SUNYergy V.2 No.3 LMS Contract Signed

		July 2000 Volume 2 Number 3 Page 4
	Contract Signed; Hardware Selected!

In His Own Words
David Ritchie, Impressions of NAUUG

How to Contact Us

Linkable Links

Link to the OLIS Committees List

June 13, 2000 - Chicago, IL Ex Libris (USA) is pleased to announce that the contract with SUNY has been signed and that work on the project will begin immediately. SUNY, the State University of New York, selected ALEPH in October 1999 and contract negotiations on the complex project began immediately. Concurrent with the negotiations, Ex Libris opened an East Coast office in order to provide local support for the project.

ALEPH 500 is now poised to become the core library management system (LMS) for the SUNYConnect initiative. SUNYConnect will provide access to the entire SUNY library collection of 18 million volumes while integrating technology based resources and capabilities with traditional library services.

"We`re delighted to complete this part of the project and to now move into the implementation stage. If our experience in negotiating the contract is any indicator, this project will truly prove to be successful collaboration between SUNY and Ex Libris in achieving the goals of SUNYConnect." Mr. Carey Hatch, Assistant Provost, Library and Information Services. Ex Libris press release; see http://www.exlibris-usa.com/news.asp

Provost Peter D. Salins signed the Ex Libris contract on May 25, 2000. This milestone allows for additional progress on the SUNYConnect implementation of the ALEPH 500 software. The contract is currently being reviewed by New York State agencies (Attorney General's office and the Office of the Comptroller) as a normal part of the NYS procurement process.

Project Leaders
In June the OLIS met with Project Leaders from the Ex Libris staff. Ms. Marlene Harris will have overall coordination responsibilities for the implementation projects involving all of the individual SUNYConnect libraries. In addition, each library's implementation project will be supervised by an Ex Libris staff member.

Marlene Harris comes to Ex Libris from Endeavor Information Systems. She is a librarian with many years of experience managing the technical services divisions of libraries. She is active in ALA and other professional associations and is a frequent presenter and writer. She joins Ex Libris (USA) as a Senior Implementation Librarian. Ex Libris press release; see http://www.exlibris-usa.com/news.asp

Ms. Naomi Leiser (Senior Librarian/Analyst) will coordinate the consortial aspects of the SUNYConnect LMS implementation. This includes the union catalog, shared authority files, and the universal borrowing components of SUNYConnect.

Naomi Leiser is transferring from Ex Libris Ltd. in Israel, to the US operation. Prior to that she worked as a librarian in several academic settings including Jewish Theological Seminary, NYU and Columbia University Library. Naomi joins Ex Libris (USA) as a Librarian Analyst. Ex Libris press release; see http://www.exlibris-usa.com/news.asp

As announced on the SUNYLA-L list (and elsewhere) the initial implementers of the SUNYConnect LMS are Binghamton, Buffalo (Center), Fredonia, Oswego, Stony Brook and Tompkins Cortland Community College. The current schedule plans for these libraries to be utilizing the Ex Libris software prior to July 2001. See http://www.sunyconnect.suny.edu/pilot.htm for additional details about the initial implementation plan.

Each SUNYConnect library is asked to designate a Project Leader, a Systems Librarian, and appropriate backup personnel for these roles. Ex Libris recommends that the Project Leader and System Librarian roles be undertaken by separate individuals.

These tasks coordinating a library's implementation of the SUNYConnect LMS have a major influence over the success of that project. The responsibilities associated with these implementation and coordination roles are significant. Library directors need to recognize that some of the Project Leader's and/or System Librarian's current job duties should be altered to accommodate these new responsibilities. The efforts of these individuals are keys to the overall success of SUNYConnect.

SUNY OLIS plans to meet with the initial implementers on August 3, 2000. The meeting promises to be a way of sharing information on the implementation plan and schedule, a good opportunity for everyone to meet and a start to a fruitful and fun (and formidable) collaboration.

While the SUNY-Ex Libris contract is awaiting final approval, initial software access, etc. has been established. Project leaders the pilot campuses have been given access to ALEPH client software as well as to Ex Libris documentation.

Sun/Solaris Selected!

The SUNYConnect LMS "platform" is Sun hardware running the Solaris version of the UNIX operating system. Initial meetings with Ex Libris produced significant progress on hardware selection. Current plans include the utilization of a server machine designed to handle one or more large data conversion projects with other machines sized to handle the library catalogs in a "production environment." A SUNYConnect hardware vendor selection has just recently been finalized. SUNY OLIS, Ex Libris, CUNY and members of the SUNY ALEPH Configuration Team have been in general agreement as to the hardware vendor. The Sun/Solaris platform is the "native" hardware and operating system environment for the ALEPH software. There is significant Sun/Solaris expertise available via the SUNY information technology staffs.

SUNY OLIS is busy coordinating many of these initial implementation processes. In addition, established and ongoing programs and services are being supported and enhanced. We would like to take a moment from these activities to urge our SUNY colleagues to join us in this exciting SUNYConnect LMS implementation. We desire and require your energy and expertise.