Attached is our test plan for 5.3. I make no guarantees about its
completeness. I think there are some functions we left off because we don't
use them. There are also probably some new features that were not picked up
out of the documentation (release notes and user manuals).

Some background/assumptions: We have a test system that is upgraded and
tested before we do the production upgrade. This is a long process and
requires a commitment of SA and staff time and management support. We have
used this process for the upgrade from 5.0 to 5.1, used it to evaluate going
to 5.3 (a no-go decision was made), and are now using it in preparation for
going to 5.2. The library management, staff, and SA's have been very happy
with the results--but doing the testing gets some grumbles.

Our approach in using the plan is that the area supervisors assign people to
do the test, which may include themselves. The tester must initial each
item or block--which would cover all the items in the block. Some of the
users do testing on their own from their desk. Others come up to the lab
and one of the SA's works with them. There may be one or more testers
working at a time. They use "real" stuff for testing, e.g., actual orders,
items to be cataloged, real OCLC imports, real borrowers and items from the
shelf.

Any problems are documented as they are found using screen print software.
If we can solve the problem, we do so and document the steps taken to do
that. The function is then retested. If we cannot fix the problem, the
tester notes that it does not work correctly on the test plan. If they
think they can live with it, that is noted--the comment is often something
like "this has never worked" or "we can work around it by ..." If it is a
show stopper, that is noted and management is informed.

The results are:
1. More "ownership" of the module by the staff. They can't say they didn't
know it would do that as easily as if they weren't involved (which is not to
say there are no surprises!).
2. Library management accepts their staff's buy off.
3. We have a stack of things to fix during the post-upgrade process for
production, so they are done before staff return to work. This makes for a
much smoother Monday for everyone.

Hope it is useful to others!

Kathleen P. Pierson
Technical Library, Applications Support
Sandia National Laboratories
(505) 844-8396
kppiers@sandia.gov
Horizon 5.1.1, Sybase, HP-UX