OhioLINK workers attribute service errors to bumpy merger

OhioLINK has faced frequent maintenance issues since November as result of a reorganization of the Ohio Board of Regents’ Internet systems.

The idea behind the project is to merge all OhioLINK servers belonging to the Board.

OhioLINK is in the process of merging with OARnet, which is a network service of the Ohio Board of Regents that links search databases from around Ohio.

“The migration of all the technology isn’t as smooth as you’d hope,” said Tom Klingler, assistant dean of the university library. “It’s been real bad communication.”

According to the OhioLINK Web site, the service has recently been unavailable twice. The maintenance alert on the Web site shows the server’s most recent failures occurred Jan. 11 and 13.

For 20 years, OhioLINK has been an independent structure where anyone in Ohio can gain access to research materials from all over the state.

In order for OhioLINK to be up-to-date, its staff must always work to put in new journals, books and data.

“An awful lot of daily work hasn’t been done,” Klingler said.

The current data is slowly coming back on, but it may take a few weeks to load. Students who will be arriving back to school should know the local system, KentLink, is still working smoothly, as well as the Electronic Journal Center.

Klingler said despite the “bumpy” takeover, the system should run normally in about one month.

A meeting is in order on Jan. 25 in Columbus where Chancellor Eric Fingerhut will meet face-to-face with several library directors, two provosts, staff from Inter-University Council of Ohio and two chief information officers.

For those who want to know more information, visit the OhioLINK update blog at http://maagblog.ysu.edu/ohiolink/.

Contact technology reporter Kaylee Remington at [email protected].