PALNI Experience Implementing OCLC's WMS

PALNI- Private Academic Library Network of Indiana

The PALNI Experience OCLC WMS

Kirsten Leonard Private Academic Library

Network of Indiana

PALNI- Private Academic Library Network of Indiana

Robert Burns: The best-laid schemes o' mice an' men Gang aft agley

Ferris Buehler: Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.

About PALNI • Indiana Consortia of 23 small to medium academic

libraries (e.g. Butler, DePauw, AMBS) • Founded in 1992 around a shared ILS (DRA) in a

shared data center and staff shared with INCOLSA • Selected Aleph, SFX, and MetaLib in 2002

– Share Aleph install with 22 ADMs and separate OPACS

– Anderson University has Sirsi on their own

• Also shared other systems: EZProxy, CONTENTdm, Drupal, Listservs

PALNI Hosted Systems • August 2010 – Added Executive Director

• Dec 2010

– Added Primo, Primo Central, bX

– Anderson joined us in these new systems

• May 2011

– Moved Aleph, SFX, MetaLib to ExLibris TotalCare

– CONTENTdm to OCLC

– EZproxy to OhioNet

– Development servers, listservs, web to Dreamhost

PALNI Structure

• Small Staff that’s PALNI only – ED, DCM, AD

• Joint PALNI/Institution – Coordinators

• Institution with some PALNI funding – Advisory Groups Steering – PALNI Experts

• Institution - Board & EC

Overall Next Gen Board Goals – Overall trend to prefer simplicity when there are

tradeoffs – PALNI needs to be sure we are not reacting to

our current frustrations and issues and need to be sure of what we would be getting and what we would we be giving up

– Configurability is not as important as reliability. Reliability and data management are more important

– Reduce time and learning curve to perform workflows is important because shrinking employee FTE makes workflow more difficult, especially for smaller libraries

Goals for New Functionality

– Shared collection development/New purchases – Shared processing – Consortium ebook purchases/licensing – Retrospective collection development to free up

library space and to preserve collections – Regarding the possible catalog default to PALNI

wide system; it was agreed that if our own library topped the list we would be more likely to approve of system wide listing of holdings

Areas of High Agreement

– Want integrated and logical workflows – Want robust statistical information on

holdings, circulation etc. – Want a unified resource management

system that includes a robust Electronic Resource Management component

– Prefer back-end simplicity to customizability (but more mixed compared to functional robustness)

Areas of Mixed Opinion

– Some NOT willing to trade back end simplicity for more robust functionality

– Lower Cost versus More Robust Functionality seem to be more equal desires

– The “Single vendor versus Best Individual products” (47% said don’t know or neither agree or disagree)

– “More Vendor Support versus DIY capabilities” (53% said don’t know or neither agree or disagree )

How was the decision made to implement WMS as a consortium? • Already had group contract with Aleph

(except Anderson) • Anderson did not want to be left behind • Vote to move forward was 20-2 • No one has left and the 2 are coming

around • May be gaining a new institution

How was the System selected • Seven Task Forces (Nov – April 2013)

– Vendor Webinars – Development Partner Interviews – Site Visits

• Produced a 352 page report that was already out of date but process is essential

• ED Report analyzing goals, vendor outlooks, and costs

• Carl Grant, Marshall Breeding, and David Lewis blogs and articles

Board Retreat May 2013

• Anticipated that no selection would be made based on task force reports

• Method that drove decision – Clicker questions and discussion focused on

areas of difference and agreement – Quickly threw out ALMA – Decision came down to WMS or wait for Intota – Great facilitator, Tom Kirk, who knew PALNI and

could push effectively

Board Retreat May 2013 – cont’d

• Factors that drove decision – ED Report reminded of goals, benefits, and

cost of waiting – Wanted to get on with it and start readjusting

costs to match new priorities – Treasurer put together new cost sharing

scenarios – Support and high interest from OCLC – Institutions our size already on board

Board Retreat May 2013 – cont’d

• Concern about moving when Task Forces said wait – Some WMS functions identified as missing had

were released in April or were scheduled for June

• Analysis of Past OCLC Roadmaps alleviated development concerns

– Task Forces were charged to identify necessary functions before going live for contract negotiation

• Vetted by our EC • Ten Items selected • All items asked for were accepted by OCLC

The overall goals include systems and services that:

• Are unified, flexible, fast and easy for our faculty, students, and staff. Provide delivery of information at the point of need of our faculty, students, and staff and focuses on meeting their changing needs.

• Enable PALNI to develop new ways of collaboration and take a flexible view of library staff and collection sharing.

• Reduce time and money spent managing systems and software through logical, economical, and user friendly designed systems, and strong communication and staff training tools.

The overall goals include systems and services that:

• PALNI seeks to contain costs for library systems below current monetary levels. Gain workflow efficiencies for library staff.

• Reduce silos of information within the library and between library data and other information sources by being proactive in the larger information landscape.

• Provide strong quality control, reliable software, and accurate up to date data.

• Provide strong analytics to aid libraries in managing their services; analyze return on investment, and articulate value to our institutions and to analyze the overall collection, workflows, and value of the PALNI group as a whole.

Costs & Participation

• Funding: Implementation/Reserves • Phase of costs – OCLC was able to do all

PALNI in one cohort • Can libraries opt in or opt out of

participation? What happens when library exits?

Implementation Process

• PALNI Implementation Steering Team • PALNI Coordinators handling data pulls • OCLC teams loading data into individual

WMS instances • Acquisition data not moved, but bib

enhancements were merged to master • Webinars

Implementation Communication

• Added services of OCLC Consulting and Singer Group

• Change Management Work is Critical – Web Scale and Group work really is different. DON’T Underestimate this.

• OCLC communication strengths a major factor in selection with steering and individual institution contacts

OCLC Workflow Analysis Recommendations

• Implement WMS Group Circulation workflows for PALNI borrowing and lending

• Implement Distributed Cataloging • Establish a Consortial Collection

Development Plan • Merge Receiving and Invoicing processes • Implement distributed serial check-in • Create a collaborative e-resources

management program

Singer Group Work • Two day session on Change Styles and

supporting change • HR Support for developing, defining and

articulating new job responsibilities and levels for administration and staff

• Strategic Planning session April Board Meeting – PALNI-wide goals – Further development of internal staffing changes

from Group and WMS capacities • Support for Change Resistance • Upcoming Birkman and PALNI restructuring

Organization Cycle of Change O

ptim

ism

Pe

ssim

ism

Time

Initial Phase: Uninformed Optimism

Third Phase: Determination

Fourth Phase: Informed Optimism

Fifth Phase: Success

OR Third Phase: Giving Up

Second Phase: Reality

Phases of Individual Transition

Chaos

Chaos Chaos

Chaos

Stage 2: Transition

Giving Up

Stage 1: Endings Stage 3: New Beginnings

Denial Anger Bargaining

Depression

Acceptance (of loss)

Neutral

In-between

Confusion

Stress

Ambivalence Wilderness

Acceptance (of new reality)

Understanding

Threshold

Liminal

Hope Optimism Adaptation Confidence

Enthusiasm Competence

Testing

OCLC Training • Weekly webinars, open office hours,

recorded training, USC • Flexible

– OCLC visited in-person for Scope Statement discussions

– Added in-person all day workshop for Cataloging in Web Scale

– Added two regional workshops for end of May to finalize and share best practices

Areas with Greatest Change

• Acquisitions • E-Resource Management • Cataloging • ILL/Circulation • Everyone

PALNI & Resource Sharing

• Founding goal of PALNI • Board defined goal – create a singe

PALNI collection • SCS Project • Ongoing collaboration in collection

management

What is PALShare?

• Direct request delivery – Based on confirmed availability – Sent by fastest library via 5 day INfoExpress

• Lightweight method to circulate materials directly to patrons from any PALNI library

• Consistent policies and user experience

PALNI Organization Change

• Initially resistance from those unfamiliar with Group circulation in INNReach and other group systems

• Circ Task Force (now-August) Variety of sizes, ILL methods, and roles

• Creation of the Ongoing Fulfillment group • Naming Contest

Fulfillment Innovation & Strategy Group

• Ongoing Advisory Group with Circ and ILL staff from all institutions

• Continue to develop PALNI best practices and assessment models

• Identify OCLC development requests guided by PALNI strategic priorities

• Continue to review what other consortia are doing in sharing collections

• Carry out initiatives at the request of the board • Make recommendations to the Executive Director

and EC

Student Process Overview

Student Request item • Search the Discovery

system • Check item availability • Request item • Account Sign in

Required • Select Pick up

Location; Schedule • Successful hold

Student Pickup/Return • Receive notification

that the item is ready • Go to the pickup

location to get the item

• Return the item on time

• Thank your librarian for the wonderful service

Staff Process Overview

Borrowing • Check in item • Put it in designated

area • Check out the book to

the patron • Check in the book

when returned • Return to Lending

Library with a Thank You

Lending • Check Pull List • Pull book from Stacks • Check in item • Send to Borrower • Receive from

Borrower • Check in Item • Return to shelves

Task Force Current Work

• Staff workflow issues – Configuration, speed optimization – ILLiad interaction for some

• Optimizing user experience – “What if” scenarios (availability, policies) – Notices

• Developing Oversight Reporting

Overall Implementation Problems • What it means to merge with WorldCat • Data migration – long, hard slog and will

never be perfect for catalogers • OpenURL Resolver Growing pains • Reporting still lags but coming Sept • Predictive Analytics lags

Are Vendors Ready for Demand?

• OCLC has been hiring • OCLC partnership with Singer • Complex systems to support • Data migration the most difficult • Swift changes mean greater need for

documentation • OCLC merging systems, services, logins

Assessment to Date • Uptime, Response Time Pretty Good • OCLC Learning and Growing too • Updates happen fast • API development support • Group Functions at Beta in WMS, but WCL group

is robust • Mastering new policy map structures –

unlearning old way • Already saving time • General Improvement over current ILS/Discovery

Development Needs

• Report Authoring Tool Release • WC Discovery Development • Multiple Call Number Browse Indexes for

Staff • Group Functions

– PALNI Group Circ – Sharing Staff

WCL/WMS

• WC Discovery http://butler.on.worldcat.org/discovery

• WCL http://butler.worldcat.org/ • A- Z List

http://ambslibrary.on.worldcat.org/atoztitles#journal

PALNI- Private Academic Library Network of Indiana

PALNI Values

We achieve more together. Libraries working together make us individually

stronger.