Work Types Covered by this AgreementAlexandria 5 or 6 Move to Alexandria 7This conversion consists of converting data from the Alexandria Legacy version to the current Alexandria 7 Release. Please make sure to review the “What You Need To Do” section so that you are prepared for the changes. Single Site Merger to Centralized DatabaseIt is imperative to prepare your single site or facility data before it is merged into a centralized group database. When merged, any existing data issues can become greatly compounded. It is also very important that you prepare your users for the differences in program functionality between single site management and management of a centralized database. It is imperative that a district representative be selected as mouthpiece, decision maker, and go-between for the individual site librarians. This role is usually filled by a district librarian. This individual is in charge of deciding on specific, detailed, and carefully chosen work expectations and policies around how MARC records are imported, what MARC fields are used, the format that data should be entered into those fields, and other work habits that everyone in the district must share. These decisions must be made, thoroughly regulated, and adhered to due to the shared nature of a centralized database. In a centralized database the data, including MARC records and many preferences, are shared by the entire group; i.e. each and every site or facility under the centralized database umbrella. An official Alexandria training individually for the district librarian is very strongly recommended, as well as a separate one in which the district librarian instructs alongside our trainer how the new centralized group of librarians and users will need to be using the new program setup. Any Specialty Data Work Before and After the Conversion; Including Having Your Collection “Cleaned Up”, or if Your Records Are Being Manipulated By One of Our Third Party ServicesAfter the conversion, we can do basic database verifications and audit record counts. It is up to you to review the details of your data after the requested work has been performed and ask questions or bring up possible issues to the attention of the COMPanion team. However, due to the complexity of the conversion, once we’ve made the converted database available you should review the data in your database ASAP as we require YOU to review the converted data to identify issues with the conversion so that we can address them ASAP. This allotted 2 weeks should be enough time to review the data in Alexandria and bring any questions or issues to our Support and Conversion Teams for review. The sooner we know about possible issues that might have occurred during conversion the better. Correcting any issues past 2 weeks can cause the fix to become increasingly more difficult to address and correct (if even possible at all). We will do everything within our capabilities during the 2 week review period to assist with any questions or fix any problems that are due to errors during the conversion process and not due to limitations of the compatibility of the programs. If issues arise past the 2-week review period, customers will be accountable for making corrections themselves or will have the option to pay for database cleanup and possibly restoration or a new conversion. If You Are Moving Your Current Alexandria Database from Distributed Catalogs into a an Existing Centralized Catalog or Splitting One or More Catalogs from an Existing Centralized DatabaseYou will need to go through Item and Patron policies as well as other preferences that are not carried over when splitting or combining databases. A thorough audit of all preferences is advised. Make sure to verify newly added or split operator logins, as well. You will also want to verify accuracy of the newly added records, keeping in mind for potential adjustment or affects upon the existing data (MARC merges, etc.). This should include consideration for eBook titles as a title record is not site specific and therefore belongs to all sites. When moving to a single site from a centralized database your item export will not include eBook titles without copies. You will want to work with your vendors to gather eBook import files for you to import into your database after the split has been completed by the COMPanion Conversions team. For more Centralized management information please see the “Single Site Merger to Centralized Database” section above. If You Are Converting from a Non-Alexandria LIS Database to an Alexandria DatabaseBe aware that only your items (Titles and Copies) will convert unless otherwise specified in your order. You will not lose any data in your MARC records, although Alexandria may not “see” some data due to deviations from standards. Customer Support can help correct some of those differences once you’ve identified them. In addition, Customer Support can assist you with importing patrons or using one of the automatic SIS integration options available with Alexandria. |