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Libraries Migrating into NC Cardinal

This is a living document under Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/legalcode) and is available to share under the same license.
  • 1. The Migration Timeline
    • 1.1. Sample Implementation Schedule
    • 1.2. Migration Conference Calls
  • 2. Getting Your Data Ready
    • 2.1. If You Need To Rebarcode Your Collection
    • 2.2. Choosing a Barcode
    • 2.3. Equipment Specifications
    • 2.4. Preparing for Migration
    • 2.5. Things To Think About To Prepare For Data Mapping
    • 2.6. Library Settings Documentation
    • 2.7. Library Data Mapping Documentation
    • 2.8. Circulation, Holds, and Workflow Documentation
  • 3. Getting Staff Ready
    • 3.1. Migration Team
    • 3.2. Migration Training
    • 3.3. Differences your staff may see migrating to Evergreen
  • 4. Getting Patrons Ready
    • 4.1. Differences your patrons may see migrating to Evergreen
    • 4.2. Marketing Communication Materials and Timeline
    • 4.3. Patron Training Materials for Migration
  • 5. Offline and Go Live
    • 5.1. Go Live Checklist
    • 5.2. Go Live week for incoming library systems
  • 6. After the Migration
    • 6.1. Start Resource Sharing

1. The Migration Timeline

1.1. Sample Implementation Schedule


Sample Implementation Schedule for Incoming Library Systems

 





1.2. Migration Conference Calls

Sample migration information with incoming library system & Cardinal



  • Establish who will be on calls and make decisions
    • Circ staff
    • Cataloging staff
    • Decision makers
    • Introduce Blake: technical issues, ILS extraction
    • Introduce Debbie: Training, issues she needs to know about, training space needs, machines, close circ 
    • Mentor Cardinal library system for internal questions (who?)

  • Establish routine call date and times
    • Remember Holiday Schedules
    • Data mapping is time sensitive for migration
    • Basecamp introduction/discussion 

  • Look internally at circ / hold / patron policies
  • Talk about go-live week scheduling/planning and promotion to patrons
  • Communication
    • Conference calls with join.me
    • Basecamp
  • MOBIUS (or hosting vendor) access to Incoming System's data (by a defined date)


  • Begin process with Data Mapping worksheets and discussions/milestones
    • Logistics with Blake: Google docs? When, where & how? Coordination call(s), dates for steps (refer to Project Schedule with dates)
    • Library settings and Policies - deadline?
    • Data Review - deadline
    • Notifications and OPAC configuration worksheets - deadline
    • Receipt configuration
    • SIP accounts created | MOBIUS needs credentials for connectivity
      • Hosted Proxy with NC Live
      • FYI: Summon?
  • Staff accounts created
  • Cardinal Cataloging Best Practices - TBD
  • Cardinal Resource Sharing Best Practices - TBD
              Date for Go-Live, training, UPS account, scale, etc.
  • Cardinal staff will be entering all circulation and hold policies, as well as library settings and notice configuration, so we need to schedule that, as well
    • Online OPAC training (Debbie)
    • Two weeks before in person training
    • OPAC search preferences, discuss and set up
    • Offline mode discussion
  • Cardinal Environmental Scan
    • Frontline — Cardinal representative
    • Cataloging - Contact Cataloging Committee


  • On-site Training
    • Test receipts
    • Admin training during Cataloger training?


  • Staff test, test, test Evergreen


  • Blake Data pull (specific logistics?)
    • Cataloging freeze- two weeks prior? (loading bibs?)
    • Their old OPAC goes down (Fri before?)
    • Item info (week of migration)
    • Patron data (Monday morning?)
  • Cataloging freeze for consortium - can add holdings but no deletions


  • Offline Mode
    • Week of GoLive (Monday-Wednesday)
    • Download Offline transactions - Wednesday evening | Library system close early
    • Cardinal team: Process transactions Wed. night
  • GoLive
    • Thursday and Friday
      • Library system open later | staff backdate returned items
      • Travel to branches
      • Public computer manager: (SIP accounts created early)
      • IT person on site
      • Field questions & troubleshoot - Cardinal and MOBIUS
      • Use Basecamp!
      • Reports/Admin training follow up - Friday

2. Getting Your Data Ready

2.1. If You Need To Rebarcode Your Collection

Not everyone needs to rebarcode their collection, but if your barcode range overlaps with another library in the system, or has a small number of digits, then you may need to rebarcode your collection before joining Cardinal.


Below is some advice from Rishara Finsel, the Library Director at Transylvania County Public Library from the time she went through a rebarcoding project while at Polk County.

Rebarcoding is a big project; there's no sugarcoating that. We rebarcoded slightly more than 50,000 items and it took us a year and a day.

Time: We use RFID, so we also had to reprogram those tags, and we also switched to RFID stingray tags on discs while we were at it. This made our process a lot more involved than a simple barcode replacement. We estimate that it took about 45-50 seconds per item, on average, to rebarcode and reprogram RFID tags. I'm guessing that about 30 seconds per item is a generous estimate for just rebarcoding, though it will depend on your ILS and set-up. We didn't have a time crunch, so generally treated it as a side project, which is why it took a year. It certainly could have been done in a shorter timeframe, but the overall staff hours needed wouldn't change much, regardless of whether those staff hours are spread out or scheduled for a shorter deadline.

Process: We made a master map of the collection, and my tech services librarian used that to track progress and direct people where to work. We usually had two different collection areas being worked at any given time, with different people working on each. We made a mobile station with a laptop, barcode scanner, and stack of barcodes that we took to the stacks to rebarcode most of the books. In some cases, with media and with smaller collections, we filled a cart with items and took them to a staff workstation and rebarcoded there; that usually only happened at our smaller branch (which wasn't big enough to make a mobile station worthwhile) or when the mobile station was in use elsewhere. Working in the stacks was generally more efficient. 

Who: We had a variety of staff working on rebarcoding, as well as three very trusted long-term volunteers. My tech services librarian kept a loose schedule of when people were working on it. Essentially though, if you had free time, and the mobile station was available, you grabbed it and just picked up where the last person left off. 

Advice and lessons learned:

  • Weed your collections first! And then weed them again!
  • Celebrate your progress, otherwise it just becomes ongoing drudgery. We made a rocketship progress marker on the wall in our staff area that I updated every week. Every time we finished another 5,000 items we had some sort of celebration, which included the volunteers and all staff (since those who weren't rebarcoding were covering for those who were.) They weren't necessarily big: ice cream, tote bags, SRP shirts. My favorite one was puppy and kitten snuggle time; our Humane Society brought over some adoptable babies for playtime.
  • We started off with a lot of enthusiasm, and ended with a lot of enthusiasm (mainly because we just wanted to be DONE), but lagged in the middle.
  • Most people hated to rebarcode for more than about 1.5 hours a time, which is why we decided to treat it as an ongoing side project, rather than an exclusive task. 
  • Barcode costs are insignificant compared to staff time. 
  • When you order barcodes, make sure the numbers are formatted with spaces for improved readability. Example: "3 1250 20001 1156", not "31250200011156". We didn't, and wish we had.
  • If you are doing your whole library, it has the bonus benefit of acting as an inventory process. You can identify missing items by their non-standard barcode.
  • This helped build staff buy-in for Cardinal. If we were doing all this work, we better have something to show for it, and Cardinal is that something.
  • In the end, Cardinal makes it totally worth doing.

2.2. Choosing a Barcode



Our recommendation is to use Codabar with a Mod 10 L-to-R check digit for item barcodes and patron barcodes. Check digits are not required by Evergreen and many Cardinal systems do not have them. They are however a "best practice" and may come in handy, for instance, if you want your self check machines to verify that the number it scanned is a valid barcode.

The other barcode type in use is Code 39. 


Configuration of the Check Digit

Mod 10 L-to-R 2-1-2 check digit

Patron barcode begin with : 58198000000000

I’m going to use the example sequence number of:  5 8 1 9 8 0 0 0 9 4 3 9 9

First, starting at the left, you multiply each number by 2, 1, 2, 1, etc…

                5   8   1   9   8   0   0   0   9   4   3   9   9

      X      2   1   2   1   2   1   2   1   2   1   2   1   2

             10  8   2   9  16  0   0   0  18  4   6   9  18

If the result of any multiplication is a two-digit number, add those two numbers together to create one number.  For example,5 x 2 = 10.  Add the 1 and 0 together to get 1.

                For the above number, results of the multiplication, then additions when there are two-digit numbers are:

                1  8  2  9  7  0  0  0  9  4  6  9  9

Add all single-digit results together:
             1+8+2+9+7+0+0+0+9+4+6+9+9 = 64

The check digit is the amount you must add to this result (64) to get to the next multiple of 10.  In this case it would take 6 to get from 64 to 70 so the check digit is 6.




2.3. Equipment Specifications

Here is a list of equipment (barcode scanners, printers, etc.) and software that are compatible with Evergreen.

2.4. Preparing for Migration

Barcode Ranges for Patron Accounts and Items 

NC Cardinal requires library systems to utilize consistent barcode ranges for their patron accounts and items so to avoid data conflicts.

Patron Data

Social Security Number must never be stored in Evergreen; all SSNs should be stripped out of your ILS before migration into NC Cardinal

Bibliographic Data

Joining NC Cardinal means that a library system's bibliographic records will be merged with existing NC Cardinal bibliographic records, which are "owned" at the consortium level and shared by all libraries. Therefore, donation or gift information and any other local information will not be retained in the shared consortium bibliographic records. If your library currently stores local information in bibliographic records, staff should begin  recording this data elsewhere — either in the item record or outside of the ILS. You can publish this information on your website or in print format in the library, if you desire, but donation information will not be publicly visible in the NC Cardinal shared catalog.

2.5. Things To Think About To Prepare For Data Mapping

In preparation for mapping conversation: Describe some of the Evergreen processes that may be unique/different:
Org unit and permission group hierarchies
Cataloging hierarchies – title, volume, item
No donation/gift or other local info in bib records - document elsewhere
Item collection – weeding – billing for lost items – void max interval – negative balances
Begin reporting on collection data (total circs and circ history may not migrate)
Billing info from old ILS may be limited - may show as “grocery”
Weed now, as much as possible

Patron Groups:
Affect consortium (long list @ registration, number & complexity of circ/hold rules, etc.)
Expiration dates are staff editable at time of registration/renewal
Stat cats should be used when labeling does not impact circ/hold rules, limits, etc.

Circ Mods
Must be defined in Item Attributes for every item cataloged
Intended for circ and hold policy functionality only - not to be used as category labels (can use item stat cat for that)
Can use SL to distinguish for circ rules (not hold rules)

Shelving Locations:
Must be defined in Item Attributes for every item cataloged
Affect monthly circulation reports (consortium)

Questions to ask yourself when mapping shelving locations:
Does it identify the physical location in the library where the patron will find the item?
Does it impact circ rules?

If not, do you distinguish these items for staff or stakeholders, rather than patrons? If so, it may be more appropriate to utilize item stat cats, call # prefix/suffix, or create more/better library signage

Discussion:
Circ and hold policies tied to circ mods & shelving locations (for circ policies only)
Training dates - location, projector & screen, computer workstations or laptops for staff to practice (can share)

Suggestions:
Flexible thinking - Staff may need to be adjust workflows to accommodate the differences in old/new ILS structures
Ask lots of questions at all times!


2.6. Library Settings Documentation

Library Settings Documents

The Library Settings Document will provide the necessary pertinent information of an incoming library system. The Library Settings Document is the first documentation recorded when starting a migration, and is shared and discussed with the incoming library system. This documentation allows for the incoming library system to start shaping how it will migrate into the NC Cardinal consortium, based off its own rules and rules that apply to all consortium members.

Once the incoming library system and NCC have completed filling in the necessary settings, NCC can create the Organization Unit for the incoming system and begin setting up the Library Settings.

Using the Library Settings Editor within Evergreen, Local System Admnistrators (LSAs) can optionally customize Evergreen's behaviour for a particular library or library system.

NCC uses a Google Doc Mother template for the Library Settings, which includes Library Information, Financial, Holds, Cataloging, and General information from the incoming migrating library system.


Library Information Template





Financial Library Settings Template





Holds Library Settings Template



Cataloging Settings Template



General Information Template




Categories on these library setting documents include Library Setting Name of functionality, description of functionality, Cardinal Value (if functionality applies across the consortium), Library System Value (where the incoming library system can decide based off their own functionality or rules), Acceptable Values (provides clarity on how to answer the Library System Value), and and Recommendations and/ or Comments.

  • Red highlighted areas designate a value set by the consortium.
  • Yellow highlighted areas designate a value set by the incoming library system.
  • Blue highlighted areas designate a value that the consortium has a default but the incoming system may choose something different if need be.


The Library Settings Tabs and Documentation can be viewed here. 





2.7. Library Data Mapping Documentation

2.8. Circulation, Holds, and Workflow Documentation

Questionnaire for Migrating Library System 


Incoming Library System Workflows and Circulation and Holds Policies


Workflows of Circulation or Front-Line staff : Please describe any workflows that your front-line staff perform on a daily basis. Examples may include :


Do you have a public holds shelf separate from behind the counter?


Do you have a courier service/system for sharing materials between branches? Please describe the set up?


Do you have a workflow for taking monies for services, ie. printing, faxes, etc., and please describe.


Do you have a separate check-in station for material returns?


Self-check station(s)?


Any unique or out of the ordinary duties that front-line staff perform for their patrons?



Circulation: Please describe the way your patrons currently circulate your materials, including as much detail as possible.


  1. Please tell us who can circulate which materials, for how long, how many items at a time or check out thresholds, and the amount of any fine billed to the patron in the event the items become overdue
  2. Utilization of grace period before overdue fees begin to accumulate?
  3. Do fees cap out at item price or another amount?
  4. What is the fine threshold before a patron is blocked from checking out materials, using public computers, etc.
  5. Which materials are renewable, how many times, and is that the same for every patron?
  6. Do you have patrons who cannot circulate certain materials (such as patrons with Internet only accounts)?
  7. Do you waive overdue fees if patron is paying for lost or damaged materials? Do you allow for replacement items for lost or damaged items?
  8. Are certain patrons/staff exempt from fines?
  9. Any Rental fees involved with videos, dvds? If so, how much?
  10. Are there materials that circulate for less time than others, such as new books? What is the circulation period for those materials, how many times can they renew, and how do you distinguish them from other (older) materials (e.g. different shelving location)?
  11. If you have technology, such as e-readers or laptops, can patrons check them out? What are the rules?
  12. Do you check out things like headphones, games, etc.? What are the rules?
  13. Do you have any non barcoded (non-cataloged) items that check out to patrons?
  14. Are there kits or other groups of items that circulate in a special way?




Holds: Please describe the way your patrons can currently place holds on your materials, including as much detail as possible.


  1. Which types of materials are holdable/not holdable?
  2. Are there certain patrons who are not allowed to place holds on any/specific materials (e.g. juveniles can’t place holds on R-rated movies)?
  3. Please describe any hold limits currently in place (such as a limit on # of dvds).
  4. Are there any materials (holdable for your patrons) that you would prefer to prevent from resource sharing with the NC Cardinal consortium? (Please note that all holdable books and AV materials must be shared)
  5. Are any technology materials (e-readers, laptops, etc.) holdable? What are the rules?



3. Getting Staff Ready

3.1. Migration Team

You will have a team of your staff members who participate in weekly migration calls with the NC Cardinal team and MOBIUS team. Part of the migration process also means preparing the rest of the library staff and keeping them fully informed during the migration process. All library staff will have access to the training database, but it is up to the library director and migration team to let all staff know that they should be exploring the training database and practicing their usual workflows in the new Evergreen environment to be better prepared for in-person training dates.

Using meetings, presentations, handouts, and internal networks to inform staff of the overall migration timeline, in-person training dates they will be expected to prepare for and attend, and migration call discussions can be helpful to overall staff buy-in and smooth adjustment to change. Attached you will find an example of a staff training presentation used by Polk County Public Libraries to prepare staff.

3.2. Migration Training

NC Cardinal offers many training opportunities and resources to members of the consortium. Please visit the NC Cardinal Support and Staff Education knowledge base to see all of the training knowledge books available, click on knowledge tags, or search by keyword. We also have an NC Cardinal YouTube channel with NC Cardinal training videos and playlists, as well as playlists of videos from other Evergreen consortia that may be helpful.


These are some of the key resources that will be used during migration into the consortium:

  • Learn to search the online catalog and how patrons will interact with Evergreen: OPAC training video
    • searching for items
    • placing holds
    • editing preferences and personal info
  • Learn how staff will perform circulation functions in the Evergreen web staff client
    • Circulations Basics video
    • Circulation knowledge book
  • Two days of on-site training for staff to learn navigating Evergreen/circulation (6 hours) and cataloging (6 hours)
  • NC Cardinal requires that all staff who will perform cataloging functions must follow consortium Cataloging Best Practices and pass cataloging assessments. Please see the Cataloging Permission Requirements page for more detailed information.
    • Staff who add or delete item and/or volume (call number) records must pass the Item Cataloging assessment.
    • Staff who create, import, edit, or delete bibliographic records must pass both the Item Cataloging assessment and the Bibliographic Cataloging assessment.  
  • Learn how staff will check out items to patrons during last week of migration
    • Offline transactions video
    • Offline transactions knowledge book
  • Learn how to use the reporting features in Evergreen
    • Reports Overview video
    • Reports knowledge book



3.3. Differences your staff may see migrating to Evergreen

In addition to the differences listed in the Getting Your Data Ready and Getting Patrons Ready sections, staff will need to adjust to several potential differences from your current ILS when moving to NC Cardinal.

Staff may not place holds for or checkout to their staff login access account. Instead, use personal accounts for personal holds and circulations and Institution accounts for work-related library holds and circulations

Searching NC Cardinal consortium before issuing library cards — patrons must be in good standing if they have any existing NC Cardinal accounts; do not merge or overwrite another library system's card 

Patrons can present library cards from other NC Cardinal systems and check out your materials just like your own patrons (your circulation policies apply) - you cannot charge them any fees to use their card or require them to get a card from your library.

Staff may have to deal with billing challenges with another library's materials or patron fines and fees

Libraries joining NC Cardinal must resource share with the entire consortium all books, audiobooks, music, and videos that circulate to their patrons.

Cataloging Best Practices and Assessments:  NC Cardinal requires that all staff who will perform cataloging functions must conform to consortium Cataloging Best Practices and pass cataloging assessments. Please see the Cataloging Permission Requirements page for more detailed information.


4. Getting Patrons Ready

4.1. Differences your patrons may see migrating to Evergreen

Your staff and patrons may need some transition training to adjust to several changes that come with joining the NC Cardinal consortium:

Holds are not First In, First Out in NC Cardinal

6-month age hold protection

Importance of pull list — must pull all items at least once per day (when open)

24-hour targeter 

Opportunistic capture

Searching the enormous NC Cardinal catalog may be more challenging

Millions of bibliographic records and broader matching criteria may mean patrons need to use more search terms (title and author vs. title keyword), target smaller subset (video items vs all), and may need to sort by publication date for the latest novels, non-fiction, or videos.

4.2. Marketing Communication Materials and Timeline

After your library system receives notification that migration is approved and a timeframe for migration into NC Cardinal, it is time to begin getting patrons excited about the changes and new opportunities for resource sharing across the state.


Rishara Finsel, current director of Transylvania County Public Library, did an excellent job preparing her community before migration when she was the director of the Polk County Public Libraries in January 2018:

• I presented to the county commissioners in August, which resulted in a newspaper article: Despite my misspelled name, it was a pretty good article. However, it gave the impression that Cardinal would be available immediately, so we started getting questions at that point. I talked about it at every meeting and public opportunity between then and go live. http://m.tryondailybulletin.com/2017/08/24/polk-library-joins-nc-cardinal/

• In November, we started advertising heavily to customers within our libraries. To tie up loose ends with Rutherford, we had to taper off our intra-library services, so customers needed to know why. We really wanted to give a positive spin on all of it, so we talked a lot about resource sharing. At that point, we started giving out brochures and talking with our regular customers.

• In December, we put up a TV slideshow at the front entrance with bright colors and fast facts. We also put most of the web content up at the beginning of December (but tweaked it as we went.) This is still online, but not linked from anywhere else on our website anymore: https://polklibrary.org/cardinal/

• About 2 weeks before go live, we got pretty aggressive (friendly aggressive) about letting people who currently use the library know about changes and that some online services will be unavailable during migration.

• We focused our external PR and big celebrating on the resource sharing start and all the new advantages of that, not on the initial go-live date. Existing customers needed to know how they were affected by the ILS change, but the things that actually got people excited came with resource sharing. On resource sharing start day, we had cupcakes and balloons in the libraries to celebrate.

• We offered some casual customer training classes in February, but only had a couple of people show for each. Their biggest advantage was being a reassurance for Circ staff, because it gave a referral option should there be any truly confused or frustrated customers. They were fine though, and didn't need to worry because they were thoroughly prepared!



4.3. Patron Training Materials for Migration

Your patrons, along with library staff, may need some training on how to search the NC Cardinal catalog to find the materials they want. Remember that your patrons will no longer be searching through just your collection. Instead, they will be searching through the consortium catalog filled with about 2 million bibliographic records. NC Cardinal also uses a broad set of potential matching criteria from the MARC record, so both staff and patrons may find that using the Advanced Search screen more targeted search strategies are beneficial.


There are many ways migrating libraries can train patrons to use the NC Cardinal catalog effectively. Handouts, signage at OPAC stations, informational web pages, short training videos, and in-person training classes for patrons before and after migration are all good options. 

Here are some materials created by NC Cardinal member libraries that may provide inspiration for your own patron training efforts:

Cleveland County: YouTube video and FAQ

Davidson County: YouTube video

Davie County: YouTube video

Henderson County: Search Tip pdfs; 2016 PowerPoint presentation

Polk County Libraries: https://polklibrary.org/cardinal/

5. Offline and Go Live

5.1. Go Live Checklist

Post Migration Checklist

Please do the following on the go-live day to identify and report issues that may need to be addressed post-migration. We have a limited time in which to repair migration errors and require the information as soon as possible post migration.  Failure to report issues may mean they cannot be repaired.

Patrons

  • Identify a variety of different kinds of patrons in your legacy system and confirm the following (i.e., different user groups; fines; notes; etc):
    • Name, address, barcode and other contact information migrated
    • Notes/alerts migrated
    • Items out migrated
    • Fines and bills migrated
    • Barred patrons migrated as barred or blocked

Items

  • Confirm the circulation/lending periods chosen by the library match each of the following circ modifiers:
  • ART PRINT
    AUDIOBOOK
    BOOK
    DOCUMENT
    EBOOK
    EQUIPMENT
    GAME
    ILL
    KIT
    MAGAZINE
    MAP
    MICROFORM
    MISC
    MUSIC
    NEWSPAPER
    PERIODICAL
    PLAYAWAY
    RENTAL
    SOFTWARE
    TECHNOLOGY
    VERTICAL FILE
    VIDEO
  • Confirm location codes (shelving locations) migrated
    • Complete a search for items in the catalog and confirm the OPAC displays the proper location (e.g. Adult Fiction, Juvenile Audiobook, etc.)
    • Identify/note if items are showing the default “Stacks” location — these need to be corrected


5.2. Go Live week for incoming library systems

Final Data Migration into Evergreen

Library migration team, MOBIUS, and NC Cardinal will establish the final date for any activity in old ILS. This period often begins over the weekend prior to the Thursday Go Live date and is the start of the offline period prior to go live in Evergreen/NC Cardinal. Any transactions performed in the old ILS after this date will not be included in the migration data moving to Evergreen. For the following several days, MOBIUS will be processing data (bibliographic records, call number and item records, patrons, and transactions) from the old ILS and importing it into Evergreen. 

Go Live week

Monday morning: Library is offline during final data load

  1. Monday through Wednesday all incoming branches should utilize offline or standalone mode of Evergreen to check out materials.
  2. Utilize as few workstations from Monday to Wednesday as possible, as all workstations used will need to have transactions manually uploaded into a session and any exceptions processed.
  3. It is possible, but not recommended, to renew materials and register new patrons.
  4. Checking in material is prohibited — staff can evaluate and sort materials (using carts, bins, etc.) to facilitate speedy check in and reshelving after go live. It is recommended to store these items in an area that patrons cannot access.

Wednesday afternoon: NCC team arrives and processes offline transactions

  1. Prefer that all incoming library branches close early Wednesday evening — by 6:00 PM, if possible.
  2. One library staff member at each branch will need to remain after closing to help upload transactions, unless the library system has the capability to remote into all workstations used to checkout materials during the offline period.
  3. The Cardinal team works with each branch to upload and process offline transactions.
  4. After leaving the library, the NC Cardinal team will resolve any exceptions that have occurred.

Thursday: GoLive into NC Cardinal's production instance of Evergreen :

  1. Library system opens late, if possible, and once NC Cardinal staff give the go-ahead, items that have accumulated during offline period can be checked in and data tested.
  2. NC Cardinal team observes and supports front-line staff with utilization of Evergreen.
  3. NC Cardinal team visits branches and is available for troubleshooting any issues that arise.
  4. On the fly questions/concerns addressed while any issues that need more investigation should be submitted via Basecamp.

Friday: Continue on-site support of library system's GoLive within NC Cardinal :

  1. NC Cardinal team reviews administrative training, reports training, and other troubleshooting.
  2. Library staff should continue to submit issues or questions to the migration Basecamp project for resolution.

6. After the Migration

6.1. Start Resource Sharing

Start Resource Sharing


Read over the Cardinal Resource Sharing Best Practices manual 


Think about when to have the incoming library system's GoLive for resource sharing

  • Up to 60 days after GoLive into Cardinal's Evergreen Production instance
  • Pinpoint a hub within the system during migration
  • Space needed in hub to house resource sharing materials and set up of resource sharing area:
    • If a municipal library, the hub lies with itself unless the branch is close to another Cardinal system. Then an arrangement could possibly be created to work with another system's hub. Ex. Brown library shares a hub with BHM Regional.
    • Think about what day(s) a library hub could send out materials to other Cardinal members. Ex. Monday-Friday schedule, Only Wednesday's to send out materials, Tuesday and Thursday
    • Designate a work area that can be utilized for processing materials (for shipping and deliveries). Shelving for consortium holds, workstation to create shipping labels, area for a scale to weigh outgoing packages
    • Area for incoming and outgoing courier services (bins, boxes, or bags that travel to local branches)
  • Cardinal will contact UPS for account set up of migrating system's resource sharing contract via the State Library contract
  • UPS will contact migrating system's point of contact for conference call walk-through of Campusship website interface, how to order label pouches, and provide credential set 
  • Begin pulling local and resource sharing holds twice a day (morning and afternoon) via the pull list
  • Decide on a UPS pickup schedule of materials (daily, three times a week, twice a week, once a week). Be mindful that UPS will deliver, however, Monday through Friday if materials are on hold for your patrons.
  • Courier any local holds to your branches.
  • Be mindful of the 7 day Hold Shelf Cardinal policy — holds can live on your holds shelf for up to seven days. After 7 days, holds should return to their home or be sent to the next patron in queue for the hold.
  • Be mindful of damaged items. Cardinal has a Damaged Item template that can be used