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The recommendations below contain tips or suggestions for ways to tidy up your data before migration to Alma. This is not a ‘one size fits all’ guide – but a list of local considerations that you can begin to think about. Ex Libris suggests that local data cleaning may streamline the migration process and help to ensure to best possible outcomes. Read Getting Ready for Alma and Discovery Implementation, Appendix A - Fulfillment Simplificationto gain a fuller understanding. As you explore this information in the Ex Libris Knowledge Center, consider keeping the https://knowledge.exlibrisgroup.com/Alma/Product_Documentation/010Alma_Online_Help_(English)/120Alma_Glossary open in a new tab for quick reference.
Organization and Simplification of locations, patrons and item types:
Making sure that records and collections in your original source database are well organized is one thing you can do to ensure a best possible outcome. If there are small collections that no longer need to stand on their own, consider merging them into larger ‘locations’. Depending upon your system, you may choose to merge collections ahead of time OR simply map two collections together upon migration. Note: In Alma, a location is defined as a “physical place where items are stored” that is “associated with a library.” Locationsthat have similar fulfillment (circulation) policies and blocks will become associated with your library’s fulfillment units.
Consider categorizing locations into about five “location type categories” that share common circulation policies: For example: regular loan; limited loan, short loan/reserve, closed stack, and media.
Ex Libris expects that most locations should fit into one of the above categories and recommends that libraries restrict the number of ‘item type’ circulation exceptions to five. The diagram below illustrates the relationship between the bibliographic record, holdings record, location and item records.
Visit https://knowledge.exlibrisgroup.com/Alma/Product_Documentation/010Alma_Online_Help_(English)/040Resource_Management/050Inventory/010Introduction_to_Alma_Inventory#Physical for additional information describing the relationship between ‘location,’ ‘holding’ and ‘item' in the institutional zone (IZ)
consider amalgamating user groups that share common permissions
Tags and Identifiers:
To allow for clean migration, ensure collections are well identified. Consistent tagging is important for moving records from your source collection to Alma locations. From a broader perspective, unique identifiers are essential for record matching in the Network Zone (NZ). In order to migrate your data:
It would be most helpful if all items belonging to a particular item group are consistently tagged with the same MARC field/subfield (e.g., subfield tag in 852 or 9XX). For some systems, this may best be accomplished upon export – other systems may need to have edits performed in advance.
During the migration process, Ex Libris maps these MARC tags to an Alma “location” specific to your Institution Zone (IZ). The migration form used will depend upon your source system. For more information read the https://knowledge.exlibrisgroup.com/Alma/Implementation_and_Migration/Migration_Guides_and_Tutorials/Generic_Alma_Data_Delivery_and_Migration_Guide OR https://knowledge.exlibrisgroup.com/Alma/Implementation_and_Migration/Migration_Guides_and_Tutorials/Symphony_to_Alma_Data_Delivery_and_Migration_Guide.
Network Considerations: According to https://knowledge.exlibrisgroup.com/Alma/Product_Documentation/010Alma_Online_Help_(English)/100Managing_Multiple_Institutions_Using_a_Network_Zone/Discovery_when_Using_a_Network_Zone/010Overview_of_Discovery_when_Using_a_Network_Zone, “availability and delivery for physical resources harvested from Alma are relative to the institution of the view.” Visit https://knowledge.exlibrisgroup.com/Alma/Product_Documentation/010Alma_Online_Help_(English)/100Managing_Multiple_Institutions_Using_a_Network_Zone/01_Overview/01_Overview_of_Collaborative_Networks for an overview of Network Zone (NZ) Functions. Regardless, successful matching is dependent upon accurate unique identifiers, such as SIRSI 035 | a; OCLC 035 | a, etc.
/Product_DocumentationOnlineHelp_(English)/100Managing_Multiple_Institutions_Using_a_Network_Zone/Discovery_when_Using_a_Network_Zone provides insight into publishing records to Primo.for_Consortia describes the process for providing and processing records into a shared consortial environment in Alma from various legacy ILS systems. At the local level, Ex Libris recommends: “that the NZ use fields 900-949 and the IZ uses 950-999. This way the local NZ fields (900-949) are those that are local to the entire consortium where every institutional member uses them, and the local IZ fields (950-999) are those that are local only to the single institution. This is recommended because it is important to be able to retrieve groups of records based on data in specific local fields, and having the same local field used for two different data elements may cause problems in retrieval. During migration, if a 900-949 tag has $9 LOCAL subfield, it is removed and the tag is kept in the NZ.” For additional context, visit Local Extensions (MARC) section of Alma Migration Considerations for Consortia https://knowledge.exlibrisgroup.com/Alma/Implementation_and_Migration/Migration_Guides_and_Tutorials/010Alma_Migration_Considerations_for_Consortia#Non-OCoLC_match_method
The following videos provide insight into functions available through the broader Network Zone (NZ): http://exl-edu.com/01_Alma/Alma_Collaborative_Networks_(Alma_Consortia)/Alma_Collaborative_Networks-Introduction/story_html5.html?lms=1 and http://exl-edu.com/01_Alma/Alma_Collaborative_Networks_(Alma_Consortia)/Shared_Bibliographic_Records_in_the_Network_Zone/story_html5.html?lms=1
2. Identification: To allow for clean migration, ensure collections are well identified. In order to migrate your data:
– It would be most helpful if all items belonging to a particular item group are consistently tagged with the same MARC field/subfield (e.g., subfield tag in 852 or 9XX). For some systems, this may best be accomplished upon export – other systems may need to have edits performed in advance.
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Network_Zone/Discovery_when_Using_a_Network_Zone provides insight into publishing records to Primo.
Extraneous identifiers
Additional Data Preparations (Ex Libris):
The additional suggestions below are from Getting Ready for Alma and Discovery Implementation, Appendix B - Optional Data Preparations. This appendix can help you decide which clean-up efforts are a priority for your library – not everything will be relevant to all libraries. Examples of other data cleaning could work include:
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Library and collection identification tags:
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Bibliographic, holdings and item data
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Enumeration
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Statuses and codes (as discussed under #1 above)
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Old/inconsistent data (includes old patron records, fines beyond a certain date and/or less than a certain amount; old POs etc.)
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Library and collection names
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Patron, vendor, library contact names
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E-resource and package resources
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Electronic Resource Handling in Alma Migration:
Note: The P2E instruction below applies to local electronic records that are not likely to be found in Alma’s CZ/Central KnowledgeBase (CKB) or cannot be migrated via the link resolver form.
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Please see the Notes on P2E Processing below for tips on migrating these local resources. For more information on migrating electronic resources see https://knowledge.exlibrisgroup.com/Alma/Implementation_and_Migration/Migration_Guides_and_Tutorials/Electronic_Resource_Migration_General and https://knowledge.exlibrisgroup.com/Alma/Implementation_and_Migration/Migration_Guides_and_Tutorials/E-Resource_Activations. A separate, more complete guide is being developed for eResource activation.
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To know which databases are available in the Community Zone (CZ), download the latest Alma Static Collection spreadsheet at https://knowledge.exlibrisgroup.com/Alma/Content_Corner/Supporting_Resources/Alma_Community_Zone_Collection_List.
Notes P2E (Physical to Electronic) Processing: Due to Alma’s database structure, local catalogue records for electronic resources are migrated as physical resources, then changed into electronic resources viahttps://knowledge.exlibrisgroup.com/Alma/Implementation_and_Migration/Migration_Guides_and_Tutorials/Physical_to_Electronic_(P2E)_processing. In brief, this involves the following steps:
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Ensure the links for locally catalogued eResources in your source system are active.
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Consistently
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identify/
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tag catalogued eResources in your source database (If not done already). You’ll be mapping these tags to ‘locations’ and identifying these locations as electronic resources on the Alma Location mapping tab. The bibliographic records for these collections will be sent to Ex Libris along with the rest of your collection.
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Creation of an input file (csv format) of bib record numbers that correspond to the eResource collections that you are migrating from your source system (e.g., from MARC 001). The migration specialists will match this file to the corresponding recently imported bibliographic records in Alma to create electronic portfolios.
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Once migrated, Ex Libris may guide you to run a job in Alma to update your proxy prefix if changes are made to local authentication policies. Running this job in Alma will update user access via Primo
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5. Network Zone Considerations for Clean Up: https://knowledge.exlibrisgroup.com/Alma/Implementation_and_Migration/Migration_Guides_and_Tutorials/010Alma_Migration_Considerations_for_Consortia#Non-OCoLC_match_method
considering identifier clean up (before or after)
ensure local information is marked appropriately and kept at local level. Ex Libris makes this recommendation: “that the NZ use fields 900-949 and the IZ uses 950-999. This way the local NZ fields (900-949) are those that are local to the entire consortium where every institutional member uses them, and the local IZ fields (950-999) are those that are local only to the single institution. This is recommended because it is important to be able to retrieve groups of records based on data in specific local fields, and having the same local field used for two different data elements may cause problems in retrieval. During migration, if a 900-949 tag has $9 LOCAL subfield, it is removed and the tag is kept in the NZ.” For additional context, visit Local Extensions (MARC) section of Alma Migration Considerations for Consortia https://knowledge.exlibrisgroup.com/Alma/Implementation_and_Migration/Migration_Guides_and_Tutorials/010Alma_Migration_Considerations_for_Consortia#Non-OCoLC_match_method
Extraneous identifiers
more to come….
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Analytics:
Consider running past loan/usage statistics/analyses prior to migration, as only key fields/subfields will be migrated. More to come….
ExLibris Migration Resources - Getting Ready
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