With the migration policy sheets taking up the last few weeks, today, the first day of training, is perhaps a good point to pick things up.A couple of pointers which may be useful on the data mapping front. As a pre-cursor to this I ran the Marcout script thinking this is how the data would be extracted. SirsiDynix actually run their own script to extract the data; however the Marcout script will run through the Bib records and 'hit a wall' should it find any records with 'non filing' / blank tags. Granted you're required to amend these manually, but it does clear the way for the SD script. Another script worth running is the Marcout script, tweaked for Authorities. In this case we had some problems here (most probably a formatting issue with an Authority on our tables, rather than the script) and were able to use this as a back up to extract them. It’s also worth looking at expired borrower accounts and ‘Missing’ items before the final data migration; more so with borrowers in the event that the accounts expire over the course of the final data migration. There is an easy solution with an overlay till you get to the Symphony 'side'. I'll try and provide a more comprehensive list of these action points after the training.The mapping of information on to the policy sheets is slightly less straightforward. I'll endeavor to provide an update on this once we've seen how our own data and policies interact. Initial thoughts? It's extremely frustrating to say the least. Terminology is a bit of a stumbling block; ‘Maximum Charges’…you’d be forgiven in thinking this related to billing when it actually refers to the maximum number of items out. It may well be the case that it would be better to see Symphony in action prior to the data mapping, with a view to providing an insight as to how policies are triggered. I get the feeling it could be done quicker on site, although is it possible to do so using the three support packages which are offered? I'm not too sure.Initial thoughts using the system for the first time? It's different; radically different to Horizon. The fact that you can run several instances of the same task [you need to close one window before opening another to avoid this], takes a bit of getting used to. Likewise, 'searching' and the concept of call records. The somewhat murky waters of ‘Enterprise’ and how it interacts with e-library aren’t any clearer. Indeed if anyone has subscribed to ‘Enterprise’ I’d be interested in hearing how it integrates within e-library, or on it's own within a VLE, etc.The Symphony Mailing List did throw up a couple of interesting developments from the recent conference, with the announcement that the Group Edit function in Horizon will be integrated into Symphony later this year. This really does make things considerably easier for Systems Administrators (and Library staff!) with the ability to bulk change entire collections at the click of a button. Hpoefully we'll see a fully fledged Horizonesque cataloguing module next!In keeping with the goodwill I've received via the Mailing Lists etc I’m happy to forward any of the Systems Admin checklists etc I’ve drawn up over the last few weeks.
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