Project Update 10/13/15

Created by brandon dudley (Unlicensed)
Last updated: May 24, 2018 by David Walker
3 min read

All -

Today’s update contains information about:


  • ProQuest and Ex Libris Merger
  • Kickoff Meeting/Project Management training meeting recap
  • Vanguard phase update
  • Access to Alma/Primo online training
  • David, Lauren, Brandon meeting with CSU IT
  • Reminders: list archives, new areas of Confluence

ProQuest/Ex Libris deal

Most of you by now will have heard about the deal that brings Ex Libris into the ProQuest product family. At this stage, we don’t believe that the ULMS project timeline or product offerings will be affected in any way by this deal. Rest assured that the CSU will be kept abreast of any developments that would affect the project, Alma or Primo and any such information will be passed along to you.

In the meantime, the press release is available at http://www.exlibrisgroup.com/default.asp?catid={916AFF5B-CA4A-48FD-AD54-9AD2ADADEB88}&details_type=1&itemid={5596555D-9300-44B6-B506-13BA98BC77D2}. A FAQ regarding the deal is attached to this message should you wish more information.

Kickoff Meeting/Project Mgmt training recap

The 26 CSU campus project managers spent last Monday and Tuesday (October 5-6) at the Chancellor’s Office attending the formal ULMS project kickoff meeting and participating in a project management “bootcamp” led by Bridget Wikidal, Director, Project Management Office at the Chancellor’s Office. 

The kickoff meeting, led by the Ex Libris project team assigned to us, consisted of several presentations from Ex Libris staff as well as a review of the goals for the ULMS project led by David Walker. The Ex Libris morning presentation described their team structure, project structure and timeline as well as information about the phases of the project. The afternoon presentation consisted of an overview of Alma in a networked, consortial environment. 

The project management boot camp served as an introduction to project management and change management concepts in the context of our project. 

Monday’s presentation materials are attached to this email. The project management presentation is available in Confluence at https://calstate.atlassian.net/wiki/display/ULMS/Project+Managers if interested.

Vanguard Update

The first phase of the project, involving the vanguard campuses of Fresno, Northridge and San Jose, is currently underway. Vanguard project managers and staff at their libraries will be attending weekly calls and preparing their library data for migration over the next few weeks, with a target date in early December for final data exporting from their current ILS systems into Alma. While attendance at these calls will be limited to Vanguard participants, these calls will be recorded and available to those who want to get a jump on what this process will look like to them once the general test load work begins in 2016. 

We also plan to have the Vanguard participants host a webinar or two to give everyone their impressions of the process. More on that later!

Online Training Access

Ex Libris has given your project manager access to all the online training available for Alma and Primo, as well as accounts on the Alma sandbox that has been made available to the CSU. Please check with your local PM if you would like access to these resources.

IT Meeting

David, Brandon, and Lauren Magnuson (Chair of the Systems Working Group Leads) met with the Chancellor's Office Identity Management group to begin a discussion about authentication for Alma and Primo. The discussion focused mostly on how Shibboleth might serve our needs, and what challenges exist here, including the need to standardize some user data across the CSU.  

Integration with PeopleSoft will be a more complex task, and will require considerable discussion.  David and Lauren will be giving Chancellor's Office Identity Management staff some initial information on Alma and Primo to assist with those discussions.  The Systems Working Group Leads are also interested in surveying the CSU for current practices and needs in terms of PeopleSoft integration.

Reminders

Take care,

Brandon