Lambton College_Onboarding Discussions

Lambton College_Bibliographic record discussion

Rebecca Pearson; Angela Ashton; Danielle Emon; Liana Giovando

Meeting Notes - September 28, 2021

Summary of Mandarin Database

MARC Bib records: - Mandarin's encoding format MARC-8 encoding; structure holdings and barcodes in 852; no authority records

·         Reached out to Mandarin

·         Almost all items in database are physical

·         Around 8,600 records

·         Holdings 10,000 items

·         Not a cloud; M3 server is local and housed at Lambton

·         Equipment mixed in with bib records.

Loans (active); Hold requests; Fines/fee - transaction file requirements; .csv OCLS to absorb cost for extra report writing.

Patron file – requirements for loading to Alma.  Note:  This patron file is used prior to cutover so that loans, fines, holds, etc., can be moved over to Alma.  At some point it should be overwritten by the SIS load.

October 1 test file requirements discussed and summarized in Basecamp discussion Oct. 1 Deadline: What's Due for Centriva/Mandarin/Evergreen sites:

• Bibliographic

• Holdings

• Patron file

• Items on loan

• Requests

• Fines/Fees

Questions about priorities data cleaning in the short term (prior to test and cutover loads)

Danielle mentioned that the resolving the following will help with migration and mapping:

1. Fines/Fees - decide what fines and fees can go, and what needs to remain. Sept 30th update: Lambton has chosen to NOT migrate any fines/fees.

2. Purging/deletions – purge all expired patrons; purge withdrawn bibliographic and holdings records

3. Tags for locations – assign location tags to groups of items that will need different terms of use (loan periods, etc.) in Alma. Consistent tags will be helpful for clean mapping to Alma locations, e.g., DVDs, any streaming video, books, equipment, etc.

 Discussion - September 30, 2021 - 10:00 AM

Rebecca Pearson; Angela Ashton; Nicole Domonchuk; Liana Giovando; Danielle Emon

• Bibliographic records done

• .csv files going well

• Have been able to build patron file of those with active loans

• Nicole has expressed concern about about security of patron information and eventual matching of test patron file with SIS load in Alma. Nicole would prefer that NO patron data go to Ex Libris until after a conversation has been had with Lambton ITS. ACTION: Nicole to discuss with David (Lambton, ITS); Danielle to forward content for Lambton to review. (Done - links below)

September 30, 2021 – 3:30 PM - 4:00 pm

Andrea B (EXL); Leana Giovando; Angela Ashton; Nicole Domonchuk; Rebecca Pearson;

Questions:

Nicole – Questions/Comments:

• Is a small sample good enough?  Why does EXL need whole file?

• Lambton IT counterpart (Dave) has no concerns with security; but Nicole does need approval to share the student information.

• Does Alma create a unique identifier on its own for each patron record?  If so, why do we need to send from Mandarin. What is best to send?

Andrea Bainbridge (EXL)

File now needs to have all the numbers we will use in the end

there is Cloud app available for Lambton to load patrons if necessary – however there may be drawbacks to this route. Easier for Lambton to submit file to EXL.

 Danielle

• Discussed role of Mandarin IDs for system operation

• Need for unique ID that is recognized by SIS and Alma for patron file update & maintenance

• Need for email for service delivery in Alma

• Offered to share a test xml file scrubbed of any info to show how student number can work as primary ID

 Rebecca:

• If student number is used as Original_ID can an ID be used for two fields -- discussion on field mapping names.

 Nicole: 

• can a unique ID could be mapped to two fields?

 Andrea:  

• explained how fields are set up in Alma; noted that ExL field mapping form is used to funnel information to the appropriate field in Alma; a separate form identifies which information is to be assigned as Primary ID

• Andrea: to find out if we need 2 separate field headers if we are using the same number – or can we simply use the barcode as unique ID

  • Answer by email: “Hi, all. I consulted with Olivia and Jessica, about the migration and SIS implications for the patron IDs, and they concurred:

     It is sufficient for patrons to migrate with only the two IDs we discussed in the call: 1) the Mandarin ID (for linking to loans) and 2) the library Barcode, which should be specified as the primary ID. As long as your Colleague system recognizes the barcode value as the primary ID, there should be no issues with the SIS integration. (And, there is no need to submit two fields with a duplicate value, or map the barcode field to more than one other Alma field.)”