Recently, Dorothea Salo posted a self-proclaimed rant, "Just Say No to Maverick-Manager Jobs."
Her topic was maverick institutional repository manager jobs, but I was struck by some similarities to what might be called for want of a better term "maverick digital project manager" jobs. These jobs can be at different levels in the organization and they can have different titles. Their key characteristic is that they have no direct reports, and consequently they rely on other units to provide critical support. Beyond this, they may have some or all of the below characteristics:
- They may have a very broad scope of responsibility (e.g., digitization, digital preservation, digital repositories, ETDs, and scholarly communication) yet have no real authority.
- They may have no direct control over key technical resources, such as servers.
- They may have no dedicated, regularly budgeted funding.
- They may report to a superior who does not have an adequate background to understand or manage a digital project operation.
- Regardless of stated qualifications, they really require not only an alphabet soup of specific technical skills, but also a broad technical background and a variety of non-technical skills, such as a significant understanding of copyright issues.
- They may represent a wish by the library to make progress in this area, not a real commitment by the library to do so.
Of course, by their very nature, digital projects must cross departmental and divisional lines, and cooperation is essential. The problem with the above support scenario is that, no matter how well intentioned, library staff in other units have their own complex and time-consuming responsibilities, and those responsibilities must be their day-to-day priority. (This can be especially tricky when needed support crosses divisional lines.) Moreover, on an individual basis, their interest in involvement in digital projects may vary considerably and their ability to participate, if interested, may wax and wane with their workload, not with project timelines.
Lack of a dedicated budget may result in digital projects being funded (or not) dependent on the ever changing fiscal circumstances of the library and the constantly shifting priorities of administrators. To some degree this is always true, but it is typically easier not to fund a non-budgeted operation than to eliminate or reduce a budgeted one. Digital projects can be seen as icing on the cake, not the cake itself.
Digital projects are expensive, and, the deeper the library gets into supporting them, the more expensive they become. For example, simple Web strategies that were adequate for a few digital exhibits are no longer adequate as the number of digital objects multiply, requiring digital asset management systems or other more complicated strategies. Digital preservation issues that could be initially ignored come to the fore. The library doesn’t need to put high-level human and technical infrastructure in place on day one to make progress, but it does need to recognize the fiscal implications that a long-term commitment entails and be willing to support planned growth.
Adequate supervision is a tricky issue because digital projects are based on complex technologies, yet they entail many key non-technical factors. Consider the institutional repository. As has been noted elsewhere with some regularity, the technical part, no matter how difficult, is the easy part. Faculty attitude change and motivation, copyright policies and compliance, providing decent metadata, and so on are the hard part. Supervisors may not need to be high-level technical experts, but they need a baseline understanding of relevant technical and non-technical issues and, most importantly, a genuine interest in and commitment to digital projects as well as a willingness to learn. Unless the maverick digital project manager reports to the head of the library, his or her supervisor must be an effective advocate for digital projects to his or her superiors to facilitate adequate support.
Those hiring maverick digital project managers may have a poor grasp of the necessary skills required or have a desire to hire on the cheap, resulting in understated or vague job requirements in recruitment ads. Consequently, new hires may quickly find themselves in deep water. Advanced technical and other sorts of training, if available and funded, can help with some aspects of this problem, but, since maverick digital project managers are without mentors, not all of it. Realistic expectations by supervisors are critical in this case, but can't be counted on.
Few things are as deadly to maverick digital project managers as the vague, but poorly informed, wish of a few administrators to make progress (often rapid progress) in the digital area that it is motivated by a desire to get on the digital bandwagon, rather than by a genuine interest in and considered concern for development in this area.
So, maverick digital project managers of the future, good luck. I'm not going to tell you not to do it, but I advise keeping your eyes open, asking incisive interview questions so that you know what you are in for, and having an good exit strategy.