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.
2023/10/04
Check out the First Wednesday presentation!
Alma Implementation - First Wednesday 20231004.pptx
2023/09/18
This week we started sharing information with Ex Libris about our local integrations that are required for go-live. Integrations are connections between software that allow information to be moved from one to the other. Things like loading patrons and staff users, sending requests to AEON for the Rubenstein Library material tracking, and self-check out are just a few integrations we'll be detailing. Some integrations involve adding connections to third-party software, such as meeScan, or ReShare for interlibrary requests to our IvyPlus or TRLN partners. Some include import of data like embedded order data we get from vendors like Yankee Books so that orders can be created at the same time a bibliographic record is loaded. We also export our data to sites like our very own discovery layer, HathiTrust, or IvyPlus's Platform for Open Data, and will need to consider those as integrations. Some integrations will require work from the library's developers in Discovery Strategies and Technologies where we take data and transform it programmatically before it's loaded such as our patron records.
Ex Libris has prepared "cards" (like Trello) for integrations they have implemented with Alma on a regular basis. We have added cards for Duke-specific integrations such as my.duke.edu, and My Accounts. We've sorted them into ones we'll need at go-live, and a few that we either won't need at all or will do after go-live. The card for each integration is already populated with descriptions, functional notes, and links to existing Ex Libris documentation. Projects that require local developers will be outlined and tracked in the Library's Jira instance.
2023/08/30
We have begun!
Ex Libris is well-versed in the management of Alma implementation projects. They group activities into five groups; Onboarding, Define, Build, Deploy, and Life in Production.
The LSP Steering Group has begun meeting regularly with our Ex Libris onboarding manager. As part of the onboarding process, the steering group will work with Ex Libris on milestone planning, e-learning, and project analysis. The analysis will include third party integrations, project scope, and data migration readiness. The onboarding phase is designed to make sure that we really understand Alma before we start making migration and configuration decisions. Each week in September, the steering group has been assigned a section of the "Getting to Know Alma" course. If you're interested in following along, you can find the courses at https://knowledge.exlibrisgroup.com/Alma/Training/Getting_To_Know_Alma/Getting_to_Know_Alma_-_English.
Project Overview
The Define phase will include more regular calls with our Ex Libris implementation team, more e-learning, and filling out the important migration and configuration forms so Ex Libris can set up our environment with the data we deliver.
The Build phase is when we will review the environment that has been loaded with our data and configured as we requested in the Define phase. We will start working on the third-party integrations and the integration of our discovery layer. This is the phase when an Ex Libris will train our trainers and we'll work on training plans for all library staff. At the end of this phase is the "cutover" when we'll stop working in Aleph and do a final data extract and load into our Alma production environment.
The Deploy phase starts with our go-live. Ex Libris will continue regular calls with Duke to help us through any functional issues and to monitor project status. At the end of the Deploy phase, we'll say goodbye to our Ex Libris implementation team and will start working with their support team.
The Life in Production phase includes continued education, and Ex Libris' "First Year Success Program". We'll start reporting issues through their support portal and keep our instance up to date with regular releases.
Our tentative schedule as defined by Ex Libris is below. We will add more Duke-defined dates such as local training as we learn more.
| Project Activity | Schedule |
|---|---|
Onboarding | Now - November |
| Implementation Project Kickoff | Mid-November |
| Test Load of Duke Data Start | Late December |
| Environment Delivery | Early January |
| Data Checking | January |
| Alma Functional Workshop (train the trainer) | TBD (likely March or April) |
| Workflow testing | January - May |
| Third Party Integrations | January - May |
| Cutover Start | Mid-June |
| Go Live | Mid-July |
2023/06/12
Duke has selected Alma as our next Library Services Platform. The blog post announcement can be found at https://blogs.library.duke.edu/blog/2023/06/12/duke-university-libraries-selects-new-library-enterprise-system/