Final Migration to-do list
As each campus explores the data in their test Alma instance, staff will likely identify a range of different types of problems with the migrated data. These problems may stem from a variety of different causes. Perhaps staff forgot to export a field from their current ILS, and this field didn't migrate to Alma. Maybe a location was misidentified on your Migration Form as a physical location.
Many of the problems that you identify during the test phase can be resolved by making adjustments to your Field Mapping Form, Migration Form, the data in your current system, or to your data exports. You may not know what caused a particular problem, and further identification of these types problems might require opening a ticket with Ex Libris. Other problems might require post-migration cleanup.
In order to ensure that your data migrates in the best possible state, it's important to record the problems that you see in your test load, and identify a path forward for each issue. You can prevent many of the problems you encounter in the test load by tracking these issues along with the steps necessary to resolve these issues. Making sure that all steps are completed before the final load will secure an improved final data migration.
One method for tracking these issues is shown in the table below. A tab labelled "Final Migration to-do List" is now included in your testing google doc spreadsheets. You can also copy a version of this to-do list from here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1BdIFGuNEMNQyK6mbdq2K9jP3h78VWa0yZT1Zb_Uz7FY/edit?usp=sharing.
| Issue identified | Person(s) responsible | Steps required to resolve in final load | Status | Progress Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Forgot to mark location 'net' as an Electronic Location on the Migration form, so all of our electronic records from this location were treated as physical records in Alma. | Tom | Change Migration form, Locations tab, line no. 19, location 'net' from to Electronic Location: Yes. | In Progress | 2016-06-13 |
| Data from the 904 field did not migrate to Alma | Jill | Globally update the 904 field to the 966 field, and include $9LOCAL at end of the field | Not yet started | |
| Migrated patron blocks as code values instead of descriptions | James | Change Migration form User Blocks tab to include descriptions for blocks instead of former system codes. | Complete | 2016-06-29 |
| Empty holdings records created from migrated Summary statement in the bib record | Lauren | Opened ticket #20301945 with Ex Libris | Pending Ex Libris response | 2016-06-18 |
| Some item barcodes show up as: '3.02E+13-i15005951' | John | Items file opened in Excel and saved before delivering items file to Ex Libris during the test load. Ensure that no delivered data files are opened in Excel prior to the final load. | Not yet started | |
| User note 'NOTE(PATRON)' displays as a user viewable note in Alma. | James | On the Field Mapping form Patrons tab, change mapping of the NOTE(PATRON) field from 'Other Note' to 'Library_Note', because the 'Library_Note' field is not user viewable. | In Progress |