Critical issues presentations/Developing relationships - where preparing projects is a project in itself

From Wikimania 2016 • Esino Lario, Italy
Submission no. 152
Title of the submission

Developing relationships - where preparing projects is a project in itself

Author of the submission
  • Tom Hogarth
Country of origin

Australia

Topics

other, Outreach, Projects

Keywords
  • Project development
  • Metrics
  • Time factors
  • Repeated tasks
  • Project timelines
Abstract

In the process of developing relationships with communities for possible outreach or GLAM work, project creators, and interested people encounter a number of strategic issues that defy generally accepted short term goals of projects.

Like anthropology fieldwork, visiting, developing relationships, connecting with the appropriate people in a community, and then further planning the projects, can involve time delays, and repeated visiting. Dealing with the foibles of a community, working out who is who, and where support is available, and where the best opportunities lie, is the same as accepted practice in anthropology fieldwork.

It is a major component where time, effectiveness, and repeated tasks go well beyond normally accepted limits of what can be captured by metrics. It is vitally important for the success of a project to develop the relationship which usually requires drawn out and extended travel and interaction with people.

Developing relationships is an argument that simply setting up some projects is something that can be considered a project in itself. To set up some programmes, some projects should have factored in, the preparation process as a major component.

This presentation looks at a number of successful outcomes of this process, and issues from the process in practice

Result

Not accepted