2nd Annual NAUUG Meeting

SUNYConnect Implementation Planning for a

Consortium

SUNY’s Libraries

• 71 libraries on 64 campuses

• 18 million volumes - collections ranging from 6,000 to 3 million

• 1,800 staff combined

• Serving nearly 400,000 students

Vision for SUNYConnect LMS

• Consortium-based functionality– Union Catalog– Universal borrowing capabilities– Ability to share authority files

• Shared operations and funding

• Local control of library data within a shared environment

Antecedents

Building on other SUNY joint efforts

• 40 campus Library Automation Implementation Program (LAIP)

• Joint database selection and central subsidy

SUNY-Wide Effort• Policy group

– SUNYConnect Advisory Council

• System Administration– Office of Library and Information Services

(OLIS)

• Library Community– SUNY campuses– SUNY Librarians Association

Financial Plan

• Initial program costs– University-wide allocations– Capital money– One time campus buy-in fee

• Ongoing costs– Annual campus flat fee– Annual campus fee based on size

Milestones• January 1999 - RFP released

• October 1999 - announcement of recommendation for Aleph 500 system

• October 2000 - final approval of SUNY/Ex Libris contract

• October 2000 - implementations begin

• February 2001 - Fredonia live!

Components of LMS Project

• Campus migrations– Pilot project– Requirements for participation– Development of SUNY-wide schedule

• Consortium requirements– Server site hardware configuration– Planning for union catalog and universal

borrowing components

Pilot Project Plan

• Begin campus migrations with six sites while evaluating– System support and technical expertise– Network bandwidth and performance– Security, i.e., system, application,

networking– Functional testing

Server Sites

• Multi-campus server configuration

• Level of technical skills needed– Aleph, Unix, Oracle

• Staff support requirements

• Networking considerations

• Union catalog

SUNYConnect LMSCurrent Server Sites

multi-campus

single campus

Oswego

BuffaloBinghamton

Stony Brook

Union Catalog

• Develop merged view of bibliographic database from local campus catalogs

• Design Web PAC

• Determine amount of holdings information

• Future considerations

Universal Borrowing

• State-wide borrowing guidelines

• Patron data at union catalog level

• Borrowing models

• Patron empowerment features and authentication/authorization

• Document delivery guidelines

Moving Forward

• 50 plus SUNY campus migrations– focus on regional implementations

• Identify additional multi-campus server site(s)

• Anticipated timeframe through 2004

Communication Strategies

• Campuses, Ex Libris, and OLIS

• Electronic mailing lists

• Conference calls

• SUNYConnect Web page– http://www.sunyconnect.suny.edu

• Documentation

Building on Pilots’ Experience

• Roles and responsibilities– System librarians– System administrators

• SUNY customized implementation process

• ‘Train the trainer’ curriculum

Evolving Process

• Expectations for staff resources – Libraries– Server sites – Ex Libris– Office of Library and Information Services

• SUNY-wide standards

• Server hardware needs

For More Information

http://www.sunyconnect.suny.edu/

Thank you!

Maureen Zajkowskizajkowma@sysadm.suny.edu

518-443-5587