The first buildings to migrate from MultiLIS to Sirsi's K-12 library automation software are now being selected. INFOhio plans to have five DASites (LNOCA, MEC, NOACSC, SCOCA and SPARCC) go live with the new software for the selected buildings in fall 2003. INFOhio Technical Services staff and DASite providers will evaluate the experiences of the five prototype DASites and make recommendations for migrating the remainder of INFOhio's buildings.

INFOhio has been studying our transition to Sirsi's K-12 software since 2000. Several issues have been addressed to make sure the transition is beneficial to the 2,000 INFOhio buildings using MultiLIS. In March 2002 the INFOhio Governing Advisory Board approved the proposed migration, pending testing of the software and satisfactory resolution of any issues and concerns.

INFOhio Central and several DASites sent 12 delegates to the Sirsi SuperConference in St. Louis, Missouri, in March 2003. The focus of this year's conference was the transition of Sirsi customers from former DRA systems (DRA Classic, Inlex, MultiLIS and Taos) to Sirsi's integrated library automation software. Workshops, demonstrations and presentations by Sirsi staff and members of the Sirsi user community explained software features and migration strategies.

Those who attended the Sirsi SuperConference, as well as others involved in the transition process, are confident Sirsi's K-12 product will be embraced by Ohio's library staff. I urge all current MultiLIS users and prospective participants in INFOhio's library automation component to visit the transition section of the INFOhio Web site for more information.

You may wish to bookmark the page or add it to your favorites, because we plan to post a great amount of transition information in this section. Much has been posted already, including a background section, recommended database cleanup procedures, equipment specifications for the new software, and answers to frequently asked questions (FAQs). If you would like to pose a question that has not yet been posted, please contact the INFOhio Support Staff at your regional ITC. To help understand more about the new system, a series of PowerPoint slides has been assembled that illustrate and explain many of the features we are considering for our migration.

Much of the work to assure a smooth transition to Sirsi's K-12 product is already underway. Participants at this year's INFOhio Retreat, June 16-18 at Capital University in Columbus, will review our transition plans and will help INFOhio prepare for fall's first wave, followed by the rest of INFOhio's 2,000 automated libraries. Consider participating in this year's Retreat!

The Transition Team has worked diligently to get INFOhio through the evaluation phase. Now that the decision to migrate has been made, we are excited to have the opportunity to serve Ohio's students, teachers and library staff with Sirsi's automation software.

Terri Shutt, Co-Chair
INFOhio Transition Team