Using Online Management
Systems to Collaboratively
Manage and Organize
Projects
Melanie Church – Content Services Librarian
Jennifer Peters – Content Management and
Discovery Services Librarian
Rockhurst University Greenlease Library
Content Management & Discovery Services
Department
Jesuit Institution in the heart of Kansas City
Approximately 2,400 FTE, 150,000 bibliographic records.
CMDS department
2 professionals, 1 paraprofessional, work study student assistants (11-5)
Project management with students
Timeline
Paper based – Web CT – Google Docs & Email
What wasn’t working
Finding documents and instructions
Who does what and when
Landing page for all CMDS workers and librarians
Dreaming of a product
Easy
Set up, use, familiar look and feel for students
Access
From anywhere, control level of access, import created training & reporting forms
Scalability
Various projects, project inventory, tracking and reporting tool
Cost
Free is best, but considered some low cost options
What is Google sites ?
Website builder
Levels of access: Owner,
Collaborator, Viewer
Incorporates Google Drive
Google sites: Organization
Understand your needs
What we put into it
Training materials, Priority lists, Student project assignments,
Instructions, Project documents
Outcomes
Manage multiple projects efficiently
Increase departmental communication on student work and
ongoing projects
Student arrive and are ready to work and find their tasks and
projects
Year in review or central storage for student work
Increase tracking of student work performance
Pros / Cons
Students understand google layout and google docs
Revision history on each document
Student evaluation tool
Auto saving
Tied to internet
Design and organization of site evolving
Future of our Google Site
Post tests integrated into site
After training, between semesters
Expand use of Announcement feature
FAQs, blog on progress updates
Project Goal Markers
Incorporate recognition and motivation
Growth of training and instructional materials
Mid-range to Expensive Options
Flow –starting at $19 per month many tiers based on users,
workspaces, and storage
EPMLive.com
Microsoft Project
Atlassian – 2 main products, Jira = ticket tracker & Confluence =
collaboration
Low Cost Options
Zoho - free for 3 users, then $12 per user per month
Asana- free up to 30 users (hybrid task & project manager)
Basecamp - free for one project
Goplan - 3 plan levels starting at $10 a month
Freedcamp – software is free, but storage and backups are not
Free* Options
Trello - basic free forever
Podio - free to 100 items
Wrike- free to 5 users
Pivotaltracker – free for academic institutions
Redbooth– free to 5, 5 projects, 5 GB storage & google drive
integration also have premium plans
Azendoo - free, forever and for unlimited users. Also have
premium plans
Questions?
Comments?
Your Ideas?
The software you choose
is simply a tool and cannot
compensate for poor
planning and organization.
Melanie Church – Content Services
Librarian – melanie.church@rockhurst.edu
Jennifer Peters – Content Management
and Discovery Services Librarian –
jennifer.peters@rockhurst.edu