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Project LANES
Mismanaging the project consortium
from hell - a cautionary tale
LANES: Librarians Astronomy National
Electronic Service
 3 partners
 Integrated magazine and
subject gateway
 Manager at Avonmouth site
 1 director from each site
 Technical development at
Leafborough site
 Funded for 30 months, pilot
and launch in 18 months
Months 1 to 6: general faffing around
 Project acronym - set up committee to
oversee suggestions for acronym
 Project logo - hired graphic designer at
贈3,600 to come up with appropriate logo
rejected all 18 suggestions
project managers 11 year old son knocks up
LANES logo on his PC
Month 7: Project manager discovers...
 lists of overseas conferences on various
Web sites.
 Hmmm. Just do the one event in Honolulu -
they have an observatory there, bound to
bump into an astronomer at some point
Months 7 to 9: hiring staff
 Interviewed at Avonmouth for a project
assistant, training officer, and end-user liaison
officer
 Some very good candidates applied
however, candidates who got the jobs were:
 friend of manager from library school days
 ex-girlfriend who manager still had a crush
on
 ex-convict cousin of manager (record for
actual bodily harm, breach of the peace)
Public relations disaster no.1 : email
To: <list name deleted>
From: <name deleted>
oh god not again; Ive just got yet another
request for a report from the JISC office - how
the hell are we supposed to do real work
when bombarded with report requests; what
can we fob them off with this time?
Months 10 to 14: getting down to work...
 Many meetings held between Avonmouth and
Clydebank
 Much late night discussion over a pint and
curry on the future of astronomical resource
access
 Manager and directors ignore JISC organised
meetings and development workshops as
they clash with overseas events
 Meanwhiletechnical staff at Leafborough
working furiously to build something
Months 15 to17: the consortium starts to
crack...
 Technical staff not invited to meetings to
discuss technical implementations
 One-way communication (management to
technical staff) regarding tasks and progress
 Technical staff aggrieved at working 65 hour
weeks while manager jaunts around the world
 Month 13 - technical staff headhunted by city
firm paying 3 times wages...
Public relations disaster no.2 : the launch
 Spent 2,000 pounds on hiring celebrity to
launch the system
 Lots of mock-ups and impressive powerpoint
slides...
but no system
 Upon questioning, manager explains that pilot
system ready in a few weeks
Months 19 to 24: getting something
working...
 Budget shot to pieces after launch - cannot
hire good technical staff to finish behind-
schedule pilot
 got undergraduate students to do it as part
of their coursework; dodgy programming
ensues...
 pilot system finished - but works only if:
 you dont add any content
 you dont delete any content
 you dont change any content
Month 25: half-baked pilot system
launched...
 Pilot appears - with all credit, appearance,
accountability going to Avonmouth University
 Clydebank University throw a wobbler (What
about our input?) and pull out of the
consortium - nasty letters sent to the JISC
office
 Party amongst the remaining staff (3) to
celebrate the launch
Month 26: shit, we need an exit strategy,
quick
Chickens coming home to roost
 Manager and directors hadnt kept up with
technical developments (too many trips
elsewhere)...
 LANES worked only on 1999 protocol and
standards technologies
 consequently, cannot find partners to
collaborate with for e.g. interoperability, joint
bids for funding leading edge developments
Public relations disaster no.3 : copyright
 Magazine had an article from another magazine, from
an author who claimed it was his own work
 Magazine also contained an article slandering another
project
LANES hadnt investigated copyright implications
or checked factual accuracy of articles
 Consequence - legal problems...
 and vitriolic slanging match on public mailing list
Month 29 (of 30, remember): evaluation of
pilot
 Team works out evaluation strategy, based on
the use of the system
 Logs of the system are checked
 to find that they have had 43 users in 3
months (of which 41 had only looked at it to
see how slanderous the infamous article was)
Reason: Pilot system launched with no
publicity or dissemination
Month 30: Dubious evaluation
 Project managers family, friends, contact,
students, undergraduates, office cleaners etc.
press - ganged into using the system
 Evaluation of the results indicates that either
the pilot system was bewildering, or the
testers did not have very good knowledge of
astronomy...
Lessons
all of the incidents in this presentation have
happened to various UK digital library
projects. Names have been changed or
omitted because legals.
Lessons to be learned: 1 of 1:
Communication
Take Heart
No matter how badly your VRE project is
doing
- there is always a Lottery funded project
somewhere that is doing worse
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Non-gaming legacy slides: Project LANES (1997)

  • 1. Project LANES Mismanaging the project consortium from hell - a cautionary tale
  • 2. LANES: Librarians Astronomy National Electronic Service 3 partners Integrated magazine and subject gateway Manager at Avonmouth site 1 director from each site Technical development at Leafborough site Funded for 30 months, pilot and launch in 18 months
  • 3. Months 1 to 6: general faffing around Project acronym - set up committee to oversee suggestions for acronym Project logo - hired graphic designer at 贈3,600 to come up with appropriate logo rejected all 18 suggestions project managers 11 year old son knocks up LANES logo on his PC
  • 4. Month 7: Project manager discovers... lists of overseas conferences on various Web sites. Hmmm. Just do the one event in Honolulu - they have an observatory there, bound to bump into an astronomer at some point
  • 5. Months 7 to 9: hiring staff Interviewed at Avonmouth for a project assistant, training officer, and end-user liaison officer Some very good candidates applied however, candidates who got the jobs were: friend of manager from library school days ex-girlfriend who manager still had a crush on ex-convict cousin of manager (record for actual bodily harm, breach of the peace)
  • 6. Public relations disaster no.1 : email To: <list name deleted> From: <name deleted> oh god not again; Ive just got yet another request for a report from the JISC office - how the hell are we supposed to do real work when bombarded with report requests; what can we fob them off with this time?
  • 7. Months 10 to 14: getting down to work... Many meetings held between Avonmouth and Clydebank Much late night discussion over a pint and curry on the future of astronomical resource access Manager and directors ignore JISC organised meetings and development workshops as they clash with overseas events Meanwhiletechnical staff at Leafborough working furiously to build something
  • 8. Months 15 to17: the consortium starts to crack... Technical staff not invited to meetings to discuss technical implementations One-way communication (management to technical staff) regarding tasks and progress Technical staff aggrieved at working 65 hour weeks while manager jaunts around the world Month 13 - technical staff headhunted by city firm paying 3 times wages...
  • 9. Public relations disaster no.2 : the launch Spent 2,000 pounds on hiring celebrity to launch the system Lots of mock-ups and impressive powerpoint slides... but no system Upon questioning, manager explains that pilot system ready in a few weeks
  • 10. Months 19 to 24: getting something working... Budget shot to pieces after launch - cannot hire good technical staff to finish behind- schedule pilot got undergraduate students to do it as part of their coursework; dodgy programming ensues... pilot system finished - but works only if: you dont add any content you dont delete any content you dont change any content
  • 11. Month 25: half-baked pilot system launched... Pilot appears - with all credit, appearance, accountability going to Avonmouth University Clydebank University throw a wobbler (What about our input?) and pull out of the consortium - nasty letters sent to the JISC office Party amongst the remaining staff (3) to celebrate the launch
  • 12. Month 26: shit, we need an exit strategy, quick Chickens coming home to roost Manager and directors hadnt kept up with technical developments (too many trips elsewhere)... LANES worked only on 1999 protocol and standards technologies consequently, cannot find partners to collaborate with for e.g. interoperability, joint bids for funding leading edge developments
  • 13. Public relations disaster no.3 : copyright Magazine had an article from another magazine, from an author who claimed it was his own work Magazine also contained an article slandering another project LANES hadnt investigated copyright implications or checked factual accuracy of articles Consequence - legal problems... and vitriolic slanging match on public mailing list
  • 14. Month 29 (of 30, remember): evaluation of pilot Team works out evaluation strategy, based on the use of the system Logs of the system are checked to find that they have had 43 users in 3 months (of which 41 had only looked at it to see how slanderous the infamous article was) Reason: Pilot system launched with no publicity or dissemination
  • 15. Month 30: Dubious evaluation Project managers family, friends, contact, students, undergraduates, office cleaners etc. press - ganged into using the system Evaluation of the results indicates that either the pilot system was bewildering, or the testers did not have very good knowledge of astronomy...
  • 16. Lessons all of the incidents in this presentation have happened to various UK digital library projects. Names have been changed or omitted because legals. Lessons to be learned: 1 of 1: Communication
  • 17. Take Heart No matter how badly your VRE project is doing - there is always a Lottery funded project somewhere that is doing worse