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Lincoln and Tillamook Counties ILS Migration Project

Lincoln and Tillamook library software migration project

Public libraries within Lincoln and Tillamook County embarked on a software migration project in the Fall of 2024, to unite the holdings of the Oceanbooks Library System (Newport, Driftwood, and Tillamook County Libraries) with those of the existing Chinook Library System (Toledo, Waldport, Siletz, and Clatsop, Tillamook, and Oregon Coast Community Colleges). The end result will be a common library catalog for the libraries of Lincoln and Tillamook counties (and also including Clatsop Community College), where library users can request books and DVDs from any of these libraries and have them freely delivered via courier to the library closest to their own home. This project is scheduled to be completed early in Spring 2025.

What is the need for this project?

The libraries of the two counties have had a long tradition of sharing materials. But, since the libraries used two different catalog software systems, requesting materials sometimes took a much more cumbersome and costly workflow called interlibrary loan. Having a unified system among all libraries means that requesting materials is as easy as placing a hold on any requested library print item. In addition, libraries are expecting further benefits, including:

  • More attractive and easier to use interface. Public libraries participating in this project will utilize the "Aspen" discovery system software, which allows users to view both print, ebook, and media (DVD, CD, audiobook) holdings all at once, allowing them easier access to desired library items.

  • Cost Savings The Newport, Driftwood, and Tillmook County Libraries anticipate a 50% savings in software costs annually.

  • Shared expertise Having all libraries on a common system will allow for greater software expertise among area librarians. In a region where libraries with small staffs is common, being able to draw upon a greater number of experts will be beneficial to all participating libraries.

  • Possible future collaborations This software is currently being used by libraries along the Southern Oregon Coast, in Jackson County, and in Corvallis and Benton County. This opens up avenues for future collaborations with regard to sharing materials and expertise in this region of Oregon.

    FAQs

    Coming soon....
    • A typewriter with a sheet of paper showing the word "NEWS."

    OTAKU's Meeting Minutes:

    The first meeting of OTAKU (Oregon's Team of Aspen & Koha Users) facilitated discussions about the upcoming Oregon Coast Advanced Koha and Aspen Discovery Training event in Newport, OR some time during the first two weeks of May 2025. This event is sponsored by Lincoln County Library District (LCLD) who will utilize LSTA (Library Services and Technology Act) grant funds to pay for travel and lodging expenses of this event's participants as well as pay for professional educators from America's premier Koha and Aspen Discovery support company, ByWater Solutions (BWS), to lead hackathon-style training sessions on multiple topics.

    1. Who's missing from this Oregon Koha roll call?
      1. Koha libs in attendance: SW and coastal Oregon (Jackson Co, Curry Co, Lincoln Co, Tillamook, and Clatsop Co)
      2. Seaside is interested in migrating to Koha after their current ILS contract expires
    2. Who do we also wish to invite who might be interested?
      1. Rogue Community College
      2. A handful of religious colleges in Oregon
    3. Some background on our LSTA grant
      1. Awarded ~$76k
        1. ~$56k for the migration of OceanBooks Consortium into the Chinook Libraries Network (CLN)
        2. ~$20k for Adv Koha/Aspen training for all out on the coast: pay for trainers to visit, and participants' travel expenses
    4. Progress on the Chinook/Oceanbooks migration
      1. Most migration meetings are over with
      2. Test Koha server set up with bib, borrower, loan, hold records loaded
      3. ILS Admin Team (Christopher Davis, Danielle Meininger, Lillian Curanzy, and Mark Irmscher) is currently configuring it
      4. Aspen Discovery instance currently set up and pointed to test svr, ILS Admin Team is configuring it
      5. In-person staff trainings scheduled for Feb 11th-13, 2025 at Driftwood Library and Tillamook Main Branch library
      6. Go-live date is March 10th, 2025
    5. Topics for advanced training / possible dates / desired modality
      1. Informal hack-a-thon style with Koha experts on site
      2. Sys admin topics/best practices
      3. Composing & tweaking Koha reports
      4. Improving, unifying/homogenizing the cataloging practices of our libs so that Aspen displays records as intended
        1. e.g. If a character within the MARC Leader of the record is wrong because the copy-cataloger derived a eBook bib record from a printed book record, then they might not change things like to MARC Leader and that will cause the eBook to display in Aspen wrong and/or in the wrong places
      5. Koha Acquisitions module
      6. Using EDI records in Koha
      7. Jeremy from Coos Bay mentioned many issues with Koha that his library has, & most of the tickets that his lib has submitted to BWS have fallen through the cracks 
        1. Jeremy mentioned that during his library's migration, BWS was very attentive to their issues; however, since migration, BWS is unresponsive to his lib's support requests
        2. Jeremy mentioned that Koha and Aspen each use different lingo and have different ways of doing things, but if a lib doesn't understand those differences in terminology and they don't get their Aspen policies configured like their Koha policies are, then there will be discrepancies and BWS doesn't seem to care about
        3. Related to this, Bryan suggested that if ten libs all told BWS that they were having the same problem, then BWS is more likely to listen and take action
    6. Possibilities for a regional Oregon Koha user group (OTAKU)
    • what would you hope to gain from greater regional cooperation/collaboration?
      • Support from other Oregon Koha users
        • Especially Sys Admin support
      • Networking and discovering who's good at what tasks/skills
      • Everybody share contact information
    • what might this look like?
      • A local user group from which to ask for help
      • A meetup at OLA, even getting drinks together can solidify the connection between the name of the Oregon Koha users listed in an email message with the person with whom you're now sitting down with drinking a beer
        • Bryan said that he'd buy a beer for everyone ;-)
      • Maybe an Oregon Koha listserv
      • Not a chatroom/Mattermost style, but instead email
      • Ad hoc and/or regular trainings
    • how do we get started?
      • Training dates for adv Koha/Aspen training: the first two weeks of May 2025 in Newport or at Oregon Coast Community College
      • Bryan's going to set up a Google Groups list and then invite all of us to it