Evaluating information: A letter to a project manager
Byron Mook
September 2001
Working document series no. 8025
Preface
I have written this letter to you, the project manager, in the form of
a manual. The subject is project evaluation. My goal is to provide you
with a series of guidelines, checklists, and practical suggestions for
carrying out an evaluation of an information project.
Why should you be interested in evaluation? The simple answer is that
you probably have to be, or at least that you should be. The organisations
that support you want to know how their money is being spent, your bosses
want to know how you are performing, and even the public that you serve
wants you to be accountable.
Evaluation can be threatening. However, my first message is that it should
not be and need not be. BE POSITIVE. If you manage the evaluation process
well, you will be applauded and your project will become even stronger.
Most donors, bosses, and the public want your project to succeed as much
as you do. In the best project evaluations, the overall atmosphere is
cooperative rather then adversarial.
This letter is a first draft and as such, CTA and ISNAR welcome your
comments. Which parts of the letter did you find most useful and which
parts were least useful? Are there additional topics that you would like
to see covered? What suggestions do you have about the format? After we
have heard from you, project managers as well as those of you participating
in real-world evaluations, a second draft will be prepared. We hope for
a final publication sometime in 2002.
Byron Mook
CTA's working document series consists of material that, in view of
its immediate relevance and practical utility to specific readerships,
the Centre wishes to make available without the delays inherent in the
formal publication process. These working documents have not yet undergone
technical editing by CTA and should be cited accordingly. Comments on
matters of substance are welcome, and should be addressed directly to
CTA
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