[Eril-l] [ERIL-L] Using Sharepoint for Document Storage

[Paoshan Yue]

Hi all,



Our library has had SharePoint (SP) since 2008; so I thought I would some of my experience with SP here.



Our campus IT implemented SharePoint (SP) back in 2007 (or so) and our library was migrated to SP2007 in 2008, with the intention to use it as the library's intranet.  We were migrated again to SP2010 a couple years ago and are expecting another migration to SP2013.  The intention to use SP as library intranet has never been fully realized due to various reasons, of which one was that except for those who really spent time exploring and learning some of SP features (like Technical Services folks), others prefer other tools like WebCampus.



I agree with Steve that SharePoint (SP) is a complex beast and requires a significant learning curve, especially if you want to go beyond using it just as a storage space.  Our campus IT emphasizes that SP is a collaborative tool, not a storage tool.  My experience with SP has been that it is indeed clunky and not friendly to navigate.  Having said that, it may have much to offer depending on what you want to use it for.  For example, we found SharePoint’s Lists (SP List is a collection of data that you can share with team members and other site users) very useful for managing e-resources workflows.  (For more info, see “SharePoint lists as workflow trackers”, a blog entry by Wendy Robertson: http://wendycrobertson.com/2013/05/06/sharepoint-lists-workflow/)  We have used SP Lists to manage workflows for new, changed, & cancelled e-resources, and most recently, a comprehensive journal cancellation project.



However, we found SP wiki clunky and not very useful for our needs.  Also, managing permissions has been a challenge for us in the library.  It allows customizations at probably every level of the site structures/documents/folders.  It could go out of control in a large, multi-level SP site if consistent oversight and shared knowledge among all site owners is missing.



As for document storage --  To store copies of licenses, we chose the University NAS (Network Attached Storage) system over SharePoint because 1) we are convinced that SP is for collaboration and NAS is for storage; and 2) we had data migration problems when we were migrated from SP2007 to SP2010; we suspect that might happen at every SP migration in the foreseeable future.  We are a III Sierra site.  We just enter the NAS file paths in the License Location fields of license records … they are not live links, but they work for our needs.  We also voted for an III ERM enhancement to allow attaching files to license records.  I think that should be considered a basic function of many records types in an ILS system.



Happy Holidays!



Cheers,

Paoshan

----------------
Paoshan Yue
Head of Electronic Resources & Acquisition Services
Mathewson-IGT Knowledge Center
University of Nevada, Reno
yue at unr.edu<mailto:yue at unr.edu> -- 775.682.5599



-----Original Message-----

From: Electronic Resources in Libraries [mailto:ERIL-L at LISTSERV.BINGHAMTON.EDU] On Behalf Of Steve Oberg

Sent: Friday, December 12, 2014 8:54 AM

To: ERIL-L at LISTSERV.BINGHAMTON.EDU<mailto:ERIL-L at LISTSERV.BINGHAMTON.EDU>

Subject: Re: [ERIL-L] Using Sharepoint for Document Storage



At the risk of sounding really negativeŠ<rant>I am not a fan of SharePoint after having extensive technical- and user-focused experience with implementing and managing SharePoint sites in a large corporate environment. This included 2007 as well as 2010 versions. Even the thing it¹s supposed to do well ‹ file management ‹ was incredibly clunky and un-user-friendly. At my previous position, I helped lead implementation of a custom, enterprise-wide SharePoint 2010 portal for our library group, and I also managed a staff-only Intranet SharePoint site for several years. So to refer back to Angela¹s email, this included web intranet and wiki-like things, along with document libraries. Another thing I worked on was a project to make a custom SharePoint site function like an internal institutional repository for scientific research, complete with process workflow and more.



I would just urge anyone considering SharePoint to look at it very carefully, to take the time to understand it thoroughly, and to not buy into the hype, especially from IT departments. (Especially when many IT people really do not fully understand your workflow needs. This is not universal but is very common.) My own experience is that other, freely available tools and software do the various jobs at the core of SharePoint functionality not only better than it can, but offer more flexibility and features. I am a very happy user of Google Apps for Education, for example. My institution has SharePoint but has yet to roll it out to us in the library or much of anywhere else in a big way. I have no desire to use it for anything.</rant>



But the truth is, in spite of my negativity, other people think SharePoint is the best thing since sliced bread, and believe it suits their needs very well.





Steve



Steve Oberg <http://www.wheaton.edu/Academics/Faculty/O/Steve-Oberg>

Assistant Professor of Library Science

Electronic Resources and Serials

Wheaton College (IL)

+1 (630) 752-5852





On 12/12/14, 9:06 AM, "Rathmel, Angela" <aroads at KU.EDU<mailto:aroads at KU.EDU>> wrote:



>I'm not very familiar with everything Sharepoint can do, but I know

>that our campus is considering migrating to it.  In addition to file

>management, are any of you ERL Sharepoint users using it for procedure

>documentation outside of a file structure framework -- so, for example,

>more like a web intranet or wiki environment?  If so, is it similarly

>clunky?

>

>Thanks!

>Angie



>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.eril-l.org/pipermail/eril-l-eril-l.org/attachments/20141222/3abefa7f/attachment.html>