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Page 24 Vol. 75, No. 1, Spring 2012 Mississippi Libraries
possibility that some data will be lost. Information
entered in free-text or non-MARCformat
areas in one system, such as an
item record note that displays in the
OPAC, may have no corresponding
“home” in the new catalog. While this article
deals primarily with bibliographic data,
it is worth noting that non-bibliographic
data such as order information and serials
check-in records can be particularly difficult
to migrate, even if the data is imported
into conversion software such as
MARCEdit TM before sending it to the new
ILS vendor. Some types of information
may have to be re-created from scratch in
the new system, so continued access to the
old database will be important for a while
after the migration.
Training and Testing
ILS vendors provide training for library
staff in various modules of the new system,
but this training inevitably packs a large
amount of information into a brief time
span. The trainer will probably not be able
to cover all the details of a particular module
or to address effects on the library’s
workflow, and staff who feel overloaded
with new information may not remember
how to perform a particular function after
the training ends. For this reason, working
with a file of test records, or a preliminary
version of the entire database that will later
be pulled and replaced by the final record
load, is critical in familiarizing staff with the
new catalog. There is no substitute for
hands-on experience when it comes to
working with an automated system. To
facilitate training, the planning team can
designate individuals to work with particular
modules; these individuals in turn provide
more in-depth training to their coworkers
in the use of that module and
begin the process of adapting in-house
procedures to the new system. This testing
process may uncover problems with
migrated data that can be corrected by the
vendor in the final record load. In other
cases, library staff will need to make the
corrections (for example, records that were
suppressed from public view in the old system
may show up in the new OPAC).
While staff are becoming accustomed
to working with the new catalog, it is helpful
to have regular departmental or unit
meetings to address problems and issues
as they arise. In addition to handling staff
concerns about the new system, such
meetings will allow the designated trainer
to point out any newly discovered features,
shortcuts, etc. He/she may also find it
necessary to work with some staff members
on a one-to-one basis, demonstrating
procedures on individual workstations. 2 It
is also important to develop written procedures
to accompany the training of groups
or individuals. Step-by-step instructions for
such processes as discarding items,
adding volumes or copies, transferring
items from one bibliographic record to
another, and importing records from a bibliographic
utility will not only ease anxieties
about working with the new system;
they will also speed up the implementation
process and serve the library well for years
to come as new staff are trained. While a
vendor may provide documentation on
how to perform basic database operations,
local procedures can incorporate in-house
practices and provide a valuable record of
“how we did it.”
Cleanup
As noted above, even if significant data
cleanup measures are taken before the
migration, there will probably be missing
or incorrect data in the new system. The
long-standing Library of Congress practice
of coding microform or electronic reproductions
of print works as printed material,
with most of the reproduction details
recorded in notes, can mislead patrons if
the new system bases searches on certain
fixed field elements. Cleanup work should
be prioritized according to its impact on
the public catalog; missing or incorrect
data that can negatively affect user access
to library resources needs to be dealt with
first. Depending on available personnel,
staff may have to be taken off their regular
duties in order to complete some cleanup
projects in a timely manner. If the new system’s
reports and global change capabilities
were not investigated during the testing
period, they should definitely be
employed to their fullest extent during the
cleanup process. Batch processing of
records for simple changes such as an
incorrect location code can save hours of
staff work.
Database cleanup can be tedious, particularly
in the case of corrections that have
to be made on a record-by-record basis.
Keeping a spreadsheet of cleanup projects
that shows the number of records corrected
can help promote a sense of accomplishment
as well as provide a record of the
department’s work for anyone who may
have had the impression that the new system
would solve all problems.
Winding Down
Eventually, migration-related cleanup
work tapers off. Staff go back to everyday
routines that have been tailored to fit the
new system, though data surprises that
require corrections can crop up for a while
after migration. Everyone heaves a sigh of
relief … until the next migration, which will
probably be years away. However, keeping
records of decisions made (and in some
cases, decisions regretted) can be very
important when that next migration finally
rolls around. “[D]ata migration should be
viewed as a continuous process rather than
a one-time event occurring when the
library migrates to a new system.” 3 While
the idea of continuous migration may
sound like a nightmare to weary staff, the
idea can be presented in terms of ongoing
quality control. Keeping the library’s bibliographic
data as clean and up-to-date as
possible will benefit staff and users on a
day-to-day basis, not only on that far-off
day when the “M” word comes up again.
References
1
Alan, Robert. “The Serials Data Migration
Dilemma.” Technical Services Quarterly
20 (1, 2002): p. 29.
2
Puffer-Rothenberg, Maureen. “Training
Copy Catalogers in Preparation for System
Migration: an Incremental Approach.”
Technical Services Quarterly 21 (1, 2003):
p. 33.
3
Alan, Op. cit., p. 34.