With Open(-Source) Arms: Embracing ILS Change
Cuyahoga County Public Library
Innovation Synopsis
After 20 years on a proprietary Integrated Library System (ILS), CCPL migrated to Koha, an open-source ILS that is flexible for development and a significant cost savings, future proofing CCPL’s ILS need for years to come. Migration required working with support vendor ByWater Solutions and the Koha community to develop new-to-the software features. Because the ILS is open-source, these developments will be available to Koha users worldwide, making it a more feasible and attractive solution for more libraries, particularly in the US.
Challenge/Opportunity
The development needs of our migration served as both challenges and opportunities. Open-source meant owning our data and new options for development. There were several areas prior to migration where the new ILS required development to meet the needs of our staff and patrons, though, including:
- Acquisitions: Needed a way to export orders and bib records via API from our major vendors into the ILS.
- Booking: Needed ability to reserve items ahead of time. Teachers and staff need this option to reserve kits for lesson plans and branch programs.
- Printing: Our branch staff print many checkout and hold slips per day, and cataloging staff print out hundreds of spine labels per day. Asking staff to open a print dialog window, select settings, and click to confirm each of these was not tenable.
- Renewal Options: Needed the option to allow both automatic and manual renewals at once.
- Cataloging: Needed configuration to import bib records via API from our cataloging utility, BTCAT.
Key Elements of Innovation
Our goal was to implement the new ILS with a higher level of functionality than our staff expect. This required staff input and testing. A dedicated CCPL Migration Team met weekly with our ILS vendor to discuss migration preparation, including software development needs. They created a test version where we previewed and tested developments.
The Team collaborated with ByWater and our largest content vendors to report requirements and testing results throughout development for cataloging and acquisitions.
Our vendor submits their developments to the Koha community to be added to the master version of the software or added as a plugin.
We are the first library system to implement these features in Koha. We began using booking, flexible renewals, and catalog utility integration before they were widely available. We’ve participated in conference panels and meetings with other libraries interested in using them. We expect to do the same for the print plugin and 1-click ordering.
Achieved Outcomes
By our migration in August, 2023, development was live:
- To permit a customer to opt-in to automatic renewal of materials and also to manually renew their materials.
- For a print plugin to automatically select printers and send print jobs for spine labels, checkout slips, hold slips, and acquisitions tracking slips.
- For an API to connect cat. software to Koha. Cataloging staff could import MARC records for new titles with one click.
During fall 2023 and winter 2024, development was finalized to automatically add bib records and copies ordered from two vendors.
By end of 2023, development was live to book select materials. For items opted-in, staff book for patrons and view a timeline of bookings on the bib record.
By May 2024, selecting a branch pickup location for the booking was added.
By working with ByWater Solutions and the Koha development community, these new-to-Koha features will make open-source ILS software a viable and attractive option for more library systems.
