The Verde Implementation Project

• Presenter: Charles Woods, on behalf of the Verde Implementation Team:• Linda Day, Wayne Johnston, Don Hamilton, Greg Sennema, Carol

Stephenson, Debbie Tytko

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Agenda

Goal of the Verde Implementation projectWhat is an ERM systemWhat is VerdeBackground to the selection processComponents of the Verde Implementation ProjectA brief demo ResourcesQuestions

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Goal of The Verde Implementation Project

Simply put, the mandate of the Verde Implementation Group is to,

“…oversee the acquisition, installation and configuration of the Verde ERM system; local programming to supplement the product; and staff training.” 

…and by December, too!

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Sometimes it helps to sit down and think about the problem: What are we talking about?

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What is Electronic Resource Management?

• Electronic Resource Management (ERM) is a term that refers to the practice of managing data and metadata about electronic resources acquired by libraries.

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ERM (continued)

What information is managed? Electronic Resource Management systems manage data about:

e-resource trials the process of getting a license agreement negotiated and signed the content of the signed license agreement, such as usage restrictions the URL of the e-resource the location of the license agreement itself or a digital copy acquisition of the e-resource, such as subscription periods, invoices, and payment information contact information with the publisher or vendor usage access problems

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What is Verde?

Verde is the ERM system written and managed by ExLibris

Part of the ExLibris approach to Unified Resource Management – the creation of an ILS that manages materials no matter the format

a module that integrates with the overall information architecture of the traditional ILS, and with new information-discovery tools

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Background1. OCUL-ERM review in 2005 (including Linda Day, Nick Dobbin and

Charles Woods) which inventoried needs and assessed vendor products, and made a qualified recommendation for Verde

2. TUG ERM Group, Phase 1 (Fall ‘06)• Inventory of TUG ERM needs, and assess state of ERM technology• Core recommendation: replace the current TUG ERM system with a

state-of-the art ERM system

3. TUG ERM Group, Phase 2 (Spring ‘07)• Match local requirements with available systems and recommend a

choice• Core recommendation: acquire and install 3 instances of Verde,

one each for Guelph, Laurier and Waterloo, on the OCUL Verde server

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Members of the Verde Implementation group

Linda Day and Wayne Johnston of the University of Guelph

Don Hamilton and Greg Sennema of Wilfred Laurier University, and now Carol Stephenson

Debbie Tytko and Charles Woods of the University of Waterloo.

…and a cast of hundreds!

…and Screechy Scaly 9

TUG Requirements that had to be met…Acquire a system scalable to the demands of electronic resource management, no matter the media

Reduce or eliminate redundant record maintenance amongst the ERM, SFX and TRELLIS systems

Acquire a system that supports staff workflows and the natural life cycle of an electronic resource from trial through to evaluation and selection, acquisitions and purchase, and ultimately into production

Acquire a system that better integrates with our ILS system, SFX, and Scholars Portal

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Why Verde?

Verde was recognized as best-of-class by the OCUL and TUG review groups, and by your participation in the vendor demonstrations

Verde has been deployed by several of our OCUL partners – we have a community of users who can share discussions on common problems and solutions

It is a hosted solution: management of the hardware, operating system and application software is performed by the OCUL support team in Toronto.

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Why Verde (cont’d)

OCUL (and TUG) already share the OCUL SFX system in Toronto

The Verde and SFX systems manage complimentary knowledge databases that can be automatically synchronized, and …

Will be merged into one database in 2008, eliminating duplicate record management.

There will be links between the Verde ERM system and the TRELLIS ExLibris system and SFX

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Sometimes it helps to sit down and think about the problem: What are the stages of the Implementation?

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Project Planning

Installation

Training

Customization

Data Migration

STP

Some Components of the Fall ‘07 Verde Implementation Project

Knowledge Base issues (Linda, Don and Charles):The initial Verde KB for each institution will be converted from their SFX KB on the OCUL server

Issues to identify, quantify and resolve:Records on the TUG ERM KB that are not on SFX and will not be convertedRecords on SFX that have not been activated and will not be convertedRecords on SFX with holdings that are not currentState of TRELLIS cataloguing recordsetc…

Identify means of updating/cleaning records via import and export loaders

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Project Components (cont’d)

Training and Workflows (Carol, Debbie and Linda)

Two days of training by ExLibris in October or November15 training slots, with auditing by othersInvestigation and familiarization with the Verde KB and the hierarchy of e-products:

E-InterfaceE-PackageE-constituentE-standalone

Analysis of staffing and workflow changes required when the system goes live.Development of new procedures and policiesSourcing documentation from the vendor, OCUL and other friendly libraries.

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Project Components

Public Access (Wayne Johnston and Greg Sennema)• Issues:

• Inventory current public interfaces to TUG ERM• Plan means to replace and improve these interfaces to data from

Verde and SFX• Investigate possible interim options if the former takes time to

implement (eg. The SFX A-Z list)• consult with users to fine tune interfaces• Develop the programming infrastucture to support interface

development for Verde and other TUG initiatives.• Planning documents and methodology are rapidly emerging on the

TUG ERM wiki… fresh material just posted by Wayne and Greg

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Project Components

Communications (Charles, Don)Identify all the people and resources available for the projectIdentify particularly the support roles of staff at ExLibris and OCULParticipate vigorously in the OCUL-Verde listservCommunicate regularly with staff about the progress of the project, including postings to the new Tug Initiatives blogEncourage participation by staff where-ever possible

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All of which should result in…

A Verde instance for each TUG institution on the OCUL Verde server, appropriated configured for each institution, with a converted database, by December

Post-implementation tasks:Update records and create records for local titlesContinue refining public interfacesInvestigate report and statistics capabilitiesWork on loader issues Decommission TUG ERM

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Where are we right now?

The contract has been signedTraining dates are being arrangedInstances are to be set up shortly, with Verde KBs being created from SFX KBsSFX cleanup already in progress with title/package activationVigorous planning and analysis ongoing…

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Lets sit back and look at Verde…

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Verde demo

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The new vocabularies

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Verde Demo

http://verde.scholarsportal.info:18080/verde/web User: TST_administrator

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A snapshot of a search …

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All this results in Bach-like TUG Polyphony…

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…and TUG Harmony !

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Verde Implementation Project

Some ResourcesTug Initiatives Page at http://library2.wlu.ca/blog/tuginitiativesVerde Implementation Project page on the TUG WikiOCUL-Verde listOCUL Verde project documentation centreExLibris documentation centre

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