/file/ /prcat_sierra_circulation _Migration_Manual.docx

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1 Quad Cities Libraries Implementation Team Meeting Agenda Wednesday, April 6, :00 p.m. Via videoconference at Bolingbrook, Coal Valley and Rockford, or conference call. For conference call, dial When prompted, enter your Participant Code, # (don't forget the pound sign). You may use a mute button on your phone, or press *6 to mute and *7 to unmute. 1. Welcome and introductions 2. Project Schedule Review a. Completed tasks please see most recent version on Basecamp b. Review of tasks over the next 30 days, deadlines, assignments 3. Data Mapping Update a. Iowa patrons who owe Illinois more than $25 b. Excluding ebooks from final extract c. All parameters being added to production now d. Mapping issues identified in profile evaluation testing after reload i. Item suppress field ii. Patron blocks / notes / messages iii. Patron addresses iv. Other? 4. Circulation Settings a. Brief follow up from survey 5. Circulation migration please see Elaine s separate document (attached). Please review this document and the following information on Basecamp in advance of the meeting, and bring your questions: _Migration_Manual.docx 6. Other? 7. Next meeting: Thurs, May 5, 2016, 10:00 am? 220 W. 23rd Avenue Coal Valley, IL (877)

2 PRCAT : Circulation Migration Meeting : Detailed Topics Hi everyone, Below is an outline for our phone call to discuss the details of your upcoming Circulation Migration. It's a lengthy outline, but don't let that scare you -- it's my attempt to keep you from having to take too many notes during the meeting, and to give you something that can be a solid reference in the weeks ahead. DAY/TIME Eastern US : Wednesday April 6, 2pm Central time / 12n Pacific time3pm Eastern time PHONE We'll use our regular dial-in conference numbers: Phone : Passcode : # The phone call is generally fairly lengthy -- I find that 90 minutes is the minimum length -- so I ve allotted 2 hours for the call. Grab an extra cup of coffee to bring along! If they haven't already done so, please ask staff who will be attending this meeting to read, in advance of the call, the Circulation Migration Manual which I uploaded to Basecamp: Manual.docx Having some familiarity with this document will help our discussion greatly. During the phone call we ll review the timeline below with you, and answer any questions you have about this, or that have arisen from your reading of the Circulation Migration Manual. Finally, we'd like you to answer some questions we have -- e.g., confirm how you will track transactions on the day of the migration, see if you have questions about the handling of materials when the full bibliographic/item load is complete, etc. Best, Elaine

3 QUAD CITY LIBRARIES : Add-On to PrairieCat System CIRCULATION MIGRATION PROCESS AND TIMELINE PREPARATION 1. Question: Some libraries adjust their current system so that materials aren't due on the day of the Circ Transaction load and 1-2 days before or after. Have you considered doing this? Question: Some libraries choose to close to the public on the day of the Transaction load, but others stay open. Have you discussed this? 2. Question: Please confirm -- Which of the following transactions will you be providing from Polaris : Checkouts Holds - title-level and item-level Charges - overdue fines, miscellaneous fees, bills for items never returned Zero or negative fines and/or PURF notes (will load into Sierra as patron note fields) Do you know approximately how many checkouts/holds/fines you will have to migrate? Note: At this time, it is currently not possible to migrate Reading Lists (what patrons want to read) or Reading Histories (what patrons have read) into Sierra. If you offer these features in Polaris, please let patrons know these will start from scratch in Sierra. 3. Circulating during the Circulation Migration : There are several ways to continue circulation activity while the circulation transactions are being loaded: If the library is closed to the public, no circulation activity needs to be tracked If the library is open to the public, the library can use Sierra's Offline Circulation program to record CheckOUTs only Alternatively, the library can track transactions on paper, or record barcodes on a spreadsheet for scanning later Question: Have you decided how you will handle circulation activity during the migration?

4 Note: Other than using Offline Circulation program to register new patrons and to record CheckOUTs, we recommend that all Quad City libraries staff stay out of Sierra completely during the transaction load. 4. NOTES on Follow-up Procedures : Aging Overdues - Checkouts are migrated only with due dates and checkout dates; overdue level information is not included. This requires us to work with you on an update process (aka, "Aging the Overdues") after the migration, to update overdue/bill information in checked out items. This is described in the Circulation Migration document on pages Question: Are you keeping the same number and schedules for overdue notices/bills in Polaris and Sierra? Do all libraries send the same number of notices? Question: Are you planning to age all levels of overdues? Some libraries don't age anything, some libraries only age bills, others age everything. 5. NOTE on Bills : Reconciling Error Logs - Some transactions fail during the circulation migration. Failed transactions are written to error logs for your review and reconciliation. This procedure is described in the Circulation Migration document, and should be performed immediately upon completion of the transaction load. Our migration procedure allows for the library to bring over bills (as Sierra manual charges) from the current system, or to have Sierra generate actual bills as part of the aging process. This is discussed on pages 8-10 of the Circulation Migration Document. In our experience, Polaris does not allow bills to be separated from the rest of the fines/fees though I m double-checking with Heather on this - so we expect bills to be included in the fines file. 6. NOTES on Holds : The Holds file has an optional field for pickup location. This field must contain a valid Sierra location code in all lowercase. If the library's holds data does not include a pickup location, all holds will use the Patron's HOME LIBRARY code as their Pickup Location. This is something you may want to alert your patrons to, in advance of the migration date. We ll have Heather work with Cuca to see if pickup locations can be migrated. Note: At this time, all Holds will migrate as active. If your patrons have the ability to suspend their holds, please be sure to let them know that they will need to re-suspend those holds immediately following the transaction load. Failure to do so will result in items triggering their holds prematurely.

5 Some libraries stop accepting holds for a period of time, to try to reduce the number of items that will be on the holdshelf when they cutover to live Circulation on Sierra. Question: Will the library be suspending holds and, if so, for how long? Question: How many materials are generally on your holdshelves on any given day? "On Holdshelf" isn't a status that can be migrated. Most customers deal manually with materials on the holdshelf (e.g., use colored flags to identify the patron and the date by which the material is to be picked up; if that date passes, the item is pulled from the holdshelf and checked in so it can be re-shelved or put on the holdshelf for the next patron). Mike can help discuss options for this. 7. Question: Do you intend to have your former system's WebPAC running (for patrons to use for searching) during the Circulation Migration? If so, please be sure to DISABLE any/all patron empowerment functions prior to the date your circulation transaction data is extracted. Features include, but may not be limited to : self-renewal, self-checkout, patron-placed holds, online payment of fines, etc. Failure to do this will result in information that will not transfer to Sierra and which will need to be manually re-created by library staff once you are live on Sierra. 8. NOTES on Collection Agency Question: Have you already alerted Unique Management that you'll be migrating to Sierra? Patron records loaded into Sierra must include the Polaris field which Unique uses as a matchpoint. Question: What Polaris field do you use in your interactions with Unique? After your full patron load, you ll need to send Unique a file of patron information (Polaris ID, Name, and Sierra record number). Unique will use this file to update its records to use the Sierra record number going forward. Currently, Innovative does not have a procedure for adding a list of patrons to Collection status when a Sierra system is already live with the Collection Agency feature. This means that you ll have to work with Unique Management to configure a report to get the majority of those patrons into collection. If you haven t done so yet, please contact Unique Management immediately, to let them know you re migrating to Sierra so they can begin to work with you to decide on the appropriate report parameters. 9. Question: Do you have questions from your reading of the Circulation Migration Manual? Migration_Manual.docx

6 TIMELINE Now-April 15 Library approves Patron profile Library approves Bib/Item profile Now-April 29 Library conducts internal Circulation training Library completes testing of Circulation tables April 15 Library cleans up any practice circulation transactions that were performed in the Production Server. Library completes customization of Encore and/or WebPAC, including setup and testing of patron empowerment functions, such as holds and renewals. Library empties the headings report, in anticipation of the final load. Please see pages in the Circulation Migration Manual for cleanup and testing checklists/instructions. Cleanup only need be done on transactions performed in the PRCAT Production Server. April 18 Polaris delivers the full Bib and Item data files. Cuca prepares the files for loading. April Cuca loads full Bib and Item database onto PRCAT s Sierra Production Server. Note: Quad City Library staff cannot work in the Production database itself while the load is underway. This includes testing and training. Work can continue on system tables (logins, authorization initials, etc.).

7 Upon Completion of the Full Bib/Item Load approximately Friday April 29 Cuca creates a "cleanup list" of duplicate item barcodes. Library staff must have these cleaned up by the end of the day on Friday May 13, as they will result in failed or problematic transactions. Library reviews the accumulated Headings Report. Please let Mike know if you have questions about this step. Library begins Live Cataloging, Live Acquisitions, and Live Serials on Sierra. Question: Has the library discussed how to handle the period between now and live Circulation, with regard to new materials received? Will you do dual cataloging of all materials on both Polaris and Sierra or is your plan to suspend some cataloging activity and/or circulate on-the-fly on Polaris (e.g., some libraries only catalog Reference materials on Sierra since these materials don't circulate)? Note: Regardless of other decisions, barcodes and Polaris IDs -- for Patrons, Items and Bibs -- must be kept in sync on both Polaris and Sierra, or circulation transactions associated with those records will fail. Polaris Bib Record IDs are important for matching bib-level holds to the appropriate title on Sierra. No later than Wednesday May 4 Library confirms with Mike the date ranges for Aging Overdues. We need ranges by this date so we can confirm and/or discuss any adjustments. Monday May 9 Polaris delivers the full Patron data. Full Patron records loaded into Sierra. Note: From this date on, library staff need to maintain patron personal information on both Polaris and Sierra systems (e.g., create new patron records, change addresses, etc.). Please wait to begin entering patrons until after Cuca has confirmed that the initial Polaris patron load has completed. Monday May 9 Cuca creates "cleanup lists" -- duplicate patron barcodes, duplicate item barcodes and patrons with Home Library=NONE. Library staff must have these cleaned up by the end of the day on Friday May 13 as they will result in failed or problematic transactions.

8 Library reviews loaded patron records. Library staff should review fully-loaded patron database as soon as possible, so we have time to reload in the event any problems are discovered. Tuesday May 10 - Sunday May 15 Library staff create new patron records in Sierra Circulation. All new patron records must be entered into Sierra before the May 16 transaction load, or associated transactions will fail to load. Depending upon the number of new patrons registered daily, some libraries limit the number of staff with access to Sierra Circulation (e.g., all registrations can be collected and input by one person if desired). Friday May 13 Innovative staff prepares the Sierra system for the circulation transaction load. Friday May 13-Sunday May 15 Library processes last circulation notices on Polaris. Question: When do you plan to process the final notices? This will affect date ranges for aging of the overdues. Sunday May 15 At close of business, Library staff cease use of Polaris for all circulation activity. PRCAT staff runs full/verified backup on Sierra. Polaris extracts the full circ transactions (checkouts, holds and/or fines) extracted from Polaris and delivered to Innovative. Monday May 16 Polaris extracts the full circ transactions (checkouts, holds and fines) from Polaris and delivers to Innovative. Innovative staff loads all Polaris circulation files on the Sierra Server. Note: Other than using Offline Circulation to register new patrons and to perform CheckOUTs, we recommend that all Quad City Library staff stay out of Sierra completely during the transaction load. Existing PRCAT staff may continue work as usual while the QC Circulation Migration is underway.

9 Tuesday May 17 Question: Do you have questions about what Staff can/cannot do on Sierra during the transaction load? If all goes as planned, our goal is for the library to be live on Encore and/or WebPAC and Circulation upon opening on Tuesday May 17 or Wednesday November 18 (primarily dependent upon number of transactions being migrated. If the library does not use Offline Circulation, we can re-enable Sierra Circulation as soon as the transactions are loaded, and you could be free to begin live use of Sierra earlier. The Library staff should work with Mike as soon as possible on the Migration Follow-up Procedures (Aging the Overdues, Reconciling Error Logs and dealing with books already on the Hold Shelf) Additional Followup Library manually processes first notices on Sierra. This cannot be done until after Mike has completed Aging the Overdues. Our recommendation is that, for Quad City Libraries, the first run of notices on Sierra be done manually (not via autonotices) and that they only include print and that is, that notices not be sent via SMS or Teleforms until we confirm that the notices are produced as expected. This makes troubleshooting easier. Question: Is this a viable option for you? Library works with Unique Management systems to get Quad City Libraries patrons into collection status. ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS?