The vanguard institutions (Georgia Southern University, University of Georgia, and Valdosta State University) have recently submitted workbooks detailing instructions for a test migration of data from Voyager to Alma. These instructions will be used by GIL and Ex Libris during the test migration which will occur in March. The three institutions spent considerable time completing training and holding working sessions to finish this task. The vanguards now turn their attention to completing configuration workbooks which outline how the test instance of Alma will be configured upon delivery. All institutions will have the opportunity to go through this process later this year (which the vanguard effort will enrich).

Leads from three institutions, Georgia Southern University, University of Georgia, and Valdosta State University attended a data migration webinar on January 14th. These institutions are members of the project's testing/vanguard phase. The webinar focused on the process by which data from our existing Integrated Library System (Voyager) will be migrated to Alma. Alma, an Ex Libris product, will become our new Library Management System around May 2017. The process and results of this phase will be documented and reviewed for improvements prior to engaging all institutions.

Calendar invitations have been provided to all of our project's institutional leads for a followup discussion regarding Voyager data cleanup. On Thursday, January 14th, 2016, representatives from the project team will review updates to the data cleanup spreadsheet. We also want to hear updates from the institutions as to their progress. Information concerning next steps for our institutions as well as a vanguard update will also be provided. We look forward to seeing you there!