Alma testing and preparations have been continuing throughout July.  An Alma information page has now been published on LibNet and this will be enhanced and kept up to date between now and go-live, including further information on the implications for our library users.

Training on the new system is being planned for August and you will soon receive your invitation to training.

Training sessions will include show and tell of the new system and hands-on practice.

To complement the classroom training session in each area, Alma step-by-step user guides are being developed for each functional area.  These will be shared on time for training and stored on LibNet for ease of access.

We appreciate this is a peak annual leave period and will we do our utmost to cater for people’s availability.

If you have any questions, please feel free to raise them with the project team: isd.lmsproject@ucl.ac.uk

The Alma project team is pleased to share their latest update:

While the world is busy watching international football teams competing in the world cup, somewhere in UCL our own Alma midfielders have been playing ball in a game of testing and configuration.

And just like in a top league game, after the official kick off, there may be sweat, challenges and a long second half before we can hit our goal.

Over May and June, the project team conducted a series of drop in sessions to give staff the opportunity to get an overview of the project and schedule for the remaining months as well as raising any questions they may have.

We would like to thank everyone who came to meet us. We have collated the questions in an FAQ document which we will be sharing through LibNet very soon.

To make this transition as smooth as possible for everyone we are currently engaging with managers to plan the training on Alma across all sites and to communicate about the support channels available. You will receive separate communications via emails about the training plan and schedule within your team.

Keep calm and carry on

Undoubtedly replacing Aleph for Alma is one of the biggest changes that Library Services will go through in a long time and it will bring challenges.

Some things to keep in mind:

• The system will not be perfect from go live: we could still discover bugs after go live and fixes will need to be developed
• Being trained on the new system and using the system on a daily basis are two different things. The pupil will soon become the master!
• We all learn at a different pace; mutual assistance, knowledge sharing and patience are key.

Well spotted!

We have asked our colleagues to share their favourite thing about Alma:

“Because Alma is cloud based (online) you can make the page and font bigger or smaller”

“We used to complete one of our tasks in Aleph going through 15 steps, in Alma the same task can now be completed in just 10 steps!”

“I can use multiple browser tabs to keep multiple Alma pages open at the same time.  In Aleph you had to exit a page each time before switching to a new one”

A series of ‘drop-in’ sessions will be held over the next few weeks to give Library staff the opportunity to come and meet the project team and raise any question they may have.  These sessions will focus on an overview of the project, the schedule for the remaining months, and an opportunity to register queries.  They won’t cover detailed functional matters, but please feel free to raise any question and if an answer cannot be given at the time, we will follow up with you afterwards.

Each session will last 30 minutes and then be repeated.

The first sessions have been arranged at the below locations and are open to anyone.

• Wednesday 23 May – School of Pharmacy 1400-1430 and 1430-1500 (room B37)
• Tuesday 5 June – Science Library 1000-1030 and 1030-1100 (room 417)
• Wednesday 13 June – Science Library 1300-1330 and 1330-1400 (room 417)

Feel free to contact the project team at any time via the project inbox: isd.lmsproject@ucl.ac.uk

Project update

Spring has sprung, birds have returned and the Alma project team have gone through a migration of their own.

We are pleased to announce that the test data migration from Aleph to Alma has been completed.  The Digital Libraries team and the functional leads have entered a phase of testing and configuration of the new environment.

In parallel, training material demonstrating the new workflows and using the new terminology will be created, and staff training is being planned.

Training sessions for each functional area will be coordinated in collaboration with the project team and team managers.  Separate communications will be issued soon with more details.

Thank you again for your support and participation.

Click on this demo screenshot from Alma to view it at full size.

The project to implement Alma is now well underway and on schedule for launch by the end of August 2018.  The project team from Library Services (Digital Libraries Team members plus a lead person in each functional area) is in place, supported by ISD project staff and the project board chaired by Martin Moyle.  They have together been preparing the Aleph and SFX data for migration, receiving core training on the new system, and considering how Alma will be set up.  Alma is a new generation library management system which streamlines processes across different types of library resource and offers a modern, web-based interface for library staff.  Many core functions meanwhile will remain familiar from working with Aleph.

The leads for each functional area are:

Jason Hobart – Customer service
Mike Jones – E-resources
Phil Leonard – Inter-library loans and stores delivery
Bill Martin – Acquisitions
Thomas Meehan – Cataloguing and metadata
Matthew Reynolds – Welcome services

As part of the project, we need to ensure that Alma delivers all the intended benefits and supports library staff in delivering excellent customer service.  Many of you are already contributing to shaping Alma and we will continue to seek your input and help you get ready for the transition.  The training programme is now being devised, working with team leaders across the library sites to ensure the most suitable content, format and schedule for the needs of different sections.

Project communications will become more frequent and more detailed in the coming months.  We will be releasing regular progress updates, but please do contact the project team through the dedicated mailbox, isd.lmsproject@ucl.ac.uk, at any time with queries, suggestions or feedback.

In terms of direct impact on our library users, this will primarily be felt through changes in Explore and SFX.  Explore will continue to be the way users interact with our catalogue.  Even though Alma is web-based, it is a back-end system to which only library staff will log in.  The new interface to Explore, which has been running in parallel during this academic year, will become the sole interface from September, with Alma bringing some minor changes.  Again, this is a new, cleaner interface with mobile-friendly features.  We are already working with colleagues to update user guides and training to reflect these changes, and further information will follow.

Thank you all for your contribution to this important development.

As you will remember, we recently began the project to procure and implement a new Library Management System to replace Aleph and SFX, as a core deliverable of the Library Strategy 2015-2018.

We are delighted to announce that the contract has now been signed for the replacement solution, Alma, the new-generation cloud based service from Ex Libris.

The new application is expected to bring many benefits for Library Services staff such as:

• Enhanced staff user experience
• Streamlined cross system workflows and processes. This will improve efficiency and reduce the time currently spent managing information in multiple systems
• Opportunities to enhance our services to students and other library users, through analytical tools and through interfaces with other services in UCL and beyond

The new system is expected to go live by the end of August 2018.

The project to design and implement the new system is a collaboration with ISD.  A project board (chaired by Martin Moyle), project team (from ISD), and a core implementation team in Library Services have been appointed and will be working closely together to ensure a smooth transition onto the new system.  All teams will be trained and supported, and opportunity for feedback will be provided throughout the process.

We intend to release frequent communications to keep you informed on the progress of the project and a project mailbox has been set up, to which you can send any questions you might have: isd.lmsproject@ucl.ac.uk

Thank you in advance for your efforts and support on this exciting project.