Jacinta Osman
I lead the management of the library digital platform at Toi Ohomai Institute of Technology, a vocational education institution based in Aotearoa/New Zealand. I’m passionate about using technology to enhance and enable people’s access to information and resources. In 2018, we merged our two existing library systems into Koha, and at the same time implemented the EBSCO Discovery System Koha plugin, and the result was a library system that was easy for both staff and students to use, as well as reflecting our uniquely Kiwi values.
I enjoy watching cricket, walking on the beach, pottering in the garden and building large LEGO sets with the help of my eight-year-old son.
Pronouns: She/her
Catch me at Kohacon20
Day 3, 10:00-10:25pm: Data, data, cup of tea - Success factors for a successful Koha implementation - Jacinta Osman and Lee Rowe, Toi Ohomai Institute of Technology (pre-recorded talk with live Q&A, online)
In July 2018, Toi Ohomai Institute of Technology went live with Koha, hosted and supported by Catalyst. This followed a four month implementation project. The project team needed to migrate data from two different ILS (Voyager and Liberty) into Koha, integrate the EBSCO EDS plug-in, implement SSO, integrate with Ozone for patron data, configure our specific requirements, carry out comprehensive UAT, and much more. The project was highly successful, with Toi Ohomai senior leadership commenting that this was the smoothest IT project they had ever been involved with. This presentation will cover what made the project so successful from both a relationship and technical perspective. It will include the groundwork involved, including, communication between project members, unified policy development, and technical expertise. As with any project, there were lessons to be learned, and these will also be explored. Toi Ohomai Institute of Technology was formed on 1 May 2016 as the result of a merger of Bay of Plenty Polytechnic and Waiariki Institute of Technology. Toi Ohomai is the largest tertiary provider in the Bay of Plenty and is one of the largest regional ITPs in New Zealand. Toi Ohomai is home to more than 14,000 students, more than 1000 staff, and offers more than 150 programmes ranging from certificate to postgraduate level. Toi Ohomai’s five main campuses are in Rotorua, Taupo, Tauranga, Tokoroa, and Whaktane. We teach from more than 68 delivery sites around the Bay of Plenty and South Waikato. There are two campus libraries, 23 library staff, 80,000 physical items, and an extensive collection of online resources.