NCompass Live: Migrating to an Open Source ILS in an Academic Library
Channel: Nebraska Library Commission
Date: 2020-10-21

Recorded on October 21, 2020.
NCompass Live - http://nlc.nebraska.gov/ncompasslive/


How to Celebrate Successes and Bounce Back from Problems

Open source integrated library systems are becoming increasingly popular with academic institutions, a trend that is expected to continue as these systems, including Koha and Folio, mature and become widely available. Their popularity is partially attributable to the increasing costs of proprietary systems and the growing availability of affordable third-party support for those libraries that don’t have the staffing or funding to fully support an open source system. For libraries that are considering migrating to an open source product, we present two examples: the University of Montevallo, which moved from Horizon to Koha in 2018, and Colorado College, which moved from Millennium to Koha in 2020. In this session, we will discuss the preparation of data for migration, the design of the OPAC and the patron experience, the implementation of supported Koha, the process of working with staff and faculty on a major migration, and, of course, communication. By describing the ways in which this process differs across public and private institutions, this session will help librarians to understand the process of migration, the many ways in which migrations can go right, and some ideas of what to do when something inevitably goes wrong.

Presenters: Charissa Brammer, Metadata & Discovery Systems Librarian, and Cate Guenther, Digital Scholarship and Repository Librarian, Tutt Library, Colorado College.