The Five Colleges use a variety of FOLIO integrations to extend and enhance FOLIO. This includes integrations for reporting, automated user loads, and tools to enhance staff user creation, batch changes and custom reports. We will talk about the reasons we have employed these integrations, the tasks they assist us with and challenges we have faced.
Widener University libraries consists of 3 libraries, each on a separate campus – the main campus is in Southeastern Pennsylvania, with two Law School campuses, one in Delaware 20 minutes from the main campus and the other in Pennsylvania, about 2 hours away. We migrated to FOLIO from III’s Sierra ILS, after many years with the same library system. We expected that there would be a rather sharp learning curve with many changes to our workflows as we moved to FOLIO. As part of the standard FOLIO migration we met weekly with our wonderful IPM team, meeting often amongst ourselves, via Teams and Zoom. Many of the librarians and staff have never met one another in person, but after many months of regular meetings as well as training sessions, we grew comfortable working together. At some points in the migration there were unexpected hiccups, times when the migration team didn’t stop to hit us over the head and tell us we needed to see our data differently. I would like to focus on some of these hiccups, to hopefully help the next wave of new FOLIO libraries save time and effort.
Participants will learn the necessity of developing multiple workflows, recognizing that no single approach will be perfect, and that flexibility and continuous improvement are key. The session also addresses practical considerations, such as adapting calendar management to better serve diverse student populations, including those with early or late check-outs and part-time schedules. Additionally, it highlights the critical need for data cleansing before migration, including addressing common errors like misspelled names and managing order record fields effectively. This talk will provide attendees with practical insights and actionable strategies for navigating an ILS transition, particularly those moving from Sierra to FOLIO. By sharing lessons learned and best practices, we aim to empower institutions to optimize their systems and better serve their communities.
