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Electronic Resources
- State budget update
- New ER considered
- 2003-04 usernames/passwords
- Preview 2003 reminder

Instructional Development
- BGSU online course
- InfoLit workshops update
- Submitting ER materials

Library Automation
- Transition Update
- Year-end MultiLIS Tasks

Media Booking
- Service changes announced
- Area Media Center grants

Union Catalog
- Changes to OCLC Record Request Service
- How will MultiLIS schools obtain MARC records?

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INFOhio Central
35 E. Chestnut Street, 8th Floor
Columbus, OH 43215
Phone: 614-485-6731
Fax: 614-752-2940
E-mail: central@infohio.org

The RECORD is published by INFOhio, the Information Network for Ohio Schools, Theresa M. Fredericka, Executive Director. Making copies of this newsletter, in whole or in part, is encouraged. Please acknowledge or cite INFOhio.

Transition Update

The migration from MultiLIS to Sirsi’s K-12 integrated library automation software has begun. Following the March 2002 decision by the INFOhio Governing Advisory Board that approved the migration, pending testing of the software and satisfactory resolution of any issues and concerns, the software was thoroughly reviewed by INFOhio’s Transition Team. Directors of five DASites – LNOCA, MEC, NOACSC, SCOCA and SPARCC – have agreed to purchase the necessary hardware to migrate selected buildings beginning in August 2003.

INFOhio Technical Services obtained a test system to verify that MultiLIS data will smoothly convert to the Sirsi format. Groups are preparing training materials and communications pieces. INFOhio Central and several DASites sent 12 delegates to the Sirsi SuperConference in St. Louis, Missouri, in March 2003. The delegates attended workshops, demonstrations, and presentations by Sirsi staff and members of the Sirsi user community, all helping define migration strategies.

Sirsi’s K-12 automation software replaces MultiLIS, a system that uses older system and database technology, also owned by Sirsi. There are two basic reasons for INFOhio to begin the migration process: The company has decided not to produce future enhancements to MultiLIS, and most INFOhio’s librarians and other potential library automation participants have expressed a desire that all software modules provide a graphical users interface.

The prototype DASites and buildings will help INFOhio evaluate the migration process, leading to converting the remainder of the 2,000 INFOhio buildings to Sirsi’s K-12 product over the next three years. INFOhio plans to have all its buildings using Sirsi’s K-12 product by the 2005-2006 school year. More information about the transition can be found on the INFOhio Web site.

Year-end MultiLIS Tasks and Getting Ready for Transition

Set Compulsory Return Dates (CRDs) to override circulation policies for a set number of days. CRDs can be set for patron categories, so teacher materials can be due a different date than are student materials. Also, CRDs can allow different dates for different material types, if circulation policies have been set for specific collections.

Those buildings in the first wave of prototypes have a list of tasks specific to migration. All other buildings can help get ready for migration by running the MultiLIS item record cleanup report Incomplete/Questionable Items, a recommended report to find and correct errors in item records and to prepare for the INFOhio Inventory module. The report should be run three times to identify items without collection codes, without shelf numbers and without general location codes.

Another useful cleanup report to run this time of the year is Incomplete Records, which allows the identification of bibliographic records without item numbers. Once a list of such records is generated, library staff can determine those ready for deletion from the district’s database.

Use the Calendar Management module to enter closed dates for the 2003-2004 school year, as soon as your Board of Education adopts next year’s calendar.