UMass Amherst Libraries Migrate to New Library Services Platform June 30

The Libraries will migrate back-end system operations from the current library system, ALEPH, to FOLIO at the end of June 2022. FOLIO (The Future Of Libraries Is Open) is a collaboration of libraries, developers, and vendors building an open source library services platform that supports traditional resource management functionality while also opening the door for innovation in an increasingly digital world. Our Five Colleges libraries will be the first consortium to fully implement FOLIO, and we are excited about the opportunities this forward-looking system will provide.

In the process of adopting FOLIO, the Five Colleges Libraries will be retiring the separate Five Colleges Libraries Catalog search interface. The Five College Libraries will be consolidating the discovery and access of library materials in our Discover catalog search. Discover search will become the primary search interface for the Five College collections. Discover is a reliable interface that has been in use at the Five Colleges since 2012, and it will continue to include all of the records held in the retiring Five Colleges Libraries catalog as well as from most of our subject-specific databases. Additional tools that enable users to request items and manage their accounts within Discover will also be implemented at the time of migration, streamlining the request process and allowing for increased functionality (you’ll be able to see where you are in the request queue for an item!). 

This transition will temporarily affect a number of library services. See the transition timeline below:

Long Description

• June 21: Last day to request physical items from any of the Five College Libraries for pickup at UMass before requesting is paused across the consortium. Requests will resume on July 5.
• June 26: Last day to use self-checkout kiosks, renew materials, and to make patron record changes in ALEPH; We will resume on July 5. We will offer offline circulation between June 27 – July 3. Please note that library item available statuses will not be updated in Discover during this time. 
• June 30: Migration from ALEPH to FOLIO is complete. Final systems checks performed.
• June 30: Last day the Five College Catalog will be searchable. 
• June 30: First day for Discovery as the primary research interface. There could be intermittent outages. 
• July 5: Circulation of physical materials, renewals, requests, and patron record changes resume. 

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Library Databases, Publication Finder, streaming video and ebooks will remain available throughout the migration. We anticipate that Discover will also continue to be available, but there may be brief periods of downtime. Permalinks from the Five College Catalog and Discover Advanced Search may no longer work after the transition. 

Send questions to dbhelp@umass.libanswers.com.

FAQs

 

Can I request materials via InterLibrary Loan during the migration?

During the migration, while items cannot be requested (June 22nd-July 5), patrons who need materials which are not available at UMass can place an Interlibrary Loan (ILL) request for the item (even Five College items) and ILL will obtain a copy from elsewhere. Patrons can also submit ILL requests for a few chapters of an item to get started with while they await the ability to request a 5C item. Interlibrary Loan can fill chapter and article requests for patrons whether UMass owns the materials or not.

Interlibrary Loan is available to all current students, and current and retired faculty and staff at UMass Amherst.

What resources are available to help me learn the new features?

The Five College User Experience Committee, in collaboration with the Discovery and Innovative Learning committees, developed a series of short videos to answer the most common questions about EDS and introduce some important lesser-known features of the system. Additional resources are available here.

Your liaison librarian is an excellent resource for learning or refreshing your skills in Discover.

Where is My Account?

My Account no longer exists on the Libraries website. It was built on SilverStripe and Aleph, which we won’t be using anymore. There won’t be a direct link anywhere on the website to log in to view your loans.

Then how do I view my loans or renew books?

Effective June 30th, you can view loans or renew books In Discovery! From the Libraries website homepage, you can click “Advanced Search” in the Discovery search bar. You will be taken to the advanced search options where you will see a gray bar at the top of the screen. In the top right, use the “Sign In” link to log in and view your loans, renew books, etc. Our hope is that by having people log in to their accounts via Discovery rather than the Libraries website homepage, they will be more likely to take advantage of Discovery and our resources there. 

How can I get support to update course materials? 

In the migration to FOLIO, existing links to materials from the Five College Catalog or Discover Search that you have in your syllabi or LMS may have changed. If you have questions about updating links and ensuring that you are including the correct materials, please reach out to your liaison librarian. 

The process for requesting digital or print materials for course reserves will not change. Please refer to the Reserves page for more information.    

How do I ask questions or report a problem? 

For questions or to report technical problems with Discovery Search, contact  dbhelp@umass.libanswers.com

For questions about your library account, please contact circulation@umass.libanswers.com.

For questions about using Discovery to find materials, please contact your liaison librarian or AskUs! 

What are the benefits of FOLIO?

FOLIO will provide a net improvement to the library staff user experience. 

 

FOLIO removes the duplication of effort regarding the management of electronic resources. With FOLIO, library staff finally have the tools necessary for Electronic Resource management integrated into the main library systems platform. They will no longer need to maintain two or three independent systems to provide the same level of access to our patrons.

Analytics will be available to a wider staff audience with Panorama- a site that will provide views of most asked reports.

FOLIO provides improved financial management. The libraries will be able to receive orders and records directly from key vendors as well as transmit financial information directly to the central university finance system. 

FOLIO provides increased transparency of our collections budget. Subject specialists will be able to view ledgers.