29 Jan 08 Collage Database Purge 02/01/08

It’s time for another database purge for Collage. Most of you will remember we did this a few months ago, and it significantly improved the performance of Collage, especially at deploy time. What this does is remove versions of assets older than 6 months, along with collateral information about properties, metadata, etc. It does not remove any current, approved assets, or the only existing version of any asset (whether approved or not), even if they are older than 6 months.

The purge process is very server-intensive, so everyone will essentially be locked out of Collage for the duration of the process. The last time we did this, it took 39 hours to complete. We don’t know for certain it will take that long this time, but please plan to be out of Collage for most of the weekend.

We want to get on a regular schedule of trimming the database monthly, and February 1 seems as good a time as any to get started. Please check in all your assets and log off Collage by 4:30 p.m. CST, Friday, February 1. We’ll send another message out when the purge is complete (probably some time Sunday afternoon).

Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns.

Rob
ALA Web Development Manager

800-545-2433 x 3272

25 Jan 08 Collage Maintenance at 3:00 p.m. Today

Sorry for the short notice, but we need to install an upgrade to Collage this afternoon. Serena says this upgrade cures a number of the ills we’ve been experiencing lately.

Upgrading has been pretty painless in the past, so we shouldn’t be down for more than an hour. Please check in all your assets and log out by 3:00 CST today. We’ll let you know when it’s safe to go back in. Thanks.

Rob

Update: Everything appears to have gone smoothly, and the system was back up and running as of 5:30 p.m. CST this afternoon. If you encounter any problems, please let us know.

04 Dec 07 4 More in Collage

Over the past few days, we have taken four new sections live in Collage. They are:

• Association for Library Trustees and Advocates (ALTA)
• Continuing Library Education Network and Exchange Round Table (CLENERT)
• Library Instruction Round Table (LIRT)
• Library Support Staff Interests Round Table (LSSIRT)

Thanks to all the staffs and content managers of these units for their hard work and patience!

Rob

22 Oct 07 Collage Migration Update

An update from Rob Carlson:

Please join me in welcoming RUSA, YALSA, and the International Relations Office to the Live-in-Collage club! The pace of conversions is picking up as the larger units go live, so look for more go-live announcements in the near future.

For the record, content for the following units is now being managed in Collage:

American Association of School Librarians (AASL)
Association of College & Research Libraries (ACRL)

ALA Library
American Libraries Online
Association of Special and Cooperative Library Agencies (ASCLA)
CHOICE Magazine
I Love Libraries
International Relations Office
Library & Information Technology Association (LITA)

OLA (Office for Library Advocacy)
Public Library Association (PLA)
Reference and User Services Association (RUSA)
Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA)
Washington Office

23 Mar 07 CMS Updates – March 2007

We have entered a very active phase in the Collage implementation project. After American Libraries Online went live in December, we discovered that the content services switch (a device that allows us to direct traffic between the old and new systems based on URLs) we had installed in August was not the right switch for our needs. A new switch was ordered immediately and was delivered and installed in late February. We had to put several units’ conversions to Collage on hold while we waited for the switch. Now that the switch has been installed, we can pick up the pace of conversions to Collage.

We are moving to Collage unit by unit, rather than risking one massive “go-live” event for the entire association. The basic conversion process is for Duo (our implementation consultants) to convert a unit’s graphic design into Collage, pull over the unit’s content, fix anything they see wrong, and then turn the content over to the unit for their review. Units then vet the conversion and report back any problems they encounter. Duo fixes the problems, and the unit’s content is then scheduled to go live in the new system Unit staff are also trained during this period.

Three units are currently using Collage to manage their content: American Libraries, LITA, and the ALA Library. Next to go live will probably be AASL and PLA. ACRL/Choice is ready as well, but they would like to wait until after their National Conference to go live (early April).

ASCLA, YALSA, and the Washington Office are currently in the process of reviewing their content after the first-pass conversion by Duo. RUSA’s conversion was delayed while Duo and Serena (makers of Collage) resolved problems found during the first pass. Next up is ALCTS. A revised conversion schedule follows. (Please note: these are the dates Duo expects to hand off the unit’s content for review of first pass at conversion. Depending on how long the unit takes to review its content and how extensive the fixes needed are, a go-live date could be anywhere from a week to three weeks following the date below).

American Libraries              Live in Collage
LITA				Live in Collage
ALA Library			Live in Collage
ACRL				Pending National Conference
AASL				Imminent go-live
RUSA			 	03/28/07
ASCLA			        In review as of 03/22/07
PLA				Imminent go-live
Washington Office		In review as of 03/22/07
YALSA			        In review as of 03/22/07
ALCTS			        03/30/07
All other Offices		04/06/07
LAMA				04/13/07
ALSC				04/27/07
ALTA				05/11/07
All Round Tables		05/25/07
ALA general & cleanup	        06/15/07

15 Mar 07 CMS Updates – March 2007

The new content services switch was installed today. This will allow ACRL to move to Collage after their national conference later this month.

27 Feb 07 CMS Updates – February 2007

The ALA Library and LITA have joined AL Online in the new CMS (Serena Collage). PLA and AASL are expected to complete their conversions shortly. We anticipate the delivery of our new content services switch any day, which will allow us to move ACRL into Collage as well.

05 Jan 07 CMS Implementation

American Libraries online went live on Collage in late December. We experienced some problems with the implementation and now have a complete list of issues to resolve. I called the CEO of Duo Consulting yesterday to escalate these issues and get the necessary expertise on site to get these problems resolved. As a result, two consultants from Duo Consulting will be here on Monday to work with us to get these issues resolved. I also rescheduled our ITTS strategic planning retreat to next Friday so we can work with the consultants. Special thanks to George Eberhart in American Libraries for helping us identify these issues.

01 Dec 06 CMS Updates – November 2006

An attempt to go live on Collage with American Libraries online had to be rolled back when it was discovered secure socket layer (SSL) traffic was being lost. We are investigating options for fixing this situation. Conversion of current content continues in the meantime, with four units ready for review. Training is scheduled to start the first week in December.

31 Oct 06 CMS Updates – October 2006

Duo is proceeding with section conversions as review and correction of previously converted sections continues. Launch of AL Online was delayed due to staff vacation near the end of the month, but is expected to occur early in November. ACRL and Choice staff are currently reviewing their preliminary conversions. LITA and the ALA Library are in the process of being converted by Duo. Training for staff content managers will take place on November 1.