Preparing Catalog Data for a Migration to Alma: Opportunities and Lessons Learned

Yale University Library completed its two year library service platform Voyager to Alma migration process in July 2025. Preparing for migration was challenging, particularly when identifying and prioritizing cataloging data review and cleanup projects. Like other libraries, we relied on "Appendix B Optional Data Preparations" to guide these decisions. Our experience found that some of the “optional” tasks were essential for a successful migration. Join us as we share the good, the bad, and the ugly of Yale’s cataloging data review and cleanup process. We’ll discuss resources like “Appendix B” to help guide your decision making, the importance of collaboration across functional areas, and helpful guidance we received from peer institutions. We’ll explain our approach to both pre- and post- migration cleanup work, with particular attention to bound with volumes, handling location mismatches created by decades of legacy data, and unexpected post migration data loss.