Migrating Without Migraines: How one college improved access through remaking its ILS

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Migrating Without MigrainesHow one college
improved access through remaking its ILS

• David Orenstein, MLS, MS, Ph.D.
• Ariana Baker, MLIS

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Background

• Portfolio was the first ILS used at Warren County
  Community College. At the time of its
  implementation, it was considered cost-efficient
  and sufficient for the demands of its users. Over
  time, this ILS proved to be inadequate.
• In the spring of 2008, a Middle States
  Accreditation team recommended that the outdated
  ILS be updated or replaced.
• In the fall of 2008, we contacted LibLime to
  discuss migrating to their open-source ILS, Koha.
  
• October 2008 LibLime sent us the cost of
  migration to Koha
• December 2008 WCCCs Chief Financial Officer
  approved the migration and maintenance costs
• February 2009 Contracts with LibLime and WALDO
  were signed

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WCCC Demographics

• 976 Full-time students
• 803 Part-time students
• 1779 total students1
• 109,876 Warren County residents2
• Library Computers 25 PCs and 7 Macs
• 1 WCCC Academic Services 10th Day Numbers
• 2 U.S. Census Bureau

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Old System

• Portfolio (from ISACSOFT)
• DOS-based platform
• No access to serials or acquisitions modules
• We could not run basic searches for outstanding
  fines, etc.
• The OPAC was not remotely accessible

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New System

• Koha (from LibLime)
• Web-based platform
• Access to all modules, including both monograph
  and serial cataloging and acquisitions
• SQL searches can be run for any desired query
  LibLime technical support assistants create SQL
  reports for us
• The OPAC is remotely accessible

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WCCC Library Catches the Wave

• VALE OLS Project
• Collaboration and Connections - OSS is meant to
  create community
• OSS for other library functions and processes
• OSS creates and enhances both Independence and
  Inter-dependence

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Association with WALDO

• Warren County Community College uses the
  WALDO/LibLime consortial agreement for service
  and contact coverage for Koha.
• WALDO has two Open Source Consultants available
  to us. They are able to suggest updates and
  changes to Koha.
• We receive all WALDO-specific upgrades without
  having an in-house IT staff.

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Process

• Data clean-up and extraction
• Data mapping
• Design of the back office and user interface
• Data testing (a test load)
• On-site training for staff

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Data Clean-Up and Extraction

• May 1st LibLime received a sample test load of
  data from BiblioMondo (approximately 800
  bibliographic records and 150 patron records)
• LibLime data migration specialists cleaned up our
  data themselves

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Data mapping and testing

• May 5th WCCC staff received connection (URL and
  password) information for our staff database
• May 6th LibLime completed data analysis and
  mapping of sample patron records
• May 11th LibLime completed data analysis and
  mapping of sample bibliographic records

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On-site training for staff

• May 11th 12th on-site training with Nicole
  Engard, LibLimes Open Source Evangelist
• Parameters and Preferences
• OPAC
• Circulation, Cataloging, Acquisitions, Serials
• Reports

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Design of the back office and user interface

• May 25th discussed customization in the OPAC
  with a LibLime interface designer
• custom stylesheets
• Kohas system preferences
• June 30th conference call to discuss final
  changes

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Timeline

• April 1, 2009 Contract with LibLime began
• April 14th, 2009 Unofficial go-live target
  date scheduled for July 1st
• April 15th, 2009 Go-live target date
  rescheduled for June 18th
• May 14th - formal letter of non-renewal sent to
  BiblioMondo
• May 26th May 28th final data load from
  BiblioMondo
• June 1st database transfer completed
• June 2nd Go Live!

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Outcomes (Pros and Cons)

• Pros
• Remotely accessible OPAC
• All modules are accessible to staff (cataloging,
  patrons, circulation, acquisitions)
• Databases are user-friendly and easy to navigate
• Reports are easy to create and run
• Cost-efficient
• We have the ability to make/suggest changes

• Cons
• Upgrades are frequent and sometimes result in
  unexpected changes and bugs
• Programming knowledge is necessary to create
  reports and resolve bugs
• Open source means we are dealing with software
  when its raw rather than when it is a polished
  product

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Questions Contact

• David Orenstein, MLS, MS, Ph.D.
• Saint Peters College
• dorenstein_at_spc.edu 201-761-6455
• Ariana Baker, MLIS
• Warren County Community College
• abaker_at_warren.edu 908-835-2440