Upgrading to 2.0 - 2011 planning

Why are we upgrading to 2.0?

We migrated to Evergreen during the final months during which 1.6 was getting ready for release. Since then, a significant amount of development has gone into Evergreen - bringing new features, performance improvements, interfaces that are easier to use, and security and bug fixes.

A slightly outdated overview of what to expect from Evergreen 2.0 and our migration strategy is available in ​HTML, PDF, and text formats.

What about 2.1?

Starting with the 2.1 release, the Evergreen development team has adopted an approach of shorter times between releases. This will make upgrades easier: less down time, more gradual evolution of staff client and catalogue interfaces, and fewer pieces that are likely to break.

After the 2.0 upgrade, we will continue to monitor the state of the 2.1 release. If stability and timing work out, we would like to migrate to 2.1 in July (which is when the stable release is expected).

The 2.1 release contains important features such as a faster, much more functional "basic catalogue", hold-driven recalls, merged serials holdings, and in-database circulation rules. It would be a shame to have to go through a semester without those features.

Timeline

April 8	Upgrade test server to 2.0.5	Complete
April 15	Port catalogue skins to 2.0.x	Complete (n.b. needs testing)
April 22	Upgrade test server to 2.1 beta	Cancelled: 2.1 is still too unstable to adopt at this time
April 25	Evergreen Conference	Complete
May 6	Complete upgrade of test server to latest 2.0.x stable release	In progress - getting a current copy of production data
May 9	Testing on test server commences in earnest
May 16	Fixes and updates to process documentation for issues raised during testing
May 20	Go / no-go meeting for upgrade over the weekend
May 27	Fallback weekend for upgrade

Testing plans

Circulation

• Rules calculate fines correctly for most common categories
• Scheduled reports continue to provide accurate (or more accurate) information
• Reminder / overdue notices generated appropriately for all languages
• Item history / patron history
• Fine payments
• Fields that we have hidden locally (date of birth, internet filtering) should stay hidden
• New: Set due time as well as due date
• New: Ensure Renew items interface works correctly
• New: Adopt bookings / reservations at some locations?

Testing - Cataloguing

• Located URIs for electronic resources
  • Ingest multiple URIs successfully
  • Remove URIs and reingest to enable deleting a record
• Spine labels
  • Printing still works
  • *New* Set per-library formatting defaults
  • *New* Prefixes / suffixes by shelving location
• Call numbers
  • *New* Default to LC or Dewey on a per-library basis
  • *New* Improved call number sorting
• Serials
  • Raw MFHD approach still works
  • *New* User-friendly predictions and check-ins
• *New* Authorities management and use

Testing - Public interface

• Display URI / call number / location / availability in search results
• SFX lookups
• Local branding in skins
• French / English interfaces
• Zotero support
• Keyword / title / author / subject / series searches (including phrases)
• *New* Advanced search options
  • Boolean OR
  • Wildcard '*' truncation operator
  • Identifier indices

Testing - System integration

• RACER integration
  • Accurate ISSN / ISBN search via Z39.50
• Self-check machines
  • Supports Unicode characters in patron names / item metadata