The kickoff event to migration took place at the GALILEO User Group Meeting in Macon. The EBSCO leaders welcomed us to the FOLIO community and provided updates on features and products. Library employees have been working hard in the past several months with data cleanup projects to prepare for the testing period later in 2024.

The GALILEO Interconnected Libraries (GIL) staff and EBSCO representatives worked on getting FOLIO ready for importing data and configurations. The Implementation Team received login access to prepare for creating policies and rules, reviewing data, and testing workflows during this implementation process.

Additional updates: 

• Testing for Panorama, the data analysis and visualization platform, was completed and it is in the early stages of displaying information from the core group of sources. Institutions will select one additional source to help identify trends and the impact of library services and resources. 
• EBSCO and GIL staff will help institutions with exporting e-resources data from the current ALMA system to the EBSCO Holdings and Link Manager (HLM). GIL will provide a spreadsheet containing electronic collection information for each institution to review before sending it to EBSCO.

The past month focused on preparing for circulation policies and rules. Templates were completed to organize and assist with FOLIO circulation configurations during the months of September and October. These policies and rules define the length of checkout times according to item type and the user's status and address other circulation procedures. GIL staff held open meetings to answer questions and advise. The configuration work will take place over the next two months.

September and October tasks focused on configuring the circulation app. Policies and rules were created to ensure borrowing privileges are applied and working.

Other activities:

• Worked with KSU UITS representatives to discuss adding anonymized student data to the Panorama data analysis tool for discovering correlations between student success and library services.
• Prepared for the upcoming Acquisition app project tasks by viewing EBSCO provided videos.
• Reviewed a list KSU e-resources for duplication before their migration to FOLIO.
• Established cohorts of libraries to create BiblioGraph dashboards. Bibliograph is an open data platform that "enhances the portability, visibility, and value of your library's catalog." View the pilot dashboards from UGA and Georgia Gwinnett College:
  
  • https://uga.library.link/
  • https://kaufman.library.link/

With the Circulation App configurations complete, the focus has now turned to Acquisitions/ERM and Cataloging. Tasks in November and December have mostly been preparations for these apps, which includes watching videos, data reviews, and other work by appropriate GIL committees. We are awaiting next steps for configuring the Acquisitions/ERM apps from GIL staff and the GIL Committees

• KSU Libraries Resource Strategy & Management (RSM) personnel are assisting the GIL Cataloging Committee with reporting errors and missing information from the first item data load. The next data load is planned for February.
• RSM personnel also reviewed items in KSU Eresources’ portfolio to remove duplications.
• KSU institutional Z39.50 profile, client/server protocol for searching and retrieving information, is ready in FOLIO.
• GIL staff is working on solving an issue with Proquest ebooks.
• KSU is among the five pilot institutions for EBSCO to build the new catalog (LOCATE) environments. Testing will take place in January.   
  • EBSCO page on LOCATE: https://www.ebsco.com/products/ebsco-locate
• GIL staff will be working with South Georgia State College on piloting a Banner Dashboard for the Panorama data analysis tool.

EBSCO, GIL staff, institutional leads, and GIL committees have been busy getting ready for the second data load happening now. They identified issues and made corrections and set up structures. The other major tasks involved getting the Finance app ready for acquisition work. The next couple months will be reviewing the second data load and EBSCO trainings for institutional leads and committee members.

Other updates:

• KSU OCLC Connexion in FOLIO is now working (Full-service cataloging tool...lets you create and edit high-quality bibliographic and authority records and then share them with the entire OCLC cooperative)
• OpenRS (GIL-Express replacement) testing delayed due to fixes needed
• The latest LOCATE (catalog) release is loaded and will be available after the FOLIO upgrade
• User Services conducted circulation testing and discovered items with unusual item policies --A project to clear up those items is in process
• Freeze dates & schedule leading up to "Go Live"
  
  • 4/28/2025 - DRESS Rehearsal - GIL to send bibs/holdings/items at EOD
  • 4/30/2025 - New Order Freeze
  • 5/14/2025 - DRESS Rehearsal - GIL to send circulation data EOD
  • 5/21/2025 - DRESS Rehearsal "Go-Live"
  • 6/01/2025 - Freeze Cataloging - GIL to send bibs/holdings/items/authorities EOD
  • 6/16/2025 - Fiscal year closed in Alma (Send orders data, if applicable)

The major news regarding FOLIO migration is that there is a new go-live date: July 16. This new date is due to the delay in the Ramson release of FOLIO and the time needed to test the next Sunflower release (FOLIO versions are named after flowers). The dates for GIL-Express shutdown and catalog/circulation freezes are currently being evaluated, but it is possible those may not change.

Other news:

• The training schedule has been released. There are multiple live trainings and videos for employees to watch during April and May. 
• Review of 2nd data load is being led by the GIL Cataloging Committee. 
• Patron load testing with samples from each group is in process.
• Feedback on the new catalog (Locate) and linked data platform (BiblioGraph) was submitted to GIL-staff and EBSCO. 
• Communication to the KSU Community is being planned. It is focused on the following 5 items:
  • CATALOG INTERFACE: There will be a new catalog interface for searching books, government documents, and other resources in the collections. SuperSearch will remain the same.  
  • CATALOG LINKS: Current links to items in the catalog will not work after June. We recommend replacing catalog links with SuperSearch links. Database and article links will continue to work. 
  • CATALOG ACCOUNT: Your library account will be inaccessible at times during the summer. If you have saved records/favorites or searches, then you MUST export them before June. 
  • BORROWING REQUESTS: GIL Express service will be down for part of the summer. Please use Interlibrary Loan to request items from other USG libraries during this time.  
  • BOOKS: If you have books out that you no longer need, then please return them by the end of spring semester this May. You may continue to check out items during the summer.