Ex Libris MELvyl Tells (EL Mel Tells)!
Volume 1, Number 6, December 2002
Getting antsy? See below!
In this issue:
- When will the full production catalog of Melvyl-T be released?
- Why don’t I find exactly the same records when I look for things in legacy Melvyl and Melvyl-T?
- Staff Profiles
When will the full production catalog of Melvyl-T be released?
The three staffs of CDL, UCOP’s Information Resources & Communications (IR&C), and Ex Libris have been working hard to build the Melvyl database since the Ex Libris contract was signed in April 2001. Our catalog is the largest implementation of Ex Libris' Aleph software, on which the Melvyl-T catalog is based.
Merging of records and some last critical indexing jobs must still be run before the production catalog is released. The time needed for these processes is not entirely predictable, in part because Ex Libris' methods and programs have not previously been used to build a database of Melvyl's size and complexity. We have had to recover from a number of errors introduced as a result. In addition, we want to complete our QA testing before the catalog is released.
We are now planning a staged rollout to begin in January to library staff and then to the wider community.
Why don’t I find exactly the same records when I look for things in legacy Melvyl and Melvyl-T?
There are several reasons why there are differences in what you find in legacy Melvyl and Melvyl-T. Some of these include the following:
- The methods of merging records are different in legacy Melvyl and Melvyl-T, producing different results to searches. For more information on merging, see http://www.cdlib.org/inside/projects/melvyl/elmeltells/emtv1n3.html#merge
- Indexes may be defined differently in the two systems, producing different results.
- The methods of searching are also different, which results in different retrievals. For example, Melvyl-T has Browse and Command search functions, not available in legacy Melvyl.
- Melvyl-T is built from clean campus snapshots, so some old records will not be included.
- Melvyl-T represents a merge of CAT/PE, so you cannot duplicate your search exactly.
- There are different loading schedules for the two catalogs.
- LC bibliographic records were loaded into legacy Melvyl but not Melvyl-T.
- Legacy Melvyl does not contain records for UCSB after 9/4/01 or for UCD after 5/3/02.
- Some sources will not be present in Melvyl-T that are in CAT/PE, including CULP (Public Library Periodicals), SERHOLD (Medical Library Serials Holdings), California State University (CSU), Stanford University Library, the Getty Museum and Lawrence Livermore National Lab (LLNL) library holdings. The CDL is investigating other strategies for accessing these materials that will be less confusing to catalog users and that also ensure non-UC records are both accurate and up-to-date. These strategies will be in place by the time that legacy Melvyl retires in July, 2003.
If you have questions about why your results vary in the two catalogs, please send us your comments/feedback via the link at the bottom of each Melvyl-T page.
CDL/IR&C Staff Profiles
| Ellen Dunn | |
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Ellen Dunn’s name came up frequently when others told me about their Melvyl-T related jobs. Ellen is the (financial) power behind the throne. She’s the one who ensures that purchase orders are correct, that vendors and contractors get paid. She has handled the bills for software, hardware and maintenance throughout the life of the project, and makes sure that monthly reports of expenditures are available to Cristina Campbell, the project manager, so that she can track what has been spent and what’s left. | In her career, Ellen rose through the ranks, working first at the University of Arizona in the financial end of a grant-funded pharmaceutical study.When she moved to California, she tracked funding in another grant-funded area of Academic Affairs at UCOP, New Standards Project, which studied assessment in K-12 education. Ellen’s outside interests center around the family: she has three children, one grandchild, with another grandchild on the way. (This hardly seems possible!) She also loves to read, especially biographies and series of Christian novels, and has been known to wait for years for the next book in a series. |
| Max Holm | |
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Max is a programmer analyst and Unix System administrator at the IR&C’s Data Center. He supports the servers for the platform running the Aleph 500 software application for Melvyl-T, and helped design its infrastructure. He also helped to design and implement the High Availability Cluster Multiprocessing (HACMP) for the failover system for Melvyl-T. (If the Melvyl-T hardware should fail, there is a complete backup version of Melvyl-T on a second server.) Max also works on the back end of Request, Fretwell-Downing’s VDX system, loaded on a Sun server. | Max hails from Taiwan, where he studied business, then migrated to the Florida Institute of Technology where he mastered computer science. He worked at the Electronics Research Lab at UC Berkeley, then as a systems administrator for a dot com, which, when it crashed, drove him (luckily) over to UCOP. If you want to have a good time, hang out with Max—he really takes advantage of the best parts of SF city life—going out to dinner with friends, to the movies, plays, symphony and opera. |
| Van Richter | |
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Van Richter is a programmer analyst and Unix systems administrator in the Data Center,
a part of UC Office of the President's Information Resources and Communications
(IR&C). The Data Center has played a critical role as Melvyl has migrated from
its mainframe to Unix architecture. Van described this project
as "bleeding edge" in terms of its software, servers, and storage
technology. We are using the latest software with all of its most current
features.
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Van worked with IBM consultants and her colleagues and learned
from her own readings to grasp and fiqure out how all the parts fit together.
(For another angle on this, see "Campus Snapshots, or How to Build an Enormous Database"
(For another angle on this, see "Campus Snapshots, or How to Build an Enormous Database"
http://www.cdlib.org/inside/projects/melvyl/elmeltells/emtv1n4.html#campussnapshots Van graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a dual degree in Latin and Mathematics. After graduation, she worked for several companies including IBM and as a consultant; she implemented projects with some of the components that we are using for Melvyl-T.A proud Texan, she enjoys running in her spare time and participates in occasional fun runs including Bay to Breakers. Van is someone who clearly enjoys the partnership between Data Center and CDL and the teamwork required to accomplish such a challenging project. |
| Ellen Meltzer | |
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Ellen Meltzer (one of three Ellen’s at the CDL) came to the CDL from UC Berkeley, where her most recent responsibility there was as head of the Teaching Library. She is responsible for education, usability testing and outreach for both the A & I journal article database and Melvyl-T transitions. For the Melvyl transition, she has worked with a CDL team consisting of Felicia Poe and Rosalie Lack and with the campus Evaluation Liaisons to coordinate and evaluate usability testing on early versions of the Melvyl-T interface, and to make suggestions for improvements, based on campus input. | She writes numerous pieces of communication directed
at the UC community about the transitions, and works on sharing information
via the CDL website. She also makes campus visits to share this information.
Ellen co-chairs the campus Melvyl Education and Services Transition Teams
with Felicia Poe. She bears responsibility for ensuring that education
issues are thought of all along the way during the transitions. She is
also the main editor for El Mel Tells, and please believe me,
she did not select the name of that publication!
Ellen lived in Paris for two years and loves to “flaner” in her spare time. She is also currently babysitting for a prickly and definitely nocturnal hedgehog named Max. |