Managing a library automation project

The paper begins with a brief history of library automation and the implementation of DOBIS/LIBIS at the King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals Library. It also discusses the management aspects of the automation project including the composition of the project management teams, the roles of the Project Manager and the Library Systems Analyst and the relationship between the Library and the Data Processing Center as two major partners of the project. The paper also highlights the limitation of the Systems Office in the absence of full‐time staff and suggests that library automation must be managed just as other activities are managed.