System migration: Challenges for libraries in the Arabian Gulf region
| Date | 01 March 1998 |
| Pages | 171-174 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/eb045633 |
| Published date | 01 March 1998 |
| Author | Zahiruddin Khurshid |
| Subject Matter | Information & knowledge management,Library & information science |
System migration: challenges
for libraries in the Arabian
Gulf region
Zahiruddin Khurshid
Senior Manager, Cataloging Operations Division,
King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals Library, Dhahran, 31261 - Saudi Arabia
e-mail: khurshid@kfupm.edu.sa
Abstract: With the
availability
of
some innovative
second
generation
systems in the
Arabian
Gulf
market-
place,
several libraries
in the region are
considering
system
migration.
However,
they are
faced with a num-
ber of
challenges
some of
which have continued from
the
time
of
implementation
of
the
first
generation
sys-
tems.
The
paper
aims
to highlight
those challenges
and
emphasises
the need to
address them
in the plan-
ning stage so that
the process
of
changing systems
does not turn into a futile
exercise.
1. Introduction
The history of library automation spanning over two
decades has seen many changes in systems from
in-house developed, or home-grown, to vendor-
based;
from stand-alone to integrated; and from
mainframe to
mini-
and microcomputer-based
client/server systems. The changes are continuous
and require automated libraries to implement them
regularly. According to Bridge (1992), "a library sys-
tem cannot remain reliable much longer than about
five years. Attempts to extend system life to seven
years usually sacrifice library credibility as system
reliability decreases and service costs for older
equipment escalate".
The changes taking place in library systems from
both a hardware and software perspective have
necessitated that libraries move from an existing
system to an upgraded system. This process is
called system migration.The "migration can be either
to an upgraded system from the same vendor or can
be a change to an entirely different vendor"
(Cervarich 1993).
System migration is a major undertaking especially
when it comes to changing to a system from a
dif-
ferent vendor. According to Begg (1991), "imple-
menting library automation is a complex project, as
everyone knows, and migrating to a second system
is even more complex". It is therefore, important for a
library to be well aware of what is involved in system
migration.
Lester
J.
Pourciau (1992) has listed 23 factors which
have been responsible for migration in various
libraries. Of them he has listed the following 10 to be
major and substantive: (1) unresolved system prob-
lems,
(2) unacceptably long system response times,
(3) obsolete hardware, (4) lack of confidence in the
current vendor's future performance, (5) abandon-
ment of system by vendor, (6) a new emphasis upon
networking, (7) an altered commitment by a parent
institution to its library, (8) dysfunctionality of the
library system in relation to the institution's system,
(9) attractiveness of new products offered by other
vendors, and (10) user complaints about system per-
formance.
To this list some other reasons can be added which
may have local relevance. For example, the lack of
full or partial Arabic support, unsatisfactory local
technical support, and the higher cost of enhancing
or maintaining the current system are some of the
reasons that have prompted libraries in the Arabian
Gulf region to consider system migration.
System migration has become a common practice in
North American libraries. So much so that over 80
percent of the audience from the Fifth Annual
Computers in Libraries Conference's session on
"Changing Systems" "indicated that they were either
in the process of changing systems or would do so
within the next two years" (Pitkin 1991). Some
libraries have even migrated to their third automated
system (Cortez and Smorch 1993). What makes sys-
tem migration so common in the west is the fact that
libraries have developed sufficient local expertise
during the life of the first automated system. The
availability of efficient data conversion tools and ser-
vices also makes their work easier. However, migra-
tion cannot be performed with the same ease in
other parts of the world especially in those countries
which are still struggling to implement their first sys-
FOCUS
article
Library
Automation
The Electronic Library, Vol. 16, No. 3, June 1998 171
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