Dordt College Library Transformation Journey

Slide Note

Highly residential Dordt College, affiliated with the Christian Reformed Church, embarked on a digital transformation journey for its library services. From considering a new ILS in 2011 to implementing WMS in 2013, the process involved exploring new systems, attending webinars, and eventually going live with the new system. The transition aimed to enhance customer needs, accessibility, and discoverability while overcoming challenges with the previous SirsiDynix system.

biza Follow

Uploaded on Oct 10, 2024 | 0 Views

Download Presentation

Please find below an Image/Link to download the presentation.

The content on the website is provided AS IS for your information and personal use only. It may not be sold, licensed, or shared on other websites without obtaining consent from the author. Download presentation by click this link. If you encounter any issues during the download, it is possible that the publisher has removed the file from their server.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

Dordt facts 1400 undergraduates Highly residential (87% live on campus) Located in rural northwest Iowa (population 7,000) Typical private, liberal arts college with over 90 programs of study and 1 online M.Ed. program Top 5 majors: education, business, engineering, agriculture, and nursing 83 full-time teaching faculty Affiliated with the Christian Reformed Church of North America (Dutch Calvinists) Institutional member of CCCU and ACL/CLC 2

Library facts Library staff 2.2 FTE professionals (1 full-time; 2 part-time) 3.6 FTE support staff (2 full-time; 4 part-time) Staff size has only decreased over the past 20 years Expenditures $573,000 Collection size 285,000 volumes 65,000 e-books Circulate equipment such as iPads, Android tablets, laptops, cameras, camcorders, GPS devices, other media equipment Gate count for one week in Oct. 2013 was 16,016 3

Our story Not necessarily looking to change to new ILS Using SirsiDynix since 1995; working well but some concerns: Annual maintenance cost continued to rise but functionality didn t Had to pay extra for enhanced content (book jackets and reviews) Discovery interface way too expensive; link resolver too expensive Difficult to modify user interface (logos, links); API training required Using Ebsco EHIS for discovery portal but didn t work well with Sirsi Difficult to discover items NOT in our collection; several step process Continuous Improvement Process Dec. 2011 Focus on customer needs (immediacy; simplicity; accessibility; discoverability) High Impact/High Difficulty = Get a different system - replace Sirsi - connect to WorldCat February 2012 attended first webinar about WMS; contacted OCLC about WMS pricing and found out about CLC discount read OCLC s report Libraries at Webscale attended CLC webinar on WMS featuring Tad Mindeman March 29, 2012 OCLC sales rep visited us; demo of system Quickly became convinced we needed to move to webscale; question was when? 4

We could be Pioneers Settlers 5

O Pioneers! - April 30, 2012 signed contract Then things really began moving fast: May 8, 2012 first implementation conference call; decided to do WCL and WMS implementations separately May 18, 2012 began WCL implementation May 23, 2012 assigned to WMS Cohort; weekly webinars began August 15, 2012 went live with WCL as user interface August 17, 2012 sent bibliographic records for data migration November 1, 2012 original goal for full WMS implementation November 10, 2012 put into new staging process January 1, 2013 went live with WMS on staff side 6

Whats gone well Outstanding Support OCLC implementation and support teams VERY responsive Increased Visibility Our resources are represented in the places where users work, like Google Scholar they get pushed to us Aggregation of all our materials in one place View now button Mobile interface Gained Efficiencies A simpler and more intuitive interface; a Google-like search box Faster discovery and the central index No longer have to locally manage IT infrastructure -- hardware, run upgrades, load patrons Workflow management improved cataloging (not duplicating efforts)/digital management/system admin (plus can access it from anywhere)/ILL/student workers find it easier to use 7

Greater Impact Regional access to collections (Nearby Libraries) Access to free materials from nonprofits (Hathi, .gov, etc.) Cost Savings Savings on local hardware and IT time Not paying for separate catalog, enhanced content, discovery interface, A-Z list; added link resolver and collection analytics Lower bottom line Shared Intelligence Cohort group experience(two other SirsiDynix libraries); great model for peer support, collective knowledge and expertise; a real collaborative feel User Support Center provides great documentation, training material, video tutorials, web-ex sessions/recordings, forums We ve also contributed in our role as pioneers Anticipated Innovation Looking forward to this the most 8

Whats not gone as well Migration problems No historical circ data out of SirsiDynix Problems with serial records and call numbers/LHRs Problems with ongoing patron loads (initial load from SirsiDynix successful); automatic loads from Datatel not in place yet CAS authentication not in place yet Lack of some functionality (serials, reports, call number browse, multiple parts, closed hours) Not all modules fully developed (acquisitions, academic reserves) Bugs and glitches agile development Workflow changes (serials; acquisitions) and staff adjustment 100% team buy-in beforehand didn t negate dissatisfaction with system after migration OCLC growing pains? 9

Is WMS right for you? Two major paradigm shifts: Agile development Accessibility over accuracy (Tad Mindeman said much of this last year but it s still true): Get team buy-in Have a positive attitude Go with the flow; be creative with problem solving and work- arounds Accept limitations while anticipating future benefits Learn from our experience and that of others (GIGO) 10