A Functional Pathway of Bibliographic Data Migration from ADLIB to KOHA Library Management System

The MUHAS Experience

Abstract

The early dominance of proprietary library management software (LMS) has led higher education institutions in developing countries to automate their library operations and services. However, high prices, stringent license agreements, limited access to training, and a lack of control over data necessitated that many higher education institutional libraries migrate their bibliographic data from proprietary software to open-source library management systems. This research aimed to demonstrate the functional pathways involved in bibliographic data migration from ADLIB, a proprietary library management system, to KOHA, an open-source LMS. This research was an experimental design study focusing on data migration and systems integration. A committed group of academic librarians with extensive experience in both data migration and systems integration completed the data migration task. The data for this study were extracted from the ADLIB system existing at Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences (MUHAS) and during multiple tests of importing bibliographic records into the KOHA system. Over eight months, the MUHAS academic librarians migrated approximately 63,000 bibliographic records using a step-by-step data migration pathway. Findings from this study provide insights for other higher education institutional libraries in developing countries that aspire to transition successfully from the ADLIB to the KOHA system. The paper highlights the successes and shortcomings of the bibliographic data migration process experienced at MUHAS, and how librarians would address the identified constraints for effective data migration and the provision of modern library services.

https://dx.doi.org/10.4314/udslj.v20i1.6