Migrating to an Open Source Catalog One Library’s Experience and How You Can Do It, Too Karen Kohn Collection Development Manager Arcadia University
Why We Migrated Problems with our previous ILS Lack of customer service Reports were inaccurate IT wanted to access data directly Locked into a Content Management System for the website and OPAC, non-ADA- compliant
What is Koha? Integrated Library System with all major functions Free to download – “Free like puppies” Started in New Zealand in 2000
How Open Source Works Not like Wikipedia! Anyone can submit changes to the code, or can pay a company to write code Release Manager (elected) approves changes Official version available for download at Multiple companies provide support
Who Uses Koha At least 63 U.S. libraries, 7 Canadian libraries Public, school, special, and academic libraries See community.org/wiki/Koha_Users_Worldwide community.org/wiki/Koha_Users_Worldwide
Support Available for Koha Several companies provide paid support ◦ They can do migration, installation, and hosting OR just support. Online Manual List
Technical Support at Arcadia Did installation ourselves, host it ourselves Pay a company to be our helpdesk Paid one-time fee for OPAC customizations (some of which were submitted to community)
Advantages of Koha Clearer and more reliable reports ◦ Had to write some ourselves Easier training OPAC features ◦ Book covers ◦ Browse shelf ◦ Renew online Quick development cycle
What Koha Doesn’t Do (Yet) Reserves ◦ Coming in 6 mos EDI
Preparing to Migrate Interviews with each staff member to determine their needs In-house test database established Each staff member tries to perform daily functions, presents results IT makes changes to the software or finds workarounds. Regular meetings to discuss findings
Benefits of Involving Staff Early Less fear! Comfort level with software Practice before going live Each person is expert at her/his own tasks
Koha Home Page
Importing Records
A Basket
Receiving an Issue of a Serial
Checking Out an Item