Experiences of Migrating to Koha and Evergreen

1. Experiences of Migratingto Koha and Evergreen Presented by Dr. Vandana Singh, PhD Assistant Professor, School of Information Sciences University of Tennessee Knoxville

2. Research Team • Vance Walker • Natasha Hollenbach • Caroline Redmond

3. Agenda • Overview of the Research • Open Source Software Integrated Library Systems (OSS ILSs) • Research Process • Migration Process • Challenges of Adoption

4. Overview of the Research • Four phases • Phase 1: Experiences and expectations • Phase 2: Process of adoption • Phase 3: Building an information portal • Phase 4: Evaluation and follow-up

5. Research Process • Surveys • Interviews • Case study • Phase 4: • OSS ILS follow-up interviews • Proprietary ILS surveys

6. Migration Process“The migration process is painful but it is critical to being happy with your installation after you go live.”

7. Stage in the Process • Fully migrated • Adding libraries • Changing vendors • Mid-cycle development

8. Customization • Prefer original source code • Enhancements for specific environment • Consortia • Enhancements to improve effectiveness • Holds • Overdues

9. Vendor Roles • Maintenance • Enhancements • System hosting • Troubleshooting • Answering questions “Don't be afraid of open source because if you want a fully hosted and fully supported software Koha can be that.”

10. Sources of Technical Support • Vendor • Consortium • Library staff • Neighboring libraries • OSS community listservs “It doesn't have to be scary at all. You can let somebody else take care of all the support for you.”

11. Interaction with OSS Community • Consortium staff only occasionally • Listservs • Local institutions • Development ideas • Asking questions

12. Documentation and Training • Vendor • Consortium • Other libraries • In-house • OSS community • Webinars • Open Web “It's just one of those things where having more people participate and be understanding of what's going on leads to a better product.”

13. Patron Response • Rapid adaptation • No change in interface • Easy search features • Confusion • Holds • Item locations • Errors

14. Staff Response • “Love it” • New hires • Training • Improvements • Frustration • Frequent changes • Response time “The whole point of open source is that you can change it. If you can't change it because you didn't invest in the right kind of expertise, then it's just another vendor that you're entirely dependent on.”

15. Expectations • Low • Development inertia • Poor documentation • Lack of expert support • Need aesthetic enhancements • High • Powerful system for low price “As a tiny library we could never have afforded to get a system, a traditional system that had this kind of dynamics to it and the power that the system has.”

16. Changes to OSS ILSs • Stability • Interface design • Improved modules • Authority control • Consortial sharing • Specific library types • New release documentation

17. Lessons Learned • Realize it’s not “free.” • Let someone else go first. • Get support. “This isn't a one-person task. It takes multiple people and you're going to have to pay for good support or you're going to have to have a lot of in-house support. It's still worth it.” • Give yourself enough time. “You absolutely must have time. It's not something you can do quickly. You can't rush this because your staff deserves more than being rushed into something that you're not prepared for.”

18. More Lessons • Be a sophisticated consumer. “The biggest lesson we have learned is to be very careful in assessing what the state of the software is, and more importantly, what the vendor is like that you're going to be using as a support vendor.” • Clean up your data. • Don’t shortchange your training. “Training is really an ongoing requirement. It's not a one-time thing before you go live. It's something that you need to keep after with people.” • Be comfortable with tweaking. “Kohaadapted to us. We just told Equinox what we wanted and how we wanted things to work and Koha is just flexible enough to work around us.”

19. Challenges of Adoption

20. Proprietary ILSs • Cons • Cost • Slow development • No control • Pros • Mature system • Technical support • User community

21. OSS ILSs • Cons • Hassle • No expertise • Functionality • Reliability • Pros • Cost • Flexibility

22. Publications Singh, V. 2013. A Case Study of Migration to an Open Source ILS: Partnership among State Libraries. Proceedings of the Qualitative and Quantitative Methods in Libraries International Conference(QQML 2013). Singh, V. 2013. Using Open Source Software in Libraries: Implications for Social Justice. Journal of Qualitative and Quantitative Methods in Libraries. (June 2013) Singh, V. 2013.  "Why Migrate to an Open Source ILS?  Librarians with Adoption Experience Share their Reasons and Experiences."  LIBRI International Journal of Libraries and Information Services.  63(2) Singh, V. 2013.  Expectations versus Experiences:  Librarians using Open Source Integrated Library Systems.  The Electronic Library.  31(4) Singh, V. 2013.  "Evaluating and Improving an Information Portal for Open Source Integrated Library Systems."  Proceedings of the 15th International Conference on Human Computer Interaction 2013 (HCI2013) Singh, V. 2013.  The nuts and bolts of migration to open source ILS: Experiences and Recommendations from the librarians.  LIBRI - International Journal of Libraries and Information Services. Singh, V. 2013.  Experiences of Migrating to Open Source Integrated Library Systems.  Information Technology and Libraries. 32(1)  Singh, V. 2012. Open Source Software Use in Libraries: Implications for Social Justice? Proceedings of the Qualitative and Quantitative Methods in Libraries International Conference (QQML 2012). Singh, V. 2012.  Guidelines for Adoption of Open Source Integrated Library Systems.  Tennessee Library Association Annual Conference. Singh, V. 2011.  Technical Support for Open Source ILS.  Tennessee Library Association Conference 2011. Singh, V. 2010.  Comparison of Technical Support for Open Source Software and Proprietary Software.  ASIS&T 73rd Annual Meeting.  Payne, A. & Singh, V. 2010.  Open Source Use in Libraries.  Library Review. 59(9).

23. Websites • Project Website www.oss-research.com • OSS ILS Website www.opensourceils.com

24. OSS ILS Website Overview • Information portal for librarians interested in OSS ILSs • Consolidates the issues • Resources AND research • Within one week: • Over 1000 visits • Over 50 countries

25. Response to Website “I have been trying to investigate the various open source ILS out there, and have been bouncing from place to place without being able to get a good handle on the topic…Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!!” “I am a library technology consultant working in the area of open source ILS… We’ve needed something like what you’ve created for awhile!” “Great work! It is fantastic that you have put so much work into compiling this information and I am sure it will be a great resource for libraries.” “Please accept my thanks for informing us about this site that has been created with plenty of creativity and feeling of selfless giving to others.”

26. Thank you!!!