Buller District Libraries to change the way customer records are stored
Buller District Libraries have begun to inform library customers about an upcoming change to the way their data is stored, effective 17 May 2024.
Buller District Libraries is a member of a New Zealand-wide consortium of public libraries called Kōtui, which is managed by the National Library of New Zealand. These changes are being made to future-proof the 40 libraries that Kōtui manages.
The National Library’s current servers are reaching the end of their life and use old technology. Changes will be made to the system that Buller District Libraries uses for its library catalogue, customer records and a variety of other library services.
Currently, library membership details are held in data centres located in Christchurch and Auckland. From 17 May 2024, this data will be moved to data centres based in Melbourne and Adelaide, Australia.
The reason for this change is so that robust security of library and customer information can be maintained, and the facility can continue to offer modern library services.
In the constantly evolving and fast-moving world of technology services, it is very important that library management systems are future-proofed.
In addition to continuing to provide a secure service for customers, making these changes also means that the library systems will be able to benefit from future upgrades and enhancements.
Buller District Libraries are not able to make any exceptions to library membership information being moved to the Australia-based data centre.
If library members do not wish for their data to be part of this move, they can choose to cancel their library membership no later than Monday 6 May. Note that if there are any outstanding fees owing on the account, these will need to be paid before the account can be fully closed.
While borrowing is not possible without membership, there are many in-library services that will remain available to non-members.
From 8 pm on Wednesday 15 May through to 8 am on Friday 17 May, access to library members’ accounts and the library’s electronic resources will be unavailable while these changes are being made.
From 17 May onwards, while the look and feel of some services may alter slightly, there will be no significant changes to the user experience.
The main thing to be aware of is that from 17 May, library membership information will be stored in secure data centres used by our vendor, SirsiDynix Ltd, which is based in Australia.
After the migration date, there will be no change to our usual services or customer experience. If at any time in the future library members would like to be removed from the new database, please let library staff know.
If you have any questions, please contact Nicky Meadowcroft, Buller District Libraries Manager, via email nicky.meadowcroft@bdc.govt.nz or phone 03 788 8030.
Background information
What information is held in my customer record?
The information you provided when you joined the library is stored in your library customer record, for example: your name, your date of birth, your contact email address, your phone numbers, your home address, and in some cases a backup contact.
I don’t want my membership data going to Australia. What are my options?
The new data centre meets ISO international standards for security and reliability. Library information held there will be accessed via an encrypted virtual private network and will not be exposed to the public internet. We are confident that library information, including membership data, will remain secure. We hope this provides reassurance for our customers.
What was the process behind making this decision?
Buller District Libraries is a member of a New Zealand-wide consortium of public libraries called Kōtui, which is managed by the National Library of New Zealand.
The National Library, as part of the Department of Internal Affairs (DIA), followed the expected project protocols to ensure that all systems and vendors involved were compliant with DIA security requirements.
The National Library then shared all project documentation with Buller District Libraries. Based on this information, our management team agreed to this infrastructure change, as did all other members (40 local councils) of the Kōtui consortium.
The Australian data centres being used are:
• Equinix Equinix facility ME 2, Port Melbourne.
• YourDC DC1 Edinburgh Parks, Adelaide.
The library management system vendor is:
• SirsiDynix www.sirsidynix.com
Remember, if you would like to decline this change before the data migration occurs, please get in contact with Buller District Libraries by 6 May 2024.
-ENDS-
For further information please contact:
Manager Libraries
Nicky Meadowcroft
Nicky.Meadowcroft@bdc.govt.nz