Project Charter – Migration Team

The project charter for the Migration Team was approved on October 30, 2018. Excerpts from the charter (PDF) are below:

Project Description and Purpose:
The Migration Team will work with Ex Libris and UH System Libraries to facilitate the technical aspects of the move to Alma and Primo. This team meets regularly with the Ex Libris Project team for data migration, system configuration, and implementation planning and enactment.

Project Scope:
The Migration Team is responsible for providing migration and implementation deliverables required by ExLibris; extracting and validating of Sierra and E-resources data for migration to Alma; facilitating system configuration of Alma to maximize interoperability with campus enterprise systems and third-party vendor systems.

Project Charter – Resource Management Team

The project charter for the Resource Management Team was approved on October 30, 2018. Excerpts from the charter (PDF) are below:

Project Description and Purpose:
The Resource Management Team will be responsible for developing policies and procedures related to resource activities, implementing the related Alma workflows and ensuring that all staff involved with resource management activities are trained.

Project Scope:
The Resource Management Team will gain full understanding of the bibliographic, authority, inventory records and data in the Alma system. The team will establish and document workflows and practices for resource description and management for all formats of materials.

Project Charter – E-Resources Management and Workflow Team

The project charter for the E-Resources Management and Workflow Team was approved on November 14, 2018. Excerpts from the charter (PDF) are below:

Project Description and Purpose:
The E-Resources Management and Workflow Team will be responsible for reviewing policies and procedures related to e-resources activities, developing and implementing Alma workflows related to e-resources, and ensuring that staff involved with e-resources activities have the necessary knowledge and training.

Project Scope:
The E-Resources Management and Workflow Team will gain full understanding of the functionalities in Alma including license management, harvesting of usage data, coordinating description, and ongoing management of all electronic resources. The team will establish and document new interdepartmental workflows and recommend necessary (organizational) structure changes to maximize efficiencies.

Project Charter – Fulfillment Team

The project charter for the Fulfillment Team was approved on October 11, 2018. Excerpts from the charter (PDF) are below:

Project Description and Purpose:
The Fulfillment Team will be responsible for reviewing policies and procedures related to fulfillment activities, implementing the related Alma workflows and ensuring that all staff involved with fulfillment activities are trained.

Project Scope:
This team will review the Alma fulfillment documentation to understand Alma workflows for fulfillment tasks. With that understanding, the team will review existing policies and processes and adjust data such as patron categories and loan rules to match Alma’s architecture and workflows. The team will provide the necessary configuration options for fulfillment activities (e.g., “the spreadsheet,”) and will coordinate and provide training to colleagues and student staff.

Project Charter – Alma Steering Committee

The project charter for the Alma Steering Committee was approved on October 1, 2018. Excerpts from the charter (PDF) are below:

Project Description and Purpose:

Leading and coordinating UH’s institutional effort in the implementation process of Alma from Ex Libris, the new library service platform for UH Libraries, the UH Law Library, UH Clear Lake, and UH Downtown.

Project Scope:

The scope of the Steering Committee is to initiate the implementation process, guide efforts of internal decision making, communicate with internal and external stakeholders, establish expectations with internal and external stakeholders, serve as the primary communication channel with Ex Libris, support units through training and change management strategies, ensure successful implementation of Alma, and ensure successful launch of new workflows with Alma.

Project Charter – Bibliographic Data Preparation Team

The project charter for the Bibliographic Data Preparation Team was approved on October 11, 2018. Excerpts from the charter (PDF) are below:

Project Description and Purpose:
The Bibliographic Data Preparation Team will be responsible for reviewing and modifying data in bibliographic records to ensure a smooth transition of data from Sierra to Alma.

Project Scope:

The Bibliographic Data Preparation Team will review, modify, and remove (where possible) inconsistent Sierra records and codes. This will reduce possible complications during data migration to Alma by reducing the amount of data migrated, as well as removing problem records that are not needed or desirable. It may also simplify data mapping for the implementation team.

Alma Basics Overview Video

Ex Libris has recorded a one-hour overview of the Alma Library Services Platform. Times are listed below if you would like to skip to a specific section.

  • 2:30 (Start here – first 2.5 minutes is sales/marketing content)
  • 4:41 (Actual demo begins)
  • 14:45-20:34 (Acquisitions, example used is ordering an e-resource)
  • 20:34-29:53 (Resource Management, aka “Cataloging”)
  • 29:53-35:41 (Fulfillment, aka “Circulation”)
  • 35:41 – 46:56 (Analytics)
  • 46:56 – End (Q&A)