deviating from the Script
Script Lee Konrad from UW Madison Libraries
will highlight specific case studies of projects
the UW-Madison has been involved in, including
their role in hosting project materials on their
server. As part of the presentation, Lee will
talk about collaboration and how to work with a
group of stakeholders to create a successful
project. Why Deviate? - striking similarities
across projects regardless of scale - early
projects not fair assessments of collaborative
process - success is ultimately user-defined,
lofty though that may sound - collaboration as a
topic can convey the lessons learned
4
(No Transcript)
5
Collaboration Theory and Practice for Digital
Librarians

• The Digital Librarian as Social Scientist
• Observation
• Vocabulary
• Models
• Programming in C (collaboration)
• Logic (recognizing the need to use it)
• Dream states (visions, realizations and other
  scary stuff)

http//dummies.com/collabtheorprac.html
6
Vocab The Cool Digital Project - Envisioned

• This is your project before it begins, the stage
  during which you evaluate its promise with little
  regard for probability for success and even less
  regard for processes.
• Note this is as it should be

7
Vocab The Cool Digital Project Collaborative
Process

• This is your project as it moves from inception
  to completion. During this stage you continually
  evaluate its promise and resist the notion that
  probability for success is correlated with the
  collaborative process.
• Note this is not as it should be
• Collaboration is a process and while it implies
  team decision-making, it is to be considered a
  process and needs to be managed as such.
• Note this is as it should be

8
Vocab The Cool Digital Project Realized

• This is your project after it moves into
  production and is actively being used by the
  public. During this stage you evaluate its
  promise and consider the notion that process may
  well be equated with probability for success.
• Note this is as it should be

9
Collaborative Models A Primer

• As social scientists, librarians would be remiss
  if they failed to develop collaborative models
  with which to test their assumptions about the
  promise, processes and probabilities for building
  successful digital projects.
• Note if poor research design makes you queasy,
  you are advised to skip this section of the
  chapter.

10
Model 1 Working in a Vacuum the Path of Least
Resistance

• Background reading
• Can the Vacuum be Engineered for Digital Library
  Applications?
• Abstract Quantum theory predicts, and
  experiments verify, that empty space (the
  vacuum/vision) contains an enormous residual
  background energy known as zero-point energy
  (anti-collaboration). Originally thought to be of
  significance only for such esoteric concerns as
  small perturbations to atomic emission processes
  (digitization), it is now known to play a role in
  large-scale phenomena of interest to librarians
  as well, such as the inhibition of discourse, the
  generation of short-range attractive forces
  (e.g., revenue streams), and the possibility of
  accounting for success.

11
Model 2 Working with a Library Committee

• Background readings
• The Structure of Strongly Monotonic Probabilistic
  Voting Procedures. by Nandeibam, S.
  (RePEcfthbirmec98-07)
• Excerpt Pattanaik and Peleg showed that the
  power structure under a probabilistic voting
  procedure which satisfies project goals,
  optimally and independent of irrelevant
  alternatives, is almost completely characterized
  by random dictatorship. The authors propose a
  new probabilistic monotonicity axiom called
  strong monotonicity and show that, if the
  probabilistic voting procedure is required to
  satisfy this new axiom along with the project
  goals, then the distribution of coalitional power
  under it is completely characterized by random
  dictatorship.

12
Model 3 Collaborating with Multiple Library
Committees

• Recommended Readings
• Political Support for Targeted versus
  Institutional Priorities
• Social Choice with Infinite Populations
  Construction of a Rule and Impossibility Results.
• Distributive and Additive Costsharing of an
  Homogeneous Good
• The Geometry of Implementation A Necessary and
  Sufficient Condition for Straightforward Games
• Social Decision Rules Are Not Immune to Conflict
• A Multiplication of Solution Concepts
• An Exploration into the Social Evolution of
  Adaptive and Rigid Behavior
• Preferences Over Education Expenditure
• Consequences, Opportunities, and Procedures
• Self-Control in peer Groups
• Competing for Endorsements
• Computing Power Indices for Large Voting Games A
  New Algorithm
• Show Them Your Teeth First
• Required Reading
• Beyond Altruism, Duty or Collusion. Introducting
  Solidarity into Digital Project Management
• Coalitional Provision of Pure Collective Goods

13
All Kidding Aside

• Collaboration is a process and needs to be
  managed as such
• At the outset of the project, little information
  is known or understood by team members
• Successful collaborative projects require
  continual assessment and documentation of what
  is known and/or changing

14
Selected Digital Collaborations
15
Envisioned v. Realized Programming Logic for
Digital Collaborations

• Sum(known variables) Sum(unknown variables)
  final_product
• If sum(known variables) gt sum(unknown variables)
  then final_product gt envisioned
• If sum(unknown variables) gt sum(known variables)
  then final_product lt envisioned
• final_product user_experience lt gt envisioned

16
Flowcharting the Digital Collaborative Process

Project Envisioned
Project Realized
17
Variables in Collaboration

Project Envisioned

Initialize Project Collaboration Set Variables
5WH unknown
Content Rights Funding Required
expertise Delivery models Stakeholder
expectations (everybodys!)
Project Realized
18
Clarification Through Project Phases

Project Envisioned
Initialize Project Collaboration Set Variables
5WH unknown
Clarification All Phases
Known
Unknown
Pre-proposalProposal development and
assessmentReformattingInfrastructure
DevelopmentEncodingMetadata Quality
ControlTesting
Project Realized
19
The final_product of our collaboration

Project Envisioned
Initialize Project Collaboration Set Variables
5WH unknown
Clarification All Phases
Unknown
Known
final_product
Sum(known unknown)
Project Realized
20
The End User The Ultimate Unknown Variable
Project Envisioned
Initialize Project Collaboration Set Variables
5WH unknown
Clarification All Phases
Unknown
Known
final_product
User
Unknown
Known
Project Realized
21
The Project Realized
Sum(Final_product user)
Project Envisioned
Initialize Project Collaboration Set Variables
5WH unknown
Clarification All Phases
Unknown
Known
final_product
User
Unknown
Known
Project Realized
22
Tips for Successful Collaborations

• Document everything that is known early on and
  share broadly
• During all phases, continue to refine and revise
  documentation in attempts to make more about the
  project known to all
• Promote notion that collaboration is a
  time-intensive process
• Promote notion that garbage in equals garbage out
  collaboration can save time!
• Seriously consider the possibility that
  perfection and excellence are very different
  notions
• Consider the notion that even though a given
  project may never become what you as a
  collaborator hoped it to be, the user ultimately
  defines the success of the project in terms of
  how s/he applies it in the teaching, research or
  discovery process
• Sum(final_product user) lt gt project as
  envisioned

23
Project Realized
24
Initialize Project Collaboration
Set Variables 5WH Unknown
25
Clarification All Phases
Unknown
Known
26
Final_Product
27
USER
28
Project Realized