We are closing in on the final month of our Koha migration. This seems an appropriate time to provide an overiew of where we are at with the various aspects of this project.
Software Development
We are close to receiving all of our final development and we are testing as fast as we can. We will then continue to work with LibLime/PTFS to fine-tune the projects based on the reports we provide them from testing. All development should be in place by the end of 2010 so that we have a stable database for you to do your final training in January (see under Training below). The training database will be upgraded at that time. LibLime/PTFS is also working on the response time issues and they are working with all of our third party vendors to make sure those products work well with Koha. Please see the Development Projects status page if you are interested to see where we are at with all of the projects (ILS web site login and password required).
Preparation for Go Live
SCLS is preparing to support the ILS libraries during the Go Live on January 17 and 18. We will be providing a variety of ways to assist with what will most likely be a stressful period for the libraries. Please read the recent blog post regarding the Go Live details. It is important that ILS libraries read this post as soon as possible as we are asking for information from you by Friday, December 17.
Koha Comments and Questions
We have continued to receive great comments and questions via the Koha Comments and Questions form. However we have had difficulty in keeping up with answering them! We have discussed this with the ILS Committee and they have agreed that it would be OK if we do not address each submission directly. We will either add them to a FAQ or incorporate them in to our training. Please do continue to submit your comments and questions as we will continue to review them and they are very helpful to us.
Training
The hands-on serials workshops are being conducted now. All other hands-on workshops are completed. For the next several weeks, we recommend that staff continue to use the Koha Training database to familiarize themselves with navigation and the basic functions. When the training database is updated with our new development in early January, that would be a good time to conduct final in-depth training in the library. To assist with this we will be producing a variety of to-the-point webinars and online tutorials to address new development and specific functions. Staff will be able to watch these on demand. These will be posted on the Koha Training page. Now would be a good time to watch the webinars already recorded and also found on that page. If you have suggestion for training topics, please use the Koha Comments and Questions form and include the words "Training topics" at the beginning of the Comments box.
Data Migration
We have begun the final cutover phase of the data extraction. On December 9, all bibliographic and item records were extracted from Dynix. We are about to begin testing item records. See the Migration Events page for specific details of the remainder of the data migration.
PR and Patron Education
The SCLS PR and Patron Education committees have been busy too. The PR Committee is working on ways to inform patrons of the various down-time and the changes coming to LINKcat. The Patron Education Committee is developing materials such as bookmarks and online tutorials to assist patrons with using the upgraded LINKcat.
SCLS Technology Staff
The technology staff are working on various aspects of the migration as well. For a peek behind the scenes, see the recent TechBits post. It would be fair to say that virtually everyone at SCLS has been involved in the LINK to Koha migration in one way or another.
Wow great news the go live is so close. I guess since its january, you will be going live with 3.2.1 ?
Posted by: James | 12/14/2010 at 04:03 PM