Top ten issues for a consortium migrating to a client/server system

Abstract

This article presents ten issues in migrating a multi‐type library consortium to a shared client/server library system. The issues have been selected as especially pertinent to a consortium and describe the migration experiences of the Detroit Area Library Network (DALNET), a consortium of 20 academic, public and special libraries in the Metropolitan Detroit area. The issues are: (1) more control to member libraries; (2) pre‐migration decisions; (3) Web interface design; (4) training; (5) consortium staffing; (6) communication; (7) system maintenance; (8) security issues; (9) telecommunications network; and (10) commitment of member libraries. The capabilities of the client/server system will enable the consortium to provide new information and new information services not possible before, and will help consortium staff to meet the challenges of such a complex migration.