Welcome to a new issue of Stew of the Month, a monthly blog from the Digital Services and Technologies (DST) division at the University of Maryland Libraries. This blog provides news and updates from DST. We welcome comments, feedback, and ideas for improving our products and services.
Digital Programs and Initiatives
ILS Migration Task Force Update
- Ex Libris completed the test load of catalog data. Functional areas are formally reviewing the migrated data.
- Subgroup, Primo Discovery Implementation Working Group, formed to organize Primo implementation into research + instruction resources and campus outreach.
- Task Force preparing work plan for next calendar year
- NEW: A project dashboard is available for partners and interested parties to review our status, milestones, Q&A, and other informational resources for the migration!
IT & Facilities Operations
The DST and Facilities Helpdesk receive quite a few requests each month. Below are the number of opened and closed service requests our group received during October 2023.
- Helpdesk: 587 opened, 596 closed
- Facilities: 81 opened, 87 closed
Software Systems and Development
Completed
Libraries’ Website and all Drupal Websites – Upgraded Drupal to version 10 for the following websites: Digital Collections, PACT, Equitable Access, 1856 Project, Integrated Research Resources on Campus, White House Correspondent’s Association Pool Reports Collection, and the Libi Staff Blog.
In Progress
Libraries’ Website – Continued work on the upgrade to Drupal version 10.
Digital Collections – Continued development of a new OAI-PMH server implementation for metadata harvesting for Avalon.
Digital Collections – Continued development of the Scutes web application for WHCA Pool Reports curation and processing; alpha testing is underway.
Digital Collections – Continue preparations to begin content migration from Admin Tools (Fedora 2) to Archelon.
MD-SOAR – Continued the upgrade to DSpace version; QA environment for acceptance testing.
USMAI (University System of Maryland and Affiliated Institutions) Library Consortium
- Work continues on the Alma / Primo migration. Numerous meetings were held to discuss a wide range of topics, including: patron ingest, SIS integrations, single sign on, data checking and validation, system integrations, and user training.
- The pre-production environment is scheduled to be delivered November 7th.
- Erik Jones made considerable progress on developing command line tools for interacting with the Alma API and SRU utilities. These tools will allow for us to easily distribute a toolset that will empower consortial members to quickly and easily interact with the Alma systematic endpoints.
Personnel News
Welcome!
- Victoria Quartey began a new position as Project Manager in our IT & Facilities Operations department on October 9th. Victoria is a familiar presence, having started her employment with the Libraries when she was still a student. We welcome her to this new, critical role!
Congratulations!
- Kate Dohe, Director of Digital Programs and Initiatives has been elected Chair-Elect of the Fedora Governance group. A well-earned role in leading the Fedora community. Congratulations, Kate! Read more in the full press release.
Recruitments
- The best consideration date for the Consortial Systems Librarian position has passed. The search committee is diligently reviewing candidate materials and scheduling initial screening interviews.
- The best consideration date for the Helpdesk Supervisor position has passed. Candidate materials are being reviewed with screening interviews to follow shortly.
Conferences and Presentations
- Joseph Koivisto, Nima Asadi, and Erik Jones attended the Georgia Tech ai4Libraries virtual conference on October 19th. There were several fascinating presentations on the risks and potential of artificial intelligence technologies in academic libraries.
- Andrew Pace and Joseph Koivisto attended the NISO+ Forum on AI & Machine Learning in Scholarly Publishing: Services, Data, and Ethics. Held at the American Geophysical Institute in Washington, DC, this all-day event was a lively and collaborative day focused on raising questions and proposing answers to the technical, organizational, and ethical considerations of AI & ML for scholars, researchers, libraries, and publishers.
- Joseph Koivisto attended the USM Digital Accessibility Transformational Seminar, hosted at the National Federation for the Blind in Baltimore.
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