SirsiDynix Project Manager's Weekly Project Status Report #2

Project Status Report

Site Name: Memphis Public Library
Date: 02/24/06
Project Manager: Amanda Little
Sales Representative: Laurie Chase
Client Contact: Steve Foster and Alan Stewart

Major Activities/ Meetings Completed:
• Tuesday weekly call
• Library working on policies
• Received and answered Holds questions
• Steve returned the completed Pre-Installation Guide to training

Activities/Meetings Scheduled for Next Week:
• Continue working on policies
• Call scheduled for Tuesday February 28thst 2pm.
• Meet the trainer call scheduled for February 27th at 11am

Project Status:
1. Access –
2. Hardware – Servers have been ordered, library is beginning to receive some of the hardware.
3. Software –
4. Policies – Library is currently working on policies
5. Data – A successful test data extraction has been completed.
6. Training – The first week of training is scheduled for April 10-14
7. Schedule – All activities are on schedule.

Training Schedule - October 17 - 18

Note: This schedule was updated on October 3, 2006.

All training sessions are three hours long.

Day	Morning	Afternoon
Tuesday	Reports, pt. 1	Reports, pt. 2
Wednesday	Reports, pt. 3	Pocket Circ

Training Schedule - Week 2 - Aug. 28 - Sept. 1

Note: This schedule was updated on August 4, 2006.

All training sessions are three hours long.

Day	Morning	Afternoon
Monday	Essential Skills	Essential Skills
Tuesday	Acquisitions, pt. 1	Acquisitions, pt. 2
Wednesday	Acquisitions, pt. 3	Acquisitions, pt. 4
Thursday	Serials, pt. 1	Serials, pt. 2
Friday	Serials, pt. 3	Serials, pt. 4

Training Schedule - Week 1 - April 10 - 14

All training sessions are three hours long. Morning sessions will begin at 9:00 a.m. and end at 12 noon. Afternoon sessions will begin at 1:00 and end at 4:00.

Day	Morning	Afternoon
Monday	Essential Skills	Essential Skills
Tuesday	Essential Skills	Essential Skills
Wednesday	Cataloging, pt. 1	Cataloging, pt. 2
Thursday	Circulation, pt. 1	Circulation, pt. 2
Friday	Cataloging, pt. 1	Cataloging, pt. 2

Sirsi Onsite Training - An Overview

Revised Sept. 19, 2006.

The "deliverables" that MPLIC is acquiring from SirsiDynix include a considerable amount of staff training. Many MPLIC staff members will be trained directly by SirsiDynix staff using a generic Unicorn ILS system and database. Most of this training will take place in the Computer Training Room at the Central Library during three weeks in April, August-September, and October. Staff trained in these classes will then have access to self-paced e-learning courses that they can take in their own locations as many times as needed before our "Go Live" date on March 15, 2007. Many of these staff members will become trainers for their co-workers throughout the system.

The classes to be taught onsite by SirsiDynix trainers will include:

Essential Skills for Workflows and EPS/Rooms
A 3-hour class which serves as a prerequisite for all other Unicorn WorkFlows courses. Attendees will learn how to navigate the Workflows interface and the EPS/Rooms OPAC (Online Public Access Catalog).

Cataloging
A one-day class in which attendees will learn how the WorkFlows Cataloging module manages title control data, bibliographic descriptions, and volume and item information; how to create, edit, duplicate, and remove bibliographic records; how to maintain MARC and authority data within the library’s catalog; how to import bibliographic records into the Unicorn catalog via SmartPort or reports; and more.

Circulation
A one-day class designed to provide a basic understanding of the Unicorn Circulation software capabilities and a navigation overview of those functions in the WorkFlows client. The ultimate goal is to train key library staff members so that they in turn may act as trainers for others at their locations. Attendees will learn how to register and modify borrowers; charge, discharge, and renew materials; and more.

Acquisitions
A two-day class designed to provide a basic understanding of the capabilities of the Unicorn Acquisitions software with an overview of navigating those functions in the WorkFlows client. Topics include creating funds, vendors, orders, and invoices. Attendees will also have an opportunity to work practice exercises utilizing what they learn. This class also discusses basic Acquisition reports.

Serials
A two-day class designed to provide a basic understanding of the capabilities of the Unicorn Serials Control software and an overview of navigating those functions in WorkFlows. The ultimate goal of the Serials Control Training Course is to train essential library staff members so that they in turn act as trainers for others. Attendees will learn how to create vendor records, search for existing titles, create serial control records, receive issues, claim issues, and more.

Reports
A one-day class intended for system administrators and other library staff who want to learn how to collect information from the Unicorn system. Attendees will learn how to run a report; determine appropriate report type to run to meet job objectives; interpret report logs/results and identify errors; and more.

PocketCirc
A 2-hour class which will train key staff on the operation of Sirsi's PocketCirc devices, wireless handheld PDAs which allow staff to perform online and offline circulation and inventory operations away from the desk.

Materials Booking
A 3-hour class which provides an overview of the Unicorn Materials Booking Module, which allows for the reserving of library materials or facilities (such as meeting rooms) for a specified time period.

SirsiDynix Project Manager's Weekly Project Status Report #1

Project Status Report

Site Name: Memphis Public Library
Date: 02/17/06

Project Manager: Amanda Little
Sales Representative: Laurie Chase
Client Contact: Steve Foster and Alan Stewart

Major Activities/ Meetings Completed
Setup weekly call for the project
Library working on policies
Received and answered OPAC questions
Sent answers to follow up questions from the pre-installation visit.

Activities/ Meetings Scheduled for Next Week
Continue working on policies
Call schedule for Tuesday February 21st 2pm.

Project Status
1. Access –
2. Hardware – Servers have been ordered
3. Software –
4. Policies – Library is currently working on policies
5. Data –
6. Training – The first week of training is scheduled for April 10-14
7. Schedule –

Logo image used courtesy of SirsiDynix.

Sirsi Unicorn OPAC examples

The new Sirsi Unicorn ILS will bring a new look to the MPLIC web site and to the online public access catalog (OPAC) via the Enterprise Portal Solution (EPS). Over the next several months, the Unicorn Policy Creation Team and the EPS Team will be making decisions about how bibliographic and item information will be displayed to customers. The sites below are provided to aid these team members in reviewing our available options. Other MPLIC staff may also be interested in getting a preview of our future public interface.

EPS Rooms Demonstration Site
The EPS interface is so new that a full "live" implementation is not yet available for public viewing, but SirsiDynix's demonstration site includes the features that we will gain in our new system, including federated searching, subject "rooms," and an enhanced OPAC with cover art and reviews.

Oxnard Public Library
This small California library system has a partial implementation of EPS as of Feb. 15, 2006.

There are also many implementations of Sirsi's earlier catalog interface, iBistro, which include many of the same enhanced OPAC features we will have with EPS. Here are a few examples:

Anne Arundel County Public Library
The Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County
Fairfax County Public Library
Kansas City Public Library
Knox County Public Library

If you have any difficulty accessing any of these sites, please let me know.

Screenshot image used courtesy of SirsiDynix.

Pre-Implementation Timeline

The selection of the Sirsi Unicorn ILS and the beginning of MPLIC’s implementation was preceded by many months of work. The following “pre-implementation” timeline is adapted from a memo Steve Foster sent to all staff on Sept. 30, 2005.

2004

February
Library Director met with City Administration seeking capital improvement project (CIP) funding to procure a new integrated library system (ILS) for the library.

March
Central Library Senior Agency Managers formed a task force to investigate Public Services ILS needs and priorities. Over the next several months a survey was designed to gather input from Central and branch staff.

July 12
Sirsi CEO, Patrick Sommers; Stephen Abrams, VP of Innovation; and Laurie Chase, National Account Manager presented at a joint meeting of members of the Administrative Cabinet and Public Services Group.

November 9-10
Two-day Sirsi/MPLIC Technical Services Summit Meeting – Sirsi participants included Jane Grawemeyer, Sirsi Technical Services Product Manager; Laurie Chase; MPLIC attendees included managers and staff from Acquisitions, Cataloging, Materials Services, Collection Development, Serials and Government Documents.

November 17
Two-hour WebEx presentation covering Link Plus bindery automation software solution, and Sirsi’s Director Station data mining, analysis, and report generating solution; Sirsi participants included Jeff Schilling, Director of Sales Support, Laurie Chase; MPLIC attendees included the Support Services Manager, Material Services Supervisor and Serials staff.

2005

January 19
Two-hour WebEx presentation covering Sirsi Unicorn Circulation, Sirsi iBistro Web Catalog, Sirsi Single Search, and Sirsi Resolver were presented at the January Circulation Services Users Group Meeting – Sirsi Participants included Jeff Schilling and Laurie Chase; MPLIC attendees included circulation supervisors from branches and Central, the Circulation Services Senior Manager, Central Library Public Services Manager and Automated Services staff.

January 26-27
Two-day Sirsi/MPLIC Public Services Summit Meeting: Sirsi participants included Jeff Schilling and Laurie Chase; MPLIC attendees included total of about 20 public services managers and staff. Sirsi products reviewed included iBistro, Single Search, Resolver, Unicorn WorkFlows Java Client, Enterprise Portal Solution and others.

February 26–March 2
Ten library staff members providing representation from public and technical services attended the Sirsi Super Conference to network with peers and benchmark against former DRA Classic libraries that had made the decision to migrate to the Sirsi Unicorn ILS, and to acquire additional insights provided by attending the conference’s users and executive tracks.

March 11–April 30
Obtained Sirsi ILS quotation for software, hardware, project management and implementation services, training, maintenance support.

May–June
Finalized Sirsi ILS contract documents and list of deliverables.

July–August
City Administration completed review of contract documents and list of deliverables. City Administration completed a resolution to appropriate CIP funding to procure the Sirsi ILS.

September 6-20
Library Director met with City Council’s Education, Arts Youth Initiatives & Libraries Committee to address questions about the ILS resolution. Council Committee passes resolution to appropriate CIP funding to procure the Sirsi ILS. Full Council passes the resolution on September 20th.

September 26–October 7
Contract execution was completed. Planning for implementation of the new Sirsi ILS began.

Sirsi ILS Components - A Guide

The Library's contract with SirsiDynix includes a lengthy list of components, or "deliverables." Staff will be hearing a lot about these components over the next 15 months. Some of them have self-explanatory names, but others may seem mysterious.

This list of Sirsi ILS components includes links to web pages on the SirsiDynix public site (or in a few cases, the web sites of their technology partners) that provide more information about the components. In some cases, the page is an introduction that will itself link to further documentation.

A number of Unicorn modules that do not have web pages or documents specifically devoted to them are covered in the Unicorn Technical Overview PDF document.

In many cases, Management Team members will be able to access more information by logging into the Sirsi Client Care site.

Please report any broken links to Alan Stewart.

Software
Unicorn ILS Software Suite: multi-library configuration, w/ embedded Oracle database
Workflows Staff Client (450 users)
Bibliographic Control Module
Authority Control Module
SmartPort Z39.50 Copy Cataloging
Reporting Module and MARC Import/Export Utilities
Acquisitions and Fund Accounting Module
Electronic Data Interchange (EDI)
MARC Order Loader Interface for Acquisitions
Serials Check-in and Control Module
LincPLUS Bindery Software
Collection Exchange Module
Circulation Control Module: includes inventory control
Backup Circulation
SVA Telephone Notification and Renewal: includes English and Spanish language interfaces
iBistro: includes web catalog w/ my favorites, most popular, buy now, announcements, users requests, information module, alternate language interfaces (Spanish, French, Chinese, Arabic & others)
Kids Catalog
Z39.50 Version 3 Server
Enterprise Portal System
Single Search Federated Searching System
Authenticated Commercial Resource Plug-ins: setup, Single Search Access Profiles
Open URL Resolver Management System
Rooms 2.0 (10 Rooms Starter Pack and Best of the Web)
SIP2 Interface Site License: for all SIRSI Certified Vendors
Hyperion Digital Media Archive: includes license for 50,000 documents
Materials Booking Module
Collection Agency Interface
Director’s Station
Complete Electronic System Documentation: includes updates and internal distribution rights
Unicorn Training and Software Testing Environment

Subscriptions
Application Interface (API) Software: ability to customize ILS source code
SmartSource MARC Cataloging LC MARC & LC Authority Database
iBistro DataStream for Public Libraries: includes content data base enrichment with Hot Sites, Best Sellers Lists, Reviews, Summaries, Table of Contents, Author Biographies, First Chapters, Cover Images and Annotations
Docutek Information System, Inc. VRLPlus Virtual Reference: includes online shared browsing, IM, session logging, e-mail and statistics/reports
Sirsi Secure Resources: remote database backup storage and disaster recovery service

Services
Project Management and Implementation Services
Data Migration Services
Pre-installation Consulting (onsite and 10 Weeks SureStart telephone consultations)
Acquisitions Workflow Consulting (two days onsite and a workflow recommendations report)Serials & Government Documents Workflow Consulting (two days onsite and a workflow recommendations report)
Circulation Workflow Consulting (two days onsite and a workflow recommendations report)Demand Management Workflow Consulting (holds/reserves) (two days onsite and a workflow recommendations report)
Education & Training: Unicorn, iBistro, Single Search, Resolver, Rooms, API, Collection Exchange, Hyperion, Director’s Station, etc.
Unlimited Access to all SIRSI e-learning courses during training and implementation

Hardware
New Computer Room Hardware: Sun Servers, Sun Solaris OS
Pocket Circ Devices for all libraries
Bluesocket Wireless Network Solution for all libraries

Pre-Installation Site Visit -- February 7 - 9

Our Sirsi Unicorn project manager, Amanda Little, will be coming to Memphis Public Library for a three-day Pre-Installation Visit and Consultation on February 7 - 9. The purpose of the visit is to begin discussions about our options for configuring the ILS system parameters, called policies, to make the system software work as well as possible to meet our needs. Amanda will be working with members of the Unicorn Policy File and Data Migration Teams through the three days of her visit.