The Story of Polaris
The Need for a New System
Yellowhead Regional Library, as a member of the TRAC Consortium, operated on the Dynix Integrated Library System (ILS) for last eight years. The TRAC Directors identified that a migration process to another ILS was necessary as the Dynix software was no longer being developed and would no longer be supported by the SirsiDynix Company. Initially, TRAC planned to migrate to the SirsiDynix Horizon software. Owing to the age of the Dynix system and the continuing delays of the release of Horizon 8.0, the TRAC Directors decided to assess the marketplace with a view to selecting and implementing a new ILS for TRAC.
Choosing the Right System for TRAC
Evaluations were conducted of several different library system products. Member library staff were invited to evaluate the circulation and OPAC (online public access catalogue) functions of each of three shortlisted ILS products. In April 2008, Polaris was selected as the new ILS for TRAC and an agreement was reached to purchase the ILS and related services.
System Implementation
Several stages were involved in implementing a new ILS. As well as installing the new hardware and software, existing data had to be moved from the old Dynix system to the new Polaris system. The task of moving or migrating the data was not straightforward because the data structures in Polaris were very different than those in Dynix. Profiles and maps had to be constructed to enable the old data to be moved into the structures of the new system. This process allowed all of our records to transfer properly and work smoothly in the new system. Member library staff were involved in the mapping and profiling activities to ensure that the way we set up the new system would work well for our them.
Live on Polaris!
On Thursday January 8, 2009 we went live on Polaris.
Training
Our website contains a host of training tools for staff to learn Polaris ILS. You will find helpful information on these pages, as well as links to PDFs and videos that you can download or watch anytime.
