SWITCH Day (July 30, 2014)

Summer SWITCH Day
J U LY 3 1 , 2 0 1 4

Welcome to Our New Staff
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Maureen Schinner (FT, CUW)
Shannon Millerick (FT, CUW) – July 2014
Lori Gleed (PT, CUW)
Katie Utschig (PT, CUW)
Lizzy Baus, formerly Lizzy Schroeder (FT, CSU)

SWITCH Relocating to Alverno in 2014
August 2013 – SWITCH is exceeding its bandwidth with
its current 1.5 mbps Internet connection; AT&T’s
quote is too high

Fall 2013 – SWITCH develops an action plan to use the
City of Milwaukee’s fiber at Alverno to connect directly
to WiscNet
Jan-Feb 2014 – SWITCH writes up the SWITCH Server
Housing & Campus Hosting Agreement with the aid of
the SWITCH Directors & Alverno’s CIO, Jim Hilby
April 2, 2014 – SWITCH receives approval from the City
of Milwaukee’s Common Council to use the City of
Milwaukee’s network at Alverno.

April 2014 – The SWITCH Server Housing & Campus
Hosting Agreement is signed and approved

Update on the SWITCH Move

SWITCH
moves server
equipment to AC
and sets up a
firewall to increase
security

Termination of
AT&T’s T-1 line
means cost
savings for
SWITCH

JUNE 5, 2014

JUNE 15, 2014

Preparation of
organizational
documents for the
SWITCH Archives
JULY-AUG 2014

SWITCH office
moves to a new
space within the
renovated AC
Library
SEPT 2014

Koha Kickoff

So… What is an ILS anyway?
• ILS stands for Integrated Library System. An ILS is
basically the Swiss Army Knife of library software.
• The ILS handles circulation, cataloging, acquisitions,
bookings and other miscellaneous functions.

• For many years our libraries have used Innovative
Interfaces’ INNOPAC (aka telnet) and Millennium as
our ILS.

Why a new ILS? Why now?
Millennium is becoming obsolete
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SWITCH has been on Millennium since 1998 (16 years)
Millennium will no longer be developed or supported in Q4 2015
Our current server lease program is no longer offered by Innovative
SWITCH can no longer be a turnkey site

Our contracts are expiring
• Our server agreement with Innovative is expiring in March 2015
• Our annual maintenance is scheduled to end on June 30th, 2015

Why a new ILS? Why now?
Helps us plan for future projects
• Many other systems also rely on the ILS. We need to know what our ILS will be in the
future to start making decisions about discovery, electronic rights management,
electronic stats, and more.
• The ILS decision allows SWITCH to plan for third-party software purchases with
confidence.

Moving to a new ILS takes time. We’re taking care to prepare staff and our
records for this change.

How did we select an ILS?
Consulted staff on their needs

• On SWITCH day last year we had conversations about functionality.
• Surveys sent out to SWITCH staff taught us more about the priorities of our
libraries.
• Feedback forms, meeting minutes, and demos were made available to staff
through website and listserv posts.

Built a team to help with process

• ILS Task Force members were selected from many different libraries and
specialties
➢ Larry Duerr – AC (Reference/Instruction)
➢ Laurie Swartwout – CSU (Cat, Ref, Acq)
➢ Gae Kelly – CUW (Cataloging, Reference)

➢ Replaced in Feb. by Kathy Malland, Carol Mittag and Karen Nowak

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Ann Owen – SHST (Cat, Acq, Circ, Serials)
Kathy Frymark – SF (Director)
Nancy Siker – MIAD (Serials, Circ, Cat, Ref)
Sarah Klippel – MMU (Reference, Circ)
Karl Holten – SWITCH
Jenny Schmidt - SWITCH

How did we select an ILS?
• Assembled information and conducted demos
• We researched 10 different ILS products.
• Three hour demos were held for 5 ILS products.
• Based on demos and research, the task force selected three finalist
candidates.
• An in-depth assessment of over 250 functional requirements was done
on each of the finalists.

• Formed a consensus
• ILS Task Force members weighted importance of different features and
costs associated with software
• Finalists scored by three separate ILS Task Force members
• Final recommendation approved first by the committee, and then voted
on by directors
• Directors voted unanimously to adopt Koha as next SWITCH ILS.

Koha 101

What is Koha?
Koha = gift in Mãori
• Full-featured ILS with Circulation, Cataloging, Serials and Acquisitions
functionality developed initially in New Zealand by Katipo
Communications with Horowhenua Library Trust.
• Koha is an “open source” library system. This means that the code for
Koha is freely available and is developed and maintained by a
dedicated team of software providers and library technology staff
from around the globe.
• Koha gives us a great deal of freedom. We can choose whether or not
to freely install new versions, and can take part in new developments
by financing them or even by carrying them out ourselves.

Why Koha?
Lots of things we considered, but here are some big reasons…
• Koha is a mature product with an active development community.
New features are released twice yearly and bug fixes are released
every month.
• Koha is open. It is widely compatible with a number of discovery
layers and with other system software. Our members have many
options for discovery based on their needs and budget.
• Koha is an economical solution which allows libraries to focus
resources on collections and their patrons.
• Koha provides the core functionality our staff uses in Millennium.

Taking the good with the bad
• We tried to select features based on what
was most important to staff. Staff
indicated the need for improved
functionality in certain areas and less
need for extensive functionality in others.

• Koha has areas where it is not as strong
as Millennium. Two examples are Koha’s
lack of a bookings module and its less
powerful serials functionality.

Dula, M.W. & Ye, G. (2012, June 5). Case Study: Pepperdine University
Libraries’ migration to OCLC WorldShare. Journal of Web Librarianship.
6(2), 125-132.

• But there are also a number of new
features in Koha which impressed our
task force and which we think staff will
enjoy.

Ten Spiffy Things about Koha
1. Web browser based
2. No more separate modules
3. Finding existing reports simpler
4. Easy-to-use prebuilt reports
5. Powerful SQL queries for new reports
6. Printable spine labels
7. Combined book and article requests
8. Great OPAC & Discovery Ready
9. Course reserves
10. Koha works with other software

A brief disclaimer
• We’re going to talk about some of the improvements we expect to
see in Koha, but there is not enough time to cover everything or to
perform live demos in all these areas.
• There’s a lot of basic functionality we are leaving out of this
presentation, and we will have more in-depth exploration of Koha
during training and staff meetings.
• Today, we’ll discuss some of items we got strong feedback on at the
last SWITCH day and new features we are looking forward to.
• There are a number of public demo sites available (though these
may not have all the features we discuss) at:
http://koha-community.org/demo/

1.) Web Browser Based
• There is no need to use a client like
Millennium or a special character
based program like Telnet.
• Koha is web-based using browsers
such as Firefox or Chrome.
• Any computer on your campus should
be able to run Koha.
• Can add a toolbar of Koha-related
items to Firefox browsers.
• Can use Firefox plugin for offline
circulation as well.

2.) No more separate modules
• In Koha, you only have your personal account and password.
No more separate logins for Circulation, Cataloging, etc.
• Workflow is streamlined as there is no need to wait for
modules to load when changing from Circulation to Cataloging
to Serials.
• This also means that certain functions, like “performing a
catalog search” or “checking materials out or in” are available
from any screen.

Lists and Reports
• We received a great deal of feedback on create lists.
• Some thought create lists was too complex and wanted something
simpler to use for routine requests.
• Others did not want to lose the power and flexibility create lists
provides.

• Koha’s reports functionality will be the replacement for create
lists, and it will help meet the needs of both groups of staff.
• Koha has both a simple interface to use prebuilt reports, and
the ability to perform original and powerful searches on
virtually any field in Koha.

3.) Finding existing reports simpler
• We will probably be running prewritten reports more in Koha than we do now.
ByWater is committed to providing the prewritten reports we need.
• Prewritten reports are much easier to find and run in Koha.
• You can run a search on various criteria or filter by type of report.
• You can even schedule reports to run during off hours.

4.) Easy-to-use prebuilt reports
• As a librarian runs a preset report, values like dates or titles are set
on the fly by the librarian using a simple form.
• Results of any report can be exported to CSV or Excel.

5.) Powerful SQL Queries for new reports
• Any information in Koha’s database
can be searched and run as a report.
• There is a reports wizard in Koha,
which is a more user-friendly way to
create new queries, but this is limited
in what it can do.
• More complex and powerful queries
for Koha require knowledge of the
SQL database language.
• SWITCH staff are learning SQL, and
ByWater will be providing query
assistance as part of its contract.

6.) Printable Spine Labels
• Koha has a label module
you can use to easily print
spine labels.
• You can create PDF files
with multiple spine labels
and print them all at
once.
• You can also quickly do a
single spine label if you
have the barcode.

7.) Combined Book and Article Request Fulfillment
• Article request fulfillment should not require use of a separate programthey will be handled the same as bibliographic holds.
• Patrons will place a hold on a specific issue of a periodical, and there will
be a field for the citation for the article they wish to request.
• When librarians process the holds queue, they will be able to see that
citation in the notes field, and send the appropriate article.

8.) Great OPAC and Discovery ready
• Koha’s OPAC is an improvement over TOPCAT.
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Faceted search results- filter on the fly by author, title, subject and more
Responsive design is friendly to devices like tablets and phones
Scoping supported- can limit results by library
Course reserves for both physical and electronic items
Separate authority searching, also do searches by most popular records

• Koha is compatible with a wide set of discovery products.
• Summon, EDS and VuFind all confirmed to work with Koha

University of Hartford Libraries

9.) Course Reserves
• Both physical and
electronic course reserves
are in Koha.
• Course reserves search
function finds courses by
keywords, instructor name
or by course name.

• OPAC displays if a
given material
belongs to a
course reserve.

University of Hartford Libraries

10.) Koha works with other software
• Koha can bring in and alter records from
OCLC Connexion Gateway, much like we
do with Millennium currently.
• MarcEdit also has a cataloging
integration feature with Koha.
• If your campus ERP system (eg Banner,
Jenzabar) supports the LDAP protocol,
we could likely set up automatic patron
updates and deletions to process for
your library without staff intervention.
• If your campus has a CAS server set up,
your patrons might be able to go from
one campus resource to another without
needing to log in multiple times.

Our Migration Plan

“Birds and whales might handle migration by
instinct. But for catalogs and other databases, a
solid plan is the key to a successful project.”

Quote from the Backstage Library Works web site.

Be Ahead of the Flock! Be a Staff Expert!
• Be the main contact back to the SWITCH office on database clean-up
projects going on in their work area
• Provide a solid list of needed reports for the given work area

• Help set the agenda for their user group meeting on Koha – will be held
between Sept-Nov 2014;
• Learn Koha in their area earlier
than other staff
• Identify problem areas & questions
for SWITCH & ByWater Solutions

= you

Millennium to Koha Migration Schedule

August-Sept 2014:

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Sep-Nov 2014:

• User Groups meet to discuss Koha issues by area

Staff experts identified
Database cleanup begins
Staff experts compile a list of needed reports
Staff experts propose agenda items for meetings
SWITCH office researches data export process

User Group Meetings on Koha
September – November 2014
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Discuss database cleanup projects
Identify codes and record templates that can be removed
SWITCH outlines specific issues relating to that work area
Identify problem areas in Koha and possible workarounds
Identify key questions for ByWater Solutions
View Koha during the meeting to get increasingly familiar
with the system
• Discuss any needed changes to local policies and practices
based on Koha functionality

SWITCH Policies & Procedures
• Are there certain local policies or procedures SWITCH should
consider revising due to this ILS change?
• Fine amnesty for a set period? From item-level to bib-level holds?
• We hope to tackle this during the appropriate user group meeting
• Are there certain functions your library will likely not use that
you are aware of now? Any workflow changes to come?
• Ideally, we want to have any revised SWITCH wide policies to
be decided upon & written up by Dec 2014/Jan 2015.

Data Cleanup- the good and the bad

Good Candidates for Clean-Up
Records
• Brief bib records especially those suppressed from public view
• Unnecessary older records especially for patrons, reserves and orders
• Reserves and e-Reserves clean up (do you have older PDF files on the TOPCAT server?)
• On-the-fly records (any record type)

• Annual reports (check the links)
• Call number clean up for item records (“c”, 090, 092, or 099)
• Netlibrary ebooks (weeding via user groups)
• Old billed / lost & paid / missing items unless you want to retain

Codes & Rules
• Libraries can identify any fixed field codes no longer in use:
• Item LOC codes and P TYPES

• Identify any loan rules that will no longer be needed

Millennium to Koha Migration Schedule
Dec 2014:

Jan 2015:

Feb 2015:

Mar 2015:

• EZ Proxy set up
• New ILS servers configured and ready for vanilla
Koha installation
• SWITCH-wide policies changes are identified &
written
• All local codes and circulation loan rules are set up
• Database clean up continues
• Staff experts learn about Koha
• Database migration of TOPCAT
• Barcode and printer testing
• Set up test Koha database of TOPCAT
• SWITCH & ByWater set up remote database backup
• Configure third-party products with ILS
• Staff experts perform Koha testing by area
• SWITCH tests IP addresses/off-campus access;

Millennium to Koha Migration Schedule
Apr 2015:

May 2015:

June 2015:
June 30, 2015:

• SWITCH prepares staff training
materials
• Staff experts identify problem
areas and questions for ByWater
• Continue database testing
• General staff training for new ILS
• Final dates set for last usage of
Millennium
• New ILS goes live
• Millennium contract expires

The challenges and possibilities of migration

• We have been using Millennium
for a long time. There will be
challenges as we all learn how
things are done in a completely
new system.
• However, there are also a
number of reasons excited about
the prospect of change!

Hill, J. S. (2008). Is it worth it? Management issues related to database
quality. Cataloging & Classication Quarterly. 46(1), 5-26.

Together, we can do this!

Kroeger, Angela. (2013, April 27). Preparing Your Catalog for a Successful ILS Migration. Presented at the Inaugural Library
and Information Science Graduate Student Association Conference at the University of Missouri. April 27, 2013.

Additional Resources

Useful Training Resources
• SWITCH Migration Schedule:
http://caspian.switchinc.org/MigrationSchedule2014_2015toKoha.xlsx

• Koha web site:

http://koha-community.org/documentation/other-docs/

• Koha manual (3.14 is current version):
http://manual.koha-community.org/

• Koha for Newbies:

http://www.pakban.net/koha/tut/newbie.html

• Nexpress Regional Library Catalog Training Resources:
http://www.nexpresslibrary.org/train2012/

Strategic Goal: Maintain a high quality internal infrastructure and provide
timely delivery of materials between member libraries

LOOKING AHEAD
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FY15:
FY15:
FY15:
FY15:
FY15:
FY16:
FY16:

Replace & configure SWITCH servers for hosting a new ILS
Develop a migration policy to translate our database over to Koha
Implement Koha and address problems after going live
Write new staff documentation & procedures for Koha
Implement off-site database backup via our vendor (ByWater)
Revise our SWITCH Disaster Recovery plan
Evaluate our courier options and solicit new quotes from vendors

• http://caspian.switchinc.org/str_Plan2014_17.pdf
45

References for this presentation
• ByWater Solutions web site:

http://bywatersolutions.com/

• Koha Manual: http://koha-community.org/documentation/
• Kroeger, Angela. (2013, April 27). Preparing Your Catalog for a
Successful ILS Migration. Presented at the Inaugural Library
and Information Science Graduate Student Association
Conference at the University of Missouri. April 27, 2013.
Accessed on 13 July 2014 at http://prezi.com/rv_grc7fwqfu/preparingyour-catalog-for-a-successful-ils-migration/