Alma/Primo VE Implementation

December 18, 2024: The system went live!

December 8, 2024 - December 14, 2024
The Maricopa team officially accepted the data migration.

December 1, 2024 - December 7, 2024
Third-party vendors were informed of the new link resolver. Ex Libris team continues its data migration work.

November 24, 2004 - November 30, 2024
Core team created data checking plan in preparation for delivery of production environment.

November 17, 2024 - November 23, 2024
On November 20th, the technical freeze began to allow Ex Libris to build our production environment.  Successful testing of an SIS load took place.

November 10, 2024 - November 16, 2024
Ex Libris training sessions ended with a session on COUNTER/SUSHI and an ad hoc cataloging presentation.  Final Symphony data and 360 reports were shared with Ex Libris in preparation for cutover.  Maricopan librarians and staff established plans for configuring Course Reserves.

November 3, 2004 - November 9, 2024
Technical service freeze began at 3 pm on November 8th.  A second Fulfilment training session was held on Nov. 5th, and a Course Reserves consultation session took place on Nov. 6th. LDG and ERC held a joint in-person meeting to configure Primo VE views.

October 27, 2024 - November 2, 2024
Electronic resources training with Ex Libris occurred on Oct 29th, and a resource sharing training session was held on Oct. 30th.  The final migration and field mapping forms were submitted.

October 20, 2024 - October 26, 2024
The core team prepared multiple documents for Ex Libris, including a scheduled jobs list, a first draft go-live readiness checklist, and updated migration and field mapping forms. Cataloging training with Ex Libris occurred on Oct. 23rd. 

October 13, 2024 - October 19, 2024
Acquisitions training with Ex Libris occurred on Oct. 16th.  Karen Docherty successfully tested an Ask a Librarian chat widget in Primo VE. The core team continued their work on third-party integrations.  

October 6, 2024 - October 12, 2024
On October 8, a Primo VE training session took place.  The core team learned about Alma letters and jobs and is configuring our letters and setting up scheduled jobs.

September 29, 2024 - October 5, 2024
The first Fulfillment training session with Ex Libris occurred on October 2nd.  Our core team began a review of the tasks associated with the cutover plan. LDG continues to work on configuring Primo VE views.

September 16, 2024 - September 28, 2024
Our first training session, workflow consultation on periodicals & serials, took place.  Ex Libris announced our cutover date as Thursday, Nov. 21, 2024.

September 15, 2024 - September 21, 2024
College librarians are checking if remote linking to our databases is working correctly.  The Discovery Working Group is configuring their college Primo VE views.  Members of LTS have completed their Alma Certification.

September 8, 2024 - September 14, 2024
The E-Resources Working Group began identifying our workflows for our Ex Libris team.

September 1, 2024 - September 7, 2024
Our first look at Primo VE happened this week!  Data migration cleanup and creating Alma user roles continued.

August 25, 2024 - August 31, 2024
User roles for select staff and librarians were created in preparation for the data review of our test load environment.  Our Acquisitions workflows were shared with Ex Libris.  The SIS team continues its integration work with Alma.

August 18, 2024 - August 24, 2024
Ex Libris delivered out test load environment.  A major milestone!  

August 11, 2024 - August 17, 2024
The final configuration form was submitted to Ex Libris.

August 4, 2024 - August 10, 2024
A draft configuration form was submitted to Ex Libris.  Work continues on configuration.  The core team and working group members began watching videos and completing acquisitions-related exercises.

July 28, 2024 - August 3, 2024
Work on the configuration form started this week.

July 21, 2024 - July 27, 2024
The Fulfillment Working Group, led by Evelyn Lisitzky (GCC), completed workflow questions for the Ex Libris team.  Training on how to complete the configuration form began.

July 14, 2024 - July 20, 2024
Alma Essentials training this week focused on Fulfillment/Circulation.  The core team and working groups will be participating in various Alma Essentials.  Training consists of watching videos and sometimes completing follow-up exercises or attending Ex Libris meetings.  

July 7, 2024 - July 13, 2024
The implementation phase kicked off on July 10th with a meeting with Pamela Morgan, our new project manager.  Alma Essentials training has begun. 

June 30, 2024 - July 6, 2024
Thanks to the hard work of a small group from the core team, the Draft P2E Form and Draft Migration and Field Mapping Forms was delivered to Ex Libris on time!

June 23, 2024 - June 29, 2024
The core team continues to work diligently to complete the migration and mapping forms for Ex Libris. An LTS team attends ALA Annual Conference with plans to meet with Clarivate representatives.

June 16, 2024 - June 22, 2024
All 10 colleges' e-resources data (360/Summon reports) were submitted to Ex Libris for migration. The core team continues work on the migration and mapping forms.  

June 9, 2024 - June 15, 2024
Ex Libris and the core team have begun filling out the Symphony to Alma Migration Form and the Symphony to Alma Field Mapping Form.  Preparation for migrating e-resources continues.

June 2, 2024 - June 8, 2024
The core team, with help from District IT, sent the first batch of Symphony data to Ex Libris.  The LDG summer team began reviewing their 360 Core/Link/Summon data in preparation for e-resources migration.

May 26, 2024 - June 1, 2024 
Ex Libris introduced the core team to e-resources migration.  Through Basecamp, our project management software, valuable questions and answers have been shared. 

May 19, 2024 - May 25, 2024
The week was focused on data migration from SirsiDynix.

May 12, 2024 - May 18, 2024
The core team continues preparing for data migration.  Ann, your project lead, attended the Ex Libris Users of North America (ELUNA) Knowledge Days and Annual Conference, where she learned more about Alma Primo VE and tips on migration.  She also expanded her network with helpful colleagues.

May 5, 2024 - May 11, 2024
Additional library faculty who serve on Alma Primo VE working groups were invited into the sandbox to ensure they had a chance to take a peek before leaving for the summer.  A first pass on selecting our third-party integrations was completed and shared with Ex Libris.

April 28, 2024 - May 4, 2024
The E-Resources Working Group, which includes ERC, and the Collection Development Group gained access to the sandbox.  

April 21, 2024 - April 27, 2024
Access to the sandbox was expanded to include members of the Discovery Working Group.  On April 24, Maria (Ex Libris PM) introduced Alma integrations, such as integrating with SIS for our student users.  We're being tasked with identifying which integrations are required for go-live.  

April 14, 2024 - April 20, 224
On April 17, the working group leads met with Maria (Ex Libris PM) to review how the sandbox environment was going and answer questions Maria had from the implementation form.  A systems group also met with Maria later that day to begin planning for data migration from Symphony.

April 7, 2024 - April 13, 2024
On April 10, 2024, your working group leads met Maria (Ex Libris PM) to view the sandbox environment and our project management tool, Basecamp. This small group will test the sandbox for a couple of weeks and create a sandbox user access plan to ensure everyone gets to practice learning in the sandbox.

Mar. 31, 2024 - Apr. 6. 2024
On April 3, we officially started with our first onboarding meeting with Maria, our Ex Libris onboarding PM.  Maria has suggested that we move up our timeline with a "kick-off" around June 26th to give us more time for testing and training.  Yay!  This does not change our Dec. 18, 2024 go-live date. 

Mar. 24, 2024 - Mar. 30, 2024
Weekly meetings with the Ex Libris team will be every week on Wednesday at 9 am.  Leaders of working groups may be asked to join meetings related to their area of expertise.  Ann Roselle sent out a message encouraging everyone to complete the "Getting to Know Alma" series. We've already had two folks complete the series with a quiz score of 80% or higher.  A prize is headed their way!

Mar. 17, 2024 - Mar. 23, 2024
Robynn Turley, Ann Roselle, and Lucas Rooney met with Maria Bunevski, our Ex Libris onboarding PM.  We discussed 1) setting up a weekly meeting schedule, 2) plans for data mapping from Symphony, and 3) the importance of bringing in DO IT and data management employees early in the process.

Mar. 10, 2024 - Mar. 16, 2024
Spring break.

Mar. 3, 2024 - Mar. 9, 2024
District Committees, such as LDG and ERC, have welcomed Alma Primo VE working groups to their meetings to help get to know each other.  Other District Committees, such as Serials and Collection Development, are beginning to have early conversations about the implementation process.

Feb. 25, 2024 - March 2, 2024
Ex Libris shared a skeleton plan for onboarding and initial Implementation activities.  The official onboarding start date is April 8, 2024. Robynn Turley, on behalf of MCCCD Libraries, submitted our Implementation Form to Ex Libris.

Feb. 18, 2024 - Feb. 24, 2024
LTS reached out to ASU contacts, including the University Librarian and systems analysts, to learn more from their first-hand experiences.  On Feb. 21st, Clifton Pee, Ann Roselle, Robynn Turley, and Lucas Rooney met virtually with the Ex Libris onboarding team.

Feb. 11, 2024 - Feb. 17, 2024
Reminders were sent out to implementation working groups to complete their answers to select questions on the Alma Primo VE Implementation Form.  LTS and colleges continue their efforts in data clean-up for a smooth migration. 

Feb. 4, 2024 - Feb. 10, 2024
Lucas Rooney (DO) has joined the team as an ITS project manager.  Lucas will be attending the tri-chair meetings every Wednesday. Clifton Pee is working with SirsiDynix to negotiate a 6-month contract for our current system to better align with the go-live data of Alma Primo VE.  LDG is investigating different options for managing local digital collections in our new system.

Jan. 28, 2024 - Feb. 3, 2024
Email invitations were sent out to all members of the working groups.  Leads were asked to guide the work on answering select questions on the Alma Primo VE Implementation Form.  The Implementation Form will help Ex Libris have a clearer picture of our libraries.  The Tri-Chairs agreed to hold weekly virtual meetings every Wednesday at 9 am.     

Jan. 21, 2024 - Jan. 27, 2024
Oversight Team and Working Groups were finalized for the implementation process. 

Jan. 14, 2024 - Jan. 20, 2024
On Jan. 18th, Clifton Pee and Ann Roselle met virtually with the Ex Libris onboarding team, where they agreed to a December 18, 2024 go-live date.

Jan. 7, 2024 - Jan. 13, 2024
On Jan. 10th, a joint meeting with DLC, LDG, Core, LTS, and other members from the libraries was held online.  The group agreed to communicate a December 2024 go-live date to the Ex Libris team.  [Fall semester ends Dec 13, 2024]

Dec. 24, 2023 - Jan. 6, 2024
Holiday break.

Dec. 17, 2023 - Dec. 23, 2023
District legal signed the contract with Ex Libris on Dec. 18th. Purchase order with agreements sent to Ex Libris on Dec. 21st.

Dec. 10, 2023 - Dec. 16, 2023
The Governing Board approved on Dec. 12th the award and expenditure of budgets for a new ILS/Discovery platform to Ex Libris.  An informal virtual meeting called by LDG was held on Dec. 15th with library staff and faculty representing a variety of colleges and district committees to discuss the different go-live options.  No decisions were made.