Migrating a library's web site to a commercial CMS within a campus‐wide implementation

To examine the issues involved with migrating an academic library's web site to a commercial content management system (CMS) within a campus‐wide implementation.

The old and new web sites are described in terms of their histories, technologies, and structures. Key issues relating to the migration are identified and some concerns and benefits are listed.

Although proprietary systems are restrictive in some ways, the technological, organizational, and work flow advantages to the CMS which was employed are significant. An entirely different set of issues emerge when a library participates in a campus‐wide implementation as opposed to one which is librarywide.

This may be the first case study of a CMS migration that is both campus‐wide and using a commercially available system. The current trend in academic libraries toward home‐grown systems could some day be reversed as the commercial CMS market evolves.