From Legacy Systems to Koha: Practical Implementation and Migration Experiences from Ghana

This presentation shares practical experiences from implementing, migrating, and upgrading Koha in academic library environments across Ghana. Drawing from real-world deployments, the session explores the full lifecycle of Koha adoption — including infrastructure preparation, data migration from legacy systems, configuration, customization, staff training, and post-implementation optimization.
The talk highlights technical and operational challenges encountered in resource-constrained environments, such as inconsistent metadata, legacy catalog structures, infrastructure limitations, and user adoption barriers. Practical solutions are presented, including strategies for bibliographic data cleanup, managing service downtime, improving workflows, and ensuring sustainable system maintenance through local capacity building.
The presentation also examines integrations between Koha and related digital library services such as institutional repositories, web platforms, and authentication systems to create cohesive digital ecosystems. Lessons learned from system upgrades and ongoing maintenance are included to support libraries planning long-term Koha sustainability.
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Attendees will gain actionable insights, implementation checklists, and practical strategies that can support successful Koha implementations, migrations, and upgrades—particularly in academic and developing-country contexts.