2023/11/29
The first extract of Aleph data was completed on November 22. The process took 21 hours to run, and Ex Libris has transferred the data to their servers for review. We have about three weeks before the extract will be run again to fill our Alma instance with Duke's test data. We should have access to that instance in mid-January.
Coming up next week is the Kickoff for the Configuration and Integrations phase with the Ex Libris Implementation Team. We will have a few weeks to do a first pass on the Alma Configuration Form. On this form, we'll list data such as our sublibraries, location codes, patron statuses, circulation policies (loans/requests/fees/fines), circulation desks, ordering units, vendors, etc. Some of this data will be pre-populated based on the test extract that was run last week. We'll review the pre-populated information, add some more, and submit a draft of this form to have the information included in our test instance in January. we will be able to continue making changes to the configurations over the next few months. We'll submit our changes, Ex Libris will do the configuration, and we'll verify the outcome. Once we go live, our local staff will be able to change configurations.
2023/11/09
This week, we kicked off the Alma Café Series with your barista, Julie Brannon, and an overview of the Alma interface. Thank you to all who attended and made this series kickoff successful. If you missed it, you can view the recording on WarpWire (NetID login required) and the slides on Box. The next Alma Café will be on Wednesday November 15 at 9:00. The topic will be "Intro to Acquisitions". Your barista will again be Julie Brannon.
In other project work, we are finalizing migration mappings with our Ex Libris partners. We have exported Courses data from FOLIO and are working on exporting data from the Licenses app this week. Ex Libris ran a small extract of bibliographic data from Aleph so that we could see how LKR data for bound-withs would be imported to Alma so we could think about whether any data clean-up should happen in Aleph or if it would be easier to wait until after our final export is completed. Alma's "sets" feature is going to be really handy as we look at our data projects post go-live.
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