As all of you know, PALNI completed its migration from Aleph Version 17 to 19 two weeks ago, and I'm happy to report that staff have made very good progress since then in resolving the outstanding "clean-up" issues in the aftermath of the upgrade. Of the 62 new Version 19 issues recorded on the PALNI help desk since July 1, more than half have now been successfully closed. Because of the inherent complexity of Aleph, a two-version Ex Libris system upgrade like this one is a major project, and successfully completing our V. 19 implementation is a milestone for PALNI.

I also wanted to share with all of you a couple of congratulatory emails that we received from Ex Libris staff. First, here is an email from Alan Manifold who leads the Ex Libris Aleph Support Team in North America, and with whom we worked closely, especially on the latter stages of our upgrade project: >p/>

> > 
>> >> ------- Original Message --------
>> >> Subject: Congratulations!
>> >> Date: Mon, 7 Jul 2008 12:56:49 -0500
>> >> From: Alan Manifold 
>> >> To: Vince Lucas 
>> >> 
>> >> Vince and all the PALNI staff,
>> >> We want to congratulate you on your successful migration to Aleph v.19.
>> >> You are the first North American site to do this, and we are grateful
>> >> for your efforts to keep this project on track and to bring it to a
>> >> successful conclusion.  Please share our warm thanks with all your
>> >> staff!
>> >> 
>> >> Alan Manifold
>> >> Aleph Support Team Lead
>> >> Ex Libris Group
>> >> alan.manifold@exlibrisgroup.com
>> >> ---------------------------------

Also, here is an email that Susan Fipps received last week from Jo Richardson, Aleph Product Manager for the UK Division of Ex Libris:

> > 
>>> >>>------- Original Message --------
>>> >>> Dear Susan,
>>> >>> 
>>> >>> I was really delighted to hear that PALNI is the first library to go
>>> >>> into production on Aleph version 19 following the successful completion of
>>> >>> your upgrade.
>>> >>> 
>>> >>> I hope that you and your colleagues and users enjoy the new features
>>> >>> and improvements in this latest version, and that many other libraries
>>> >>> will soon follow your excellent example.
>>> >>>
>>> >>> Many congratulations to you!
>>> >>>
>>> >>> Kind regards
>>> >>>
>>> >>> Jo
>>> >>>
>>> >>>
>>> >>> **Jo Richardson**
>>> >>> *Aleph Product Manager, Ex Libris (UK) Ltd*
>>> >>> *Direct Line:  01895 823865     Mobile:  07710 479008*
>>> >>>
>>> >>> *1, The Long Room, Coppermill Lock, Park Lane, Harefield, Middlesex,
>>> >>>     UB9 6JA*
>>> >>>
>>> >>> ---------------------------------

These emails confirm what we've suspected at times, but were never quite certain about, that indeed PALNI is the first Ex Libris customer to implement the newest release of the Aleph system!

At this point, I think we can conclude that our Aleph upgrade has been a success, thanks to the Systems Librarians and staff in all of your libraries who worked hard over the past four months to prepare for the upgrade, to PALNI central staff who have worked many extra weekend and evening hours over the past several months configuring, testing, implementing, and fixing problems with Version 19, and especially to Susan Fipps who managed our upgrade project and who successfully coordinated the many complex details of the overall upgrade process.

Please note that several members of the staff, Susan, Larry Baerveldt, and Chadwick Seagraves, will all be attending the annual Ex Libris ELUNA User Group meeting beginning next Tuesday, July 29, and will be out of the office most of the week. We appreciate your continued help and patience as we work on resolving the problems that remain from our system upgrade.

Thanks.


Vince

--

Vince Lucas 
PALNI Project Manager 
INCOLSA                          | Email: vince@palni.edu
6202 Morenci Trail               | Phone: 1-317-298-6570 or 1-800-733-1899
Indianapolis, IN 46268           | FAX: 1-317-328-2382

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