Migrating from a Standalone Sierra to a Shared Alma: Our Journey to a Unified System

Abstract

In October 2015, California State University (CSU) kicked off the project to implement a Unified Library Management System (ULMS) for all 23 campuses. Over the next 2 years, San Francisco State University Library joined the migration journey with other CSU libraries. The consortium went live with Alma and Primo in the Summer of 2017. Our presentation will share a local campus's Alma migration experience. We will discuss the planning and implementation of the project as well as cover some details about Sierra data preparation and clean up, workflow review and adjustment, staff training and third party communication. Moving from an independent system to a shared system presented many challenges including collaborative development of policies and best practices, organizing local and consortial teams, providing training, and communication through various channels, and staying on track with the timeline. Our goal is to provide some suggestions for other libraries facing similar migrations.