OPAL Alma/ExLibris Migration

Preparing Sierra Data for Migration

• Review suppressed records on unsuppressed bibs: these will NOT be suppressed in Alma (without additional clean-up later).
• Fix or delete on-the-fly records.
  • How to search for on-the-fly records.
• Review course reserves and delete old/inactive courses and items even if reserve module is not currently used. The goal is to assess the current state of things - keep what's current or likely to be used in the future and delete the old.
• Review lost and missing items.
• Delete expired/deactivated patrons - OPALHelp will send a list if you need one.
• Check for and delete old order records, especially if acquisitions module is no longer used. Our Sierra system options restrict batch order record deletions to anything before 7/20 (ensures that only records with old payments are being removed). If you need to delete anything more recent, let us know. We don't recommend deleting any order records for the current fiscal year.
  • How to delete order records with payments.
• Identify unused patron types and locations and make a note of them - will be needed in the summer for profiling forms.

Serials

• Make sure holdings information is accurate and consistently recorded using either the textual Lib Has field or the MARC Lib Has fields. Choose one approach for all of your serials holdings information if this has been entered differently over time.
• Old checkin records that are full and have been archived and suppressed can be deleted.
• Export a list of print serials holdings for ease of verification and clean-up after migration.
• Hold off on removing barcoded serials items, Lib Has or current checkin records until we know more about how serials are handled in Alma - prioritize other cleanup.

Review Suppressed Records on Unsuppressed Bibs

Review all suppressed item records if they are attached to unsuppressed bibs, including those for special collections. The reason is that item records cannot be individually suppressed in Alma. You can exclude suppressed periodical records from your list if you prefer.

We suggest unsuppressing (change ICODE2 to "-" or "z") any items that are available for use, even if it is only by appointment and not as a regular checkout. Suppression should be reserved for items that are not available because they are missing, awaiting repair, pulled to be withdrawn etc. 

This is an example of a create lists search for suppressed item records (excluding periodicals) where the bib is not suppressed and the item does not have withdrawn status. Replace "tu" in the location field with your location(s) and you can also use the "starts with" condition and value instead. Don't forget to use the "Group" function when including the "OR" condition.

You can export the item list into a spreadsheet and include the status codes to easily filter out items that still need to be suppressed (lost, missing, etc.) or review those manually. Seeing all of the status codes you have associated with suppressed items may reveal other cleanup to be done.

Clean Up On-the-Fly Records

You can use Create Lists to search for on-the-fly records through the associated message.

Here's how you would do that for item records (change the location for your institution):

and a similar search for Patron records (change home library location to your institution):

Fix the patron or item records and remove the "on the fly" message from the IMESSAGE field in the item record or the PMESSAGE field in the patron record. Changing the record's message status while it is checked out should not cause any problems. 

Generating a List of Items on Reserve

To obtain a list of all the items associated with course reserves, take the following steps:

• Go to Create Lists and choose and empty slot in your range
• Click on Search Records
• Name the list so you can identify it
• Ensure that Store Record Type is Course.
• Ener the following search criteria, using your institution's codes:

• Add additional search criteria if needed to identify older courses using beginning or end date, creation date, course update date etc.
• Click Search
• View the resulting list

You can work on this list by opening the course record and then clicking on “Summary”. This will take you to the items in the list. Review and delete items first, then courses.

Removing Items from Reserve

Follow these steps:

• Open the course record
• Check the box for any item you wish to remove
• Select Remove Items
• Click Yes to the prompt
• Electronic course reserves will link to a media file (identify in Create Lists using 962 field - marc tag 962 not equal to "-" blank) which must be removed under Go > Media before you can delete the item/course. Directions below.

The course record can be deleted once there are no more items on reserve.

Generating a List of Electronic Course Reserves

BIBLIOGRAPHIC  LOCATION  equal to  "fr   "    AND BIBLIOGRAPHIC  MARC Tag 962  not equal to  ""

Identify Missing Items

Change the location(s) for your institution. Depending on how you use various status codes such as "m, l or w" you may want to make adjustments to your search.

Deleting Lost and Paid Items

Items that are lost and paid have already been removed from a patron’s account. The records can be removed whenever you’re ready either manually or by sending a review file number to OPALHelp and we will take care of deleting the item records and removing holdings from OCLC.

Export a List of Print Serials Holdings

Search for your print serial holdings information using Create Lists (change location value to your institution):

Open Excel and then import the exported .txt file. If you select "comma' from the delimiter options, multiple ranges will be placed in separate columns.