If you have been reading OlinInfo and the library’s blog during the last year you will know that the library has been involved in a large scale technology migration.  Here is what you need to know:

• On Monday and Tuesday June 1^st and 2^nd the library is migrating to a new R-Search and the library catalog will be replaced. The library website will point to these new systems and Circulation staff will check out books, manage course reserves, etc. in the new system.
• On Monday and Tuesday you may experience some broken links to fulltext articles. If you cannot wait, contact us at askolinlibrary@rollins.edu and we will help you find what you need.
• Although we expect the migration to be smooth, you will have questions and find errors. We encourage you to consult your librarian, or submit questions and comments to askolinlibrary@rollins.edu.
• If you have saved links, bookmarks, or shortcuts to library resources make sure they still work. Most will need to be updated and we can help with that as well.

If you want more details, read on.

Effective Tuesday June 2^nd, the library is retiring the system that has run our library catalog and associated systems since 1995. R-Search, which enabled you to search all our online journals, databases will be retired as well. All of these are migrating to one system, Alma from the Ex Libris company. Alma runs the back end of the library’s operations and you will search their discovery layer – Primo. Perhaps on Monday June 1^st, but certainly when we open for business on June 2^nd, the library website will point to these new systems and Circulation staff will check out books, manage course reserves, etc. in the new system.

On the backend this is a generational change in the technology on which the library runs. This system is based in the cloud; there are no on campus servers to administer; it integrates us with the community of Alma users around the world and thus enables us to work far more efficiently; and Alma also integrates with various other systems on campus – Active Directory (your Rollins ID), Banner, Accounts Payable, and the Bursar’s Office – and off campus systems like Interlibrary loan and the system our book vendor uses as well.  Just as importantly, this migration and consolidation of multiple systems into one will save us significant money, to the extent that this year we did not have to request any library budget increase and do not expect to next year either.

Although we expect the migration to be completed relatively smoothly (library staff have been working on various aspects of this change for a year) we also expect that you will have questions about how the system functions and how to complete common tasks you previously performed in the library catalog or in R-Search. We encourage you to ask any and all questions. Feel free to consult your librarian, or submit questions and comments to our askolinlibrary@rollins.edu e-mail address. If you find errors in records, links that do not work, errors in your own library account, anything, please report them to us. No problem is too small. Unless we are aware of problems we cannot fix them. We deliberately migrated early in the summer so that we could have a soft opening at a time of year which is a period of low demand for the library. We plan to have minor issues corrected quickly and major issues solved before the fall term.

If you have links, bookmarks, or shortcuts to library resources please check them to make sure they still work. Many, if not most, will need to be updated and we can help with that as well. Over the summer librarians will also be editing all our research guides to reflect this change and preparing to help you and your students use the system effectively in the fall. Faculty should remember that earlier in the year we also restricted course reserves to physical materials (books, DVD’s etc.) All scanned articles etc., previously housed in our e-reserves system, should be uploaded to Blackboard.

Thanks for taking the time to read this far. I want to thank all the librarians, library and IT staff who have helped us with this migration, and thank you in advance for your questions and comments to help us fine tune the new system to meet the needs of the Rollins community.

Sincerely,

Jonathan

In the 2015 Service Excellence Survey, both the Olin Library and the Tutoring and Writing Center achieved an overall rating of 5.0 or above.  We appreciate the positive feedback and look forward to continuing our mission to providing “exceptional services, information resources, and a welcoming environment for the Rollins community.”