New 19 Timeline Revised to Single Go-Live Date on Tuesday, May 1, 2018
Over the past six months, SWAN, LINC, and MAGIC staff have been working together to coordinate the most effective plan for the upcoming migration. While our initial plan (announced in May) was a great starting point, the more we worked on it the more it became apparent two dates would present unnecessary problems. These issues include excessive downtime and disruption for not just the 19 new libraries, but existing SWAN libraries as well. Moving to a single go-live will help minimize those issues.
When bibliographic data is brought into Symphony, the server needs to ingest it and build search indexes. Indexing occurs nightly for LINC, MAGIC, and SWAN with normal activity of new bibs and items being added to the system. When large chunks of data arrive all at once, the time required to index the new records grows, and Workflows reports and processes are affected. To alleviate this, we are choosing to “rip off the band-aid” by performing a full system rebuild that loads all the data and indexes it in one long process with a single period of manageable downtime rather than five or six smaller batches of data that can severely disrupt normal server maintenance over several days. The need for a system rebuild is apparent, and incorporating a full rebuild for two separate go-live dates presents an unnecessary period of planned downtime.
Our main goal is to ensure the libraries in SWAN have minimal disruption in their core services.
We hope you all understand the need for flexibility in a project plan, especially a project of this size and complexity. SWAN has an excellent track record for hitting all its go-live dates for joining libraries (ask Bridgeview, Thornton, Oak Park, Lansing, and Franklin Park). Aside from this revised go-live, everything for the New 19 is on schedule. We have completed the RAILS grant application and secured funding for the project. In case you didn’t know, LINC, MAGIC, and SWAN staff are working regularly together in SWAN’s office in Westmont. Look for more announcements in the near future on various special projects and teams related to the New 19.
Aaron Skog,
SWAN Executive Director
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