Disaster! Case Study of an Alma System Emergency

Abstract

In June 2016, after one and a half years live on Alma, the unthinkable happened: we lost an estimated 1.6 million MARC records which constituted approximately 60% of our total collection. This was due to a lack of in-house training and an honest mistake on our part. In the midst of this catastrophic situation we worked closely with Ex Libris support and developed new appreciation for their skills and backup service. Valuable experience and knowledge about the system was gained as we worked hard to recover our data. We were quite amazed later to learn just how lucky we were (it could have been MUCH worse!). In this presentation I'll explain what caused the problem and how we avoid it in the future, our initial response and subsequent recovery efforts, communication strategies with the library and Ex Libris, and important lessons learned along the way. Thankfully, this horror story does have a positive ending, and I hope you'll join me to hear about it!