[LM_NET] HIT: Destiny

["Tichey-Staack, Mary" <mticheystaack@RIDGEFIELD.ORG>]

Hi all,

 

    I want to thank wholeheartedly the group of people who took the time
to really give honest and valuable feedback to this question.  I can now
confidently bring facts to a meeting which should help lighten the
learning curve in the decision making process.  Thank you for all the
time you have saved me and my colleagues. 

 

Responses:

I have loved Destiny for the TitlePeek and patron "self
empowerment"-Holds, recommending books and book reviews.  It is great
that kids can see their checkouts (with individual log-ins) and Webpath
Express has offered a safe way for our kids to search the Internet. My
old Dolphin scanner still works and I love that I can access the program
from home.

 

Problems-I had to manually enter 450 log-ins because we couldn't figure
how to do it in batches.  There have been a few other snags (can't think
of them right now), but overall I feel the benefits far outweigh the
learning curve needed to make use of all the features of Destiny.

 

Caitlin Hooker

PreK-8 Librarian

St. Gabriel's Catholic School

Austin, Texas

caitlin.hooker@sgs-austin.org

 

We switched this year. I have had a problem with having to wait 20+
minutes each time I call for technical support. Also,it is internet
based and we are having a problem with it being very slow due to our
server and too many people online throughout the county. 

 

All in all, it was a smooth switch.

 

 

Donna W. Young

 

Library Media Specialist

Powhatan Jr. High School

Powhatan, VA.

 

I am currently reading Porcupine by Meg Tilley.

 

We migrated to Destiny from Follett's Circ/Cat last October.  We're
disappointed everyday with how Destiny searches (not a true, easy key
word search like Circ/Cat) and how holds and ILLS are handled (a teacher
can not place a hold or ILL for more than 1 copy of a book- not great
for teachers looking for multiple copies for reading groups or partner
reading).  In many ways, Circ Cat was a more librarian friendly program.

 

Further, the Destiny trainers put most of the control for the program in
the hands of the tech staff, with the implication that librarians
didn't/couldn't understand how the database was managed.  Our district
professional staff has had to argue for self-determination... we did not
want nonlibrarians making decisions about such issues as material loan
periods or cataloging and classification.  

 

In hindsight, we wished we had gone with Alexandria or Sirsi's I
Bistro...but our network administrator strongly felt Destiny was the way
to go.  We didn't investigate the aqua browser offered by Queens Public
Library... but we should have!  Take a look:
http://aqua.queenslibrary.org/.

 

One thing to consider... how many tech posts do you see here at LM_Net
regarding Alexandria or I-Bistro?  How many do you see regarding
Destiny?  There's a big difference, for a reason.

 

Good luck with whatever you decide.

 

Shannon

 

Shannon Walters

Library Media Specialist

C.P. Smith School

Burlington, Vermont  05401

swalters@bsdvt.org

(802) 864-2228

 

We had Spectrum and were happy with it.  But time marches on and now we
have Destiny.

 I like the home page feature on which you can enter any url and it will
be available to anyone at school or at home.  I just found out about
Destiny's easy cataloging of unprocessed materials.  Scan the ISBN on
the appropriate page and the book appears so that you can enter it in
your collection and edit the page as needed.

The web pages listed after a list of books in the catalog is very
useful.  They have been selected and reviewed by Follett.

We received training, but it iwas done very fast.We started using
Destiny in September and have been learning by doing.  

Judy

 

We switched from Athena just over two years ago.  The big thing I
noticed is how easy it is to catalog new materials in Destiny with
Alliance Plus.  It's rare now that I have to send an item to my teacher
librarian (who is at a different site) to be cataloged from scratch.

 

I also like the customizable letters you can send home to parents.
Granted, there is a portion you can't change like the item information,
but everything else can be changed to suit different notification needs.
I have an overdue materials letter, a Spanish overdue materials letter,
an end of the year overdue materials letter, an end of the year overdue
textbook materials letter, etc.  I can save the format and just change
who the letter goes to.  And along with that is the Job Manager that
allows you to see what will print without you having to actually print
it. On anything you generate.

 

Lisa Huddleston
Library Media Technician
Webster Elementary School
Madera, CA
lhuddleston@gvusd.k12.ca.us 

 

 

I've used SIRS, Athena, Circ/Cat, and Destiny.  By far, Destiny is the
best product I've used.  We moved to Destiny 6 years ago and have never
regretted

it.   We have had great luck with tech support, and they are very
receptive to

our ideas as we've seen many features added with each upgrade.   It is
easy for

all to use, so I would highly recommend it.

 

Carl

 

After using Spectrum's CIRC/CAT for 9 years, last month our district
switched to Destiny.  So far, so good !  We certainly haven't learned
how to use ALL of it's features, but we are finding it pretty
user-friendly.  Earlier this week I called Tech Support for the first
time to ask a question and had an immediate answer.  I also e-mailed
Tech Support for a problem and had an answer within a few hours.  We've
not yet had an opportunity to try the solution as it's really an issue
for our I.T. guy.  Our trainer was AWESOME - very informative, patient
and helpful.  There were some breakdowns in communication during the
buying/setup time line, but not all of the breakdowns were caused by
Follett (some were self-induced, I'm afraid to admit).  

I would strongly suggest that you meet with reps from the
companies/products you're considering.  We hosted a "demo day" and had 4
vendors show us their products and then made our decision from there.

Honestly, right now I can say we have no regrets (and I hope it remains
that way).

Diane

Diane Lungaro, library media specialist 
dianelu@yahoo.com 
Sussex Middle School 
Sussex-Wantage Regional Schools District 
Sussex, NJ 07461

 

 

IMHO, circ/cat systems are like school administrations. Some accomplish
certain functions so well, but are clueless in other areas. We migrated
from Spectrum last spring. It has been a bumpy road of discovery, but,
on balance,  Destiny is worth it. You might want to visit a neighboring
school that is using Destiny and take it for a spin. 

 

 

Best regards,

 

 

Martin Swist (from Stamford & Fairfield, Conn.) mswist@asij.ac.jp Middle
School LMS Middle School XC Coach The American School In Japan

1-1-1 Nomizu, Chofu-shi, Tokyo

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mary E. Tichey-Staack

Library Media Specialist

Branchville Elementary School

40 Florida Road

Ridgefield, CT 06877

203-544-7980 x2137


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