Summit to move to a new system

Text of announcement sent April 10, 2008

Alliance member libraries,

I am pleased to let you know that we have reached an agreement with OCLC to enter in to a development and implementation partnership to migrate the Alliance’s Summit union catalog to a new system. This consortial borrowing solution will be based on the integration of WorldCat.org, Virtual Document Exchange (VDX), ILL, and a new circulation gateway to III systems. Some of these functions exist now; others will be jointly developed by OCLC and the Alliance. We expect the new system to be available in mid-summer 2008.

We have also concluded negotiations with III for an INN-Reach maintenance contract through late 2008. The approximate 6-month overlap between when the OCLC system goes live and we discontinue use of INN-Reach will provide a service overlap that will help achieve a smooth transition with no interruption in Summit service to patrons.

What will happen?
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The migration of Summit to OCLC’s consortial borrowing solution will include an immediate initiative to increase the accuracy and comprehensiveness of member library holdings in WorldCat, implementation of VDX, and a longer development and integration effort to modify VDX and create the circulation gateway. We expect the final result to be a system that combines a great discovery platform (search interface) with the best of ILL and circulation capabilities and workflows. Alliance member libraries will also have the option to implement WorldCat Local, a customized interface to the library’s own catalog, consortium partner collections, and the resources worldwide represented in the WorldCat database. It is important to note that none of these changes call for a change in local catalog vendors. OCLC’s system will replace INN-Reach but Alliance libraries will continue using Millennium for their local catalog systems.

Why make such a change?
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Since 2006 the Orbis Cascade Alliance has been pursuing an ambitious set of projects (aka Strategic Agenda) aimed at significantly improving service to students and faculty. Among these initiatives, Alliance committees have been working on a major upgrade in Summit search capabilities, investigating new resource sharing systems, and evaluating standards-based services that work across multiple vendor platforms.

As we pursue such next generation library services we are also looking for affordable systems and opportunities to form strong strategic alliances with vendors and consortia. INN-Reach has served us very well since the early 1990's and is a major part of the consortium's foundation. III will continue to be a key partner on local systems but our contract negotiation efforts over the past few months have led us to conclude that we are not able to sustain INN-Reach beyond 2008.

The development and implementation of an OCLC technological platform for Summit has the potential to fulfill our goals very well: greatly improved discovery and more flexible delivery options in a cost-effective system that will function across multiple vendor platforms. More than this, this move marks the beginning of an important new partnership between OCLC and the Orbis Cascade Alliance.

What comes next?
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Clearly, this will be a big project that will call for contributions (and probably patience!) on the part of staff at Alliance libraries. We are currently forming an Implementation Team (I-Team) and will soon launch a project web site that includes overview documents, I-Team and working group membership, action items, etc., a timeline, and a growing FAQ. We have also formed a Communications Team that will seek to keep you well informed and prepare background material each library can adapt for use in addressing these changes with your campus community. You can help by staying tuned, providing feedback, and, for some, playing an active role in implementing and evaluating the new Summit.

Finally, I want to convey great appreciation and thanks from myself and all the members of the Alliance Council. The past few months have required an uncomfortable level of confidentiality as negotiations have progressed on multiple fronts. A news release will go out to the broader library community next week and, as of now, we can go back to sharing everything we know ... and more!

Please contact your library director for more information but also feel free to contact me.

Best wishes.

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John F. Helmer
Executive Director
Orbis Cascade Alliance