HIT: Library Automation Software

[Joanne Parnes <JS3462@CNSVAX.ALBANY.EDU>]

Dear Everyone,

Here are the responses I received about experiences with
library automation s
onses posted here, Betsy Wilson)-
betsy@blizzard.jpl.nasa.gov or
Elizabeth.Wilson@jpl.nasa.gov) sent me the results of a
similar query she posted last
x Scholar in my High School for about 5
years and would recommend it.  I am especially happy with
the service and support that you get from the company.
Because of that there has never been any down time or lost
data, plus they answer all my questions almost immediately.
And of course, the system is easy for the kids and staff to
use, and easy for me to keep up.  I would like cataloging to
be a little less
 thru a few more steps on some things. I understand
the new version takes care
o a 5 site system next year, and again,
they are so knowledgeable and experie
helped us with technical specifications, but also came up
and helped us present to the school board and our
Computer department (MIS).

Let me know if I can be of further assistance.
Pat Wamsley (patw1@muskox.alaska.edu)  |{ancient
Chinese blessing/curse}
wk:
 |
hm: 3700 Spruce Top Circle             | "May you live
    Wasilla, AK 996
times!"

My district has been using Dynix since about 1990.  I have
never hear
Dynix Scholar, but we have been
extremely satisfied as a district with both the product and the
service.

Date: Tue, 30 Jan 1996 14:29:11 -0800 (PST)
From: Linda Kelso Hicks <lhicks@crown.net>
We have been using Dynix for about two years.  We have
the cataloging, circulation, serials, and media mod
 been pleased with it in
general.  However, since Ameritech took over, the sma
and we have
experienced more problems.  We upgraded to the 150
release in October and had a lot of difficulty because the
Beta testing sites were much smaller than we are.  We have
linked 13 schools into a single union catalog which was a lot
more complex tha
we go
with them again?  Yes, I think we would.

Linda Hicks
Portage H.S. (Indi
Name: Linda Kelso Hicks
E-mail: lhicks@dodo.crown.net (Linda Kelso Hicks)
Date

Hi,
I am in the process of automating w/Athena.  They were
prompt to the day in converting my shelf list (6 weeks).  I
have so far found some inaccuracies in my bar code
classifications but not too many and I feel they will "Make
Good" on the errors because they have been very
accessible by phone and very h
Julia
________________________________________________
_______________________
 Lap Is A Terrible Thing To Waste--
jsteger@pen.k12.va.us          Adopt A Pet
 you, and hope you will not use my
name if you decide to post a hit.  We have Dynix Scholar;
have had for four years. We're a K-12 private school of
3700+ students with three libraries.  Due to cost
considerations when we initially automated, we have 3
separate CPUs, one in each library, although we
continue to recommend it to other school librarians.  We are
the largest indep
 a reputation for leadership, etc.  Partially on our
advice, two other major p
ht Scholar
and a third one is contemplating it.  Word came out this
week that our public library system statewide is switching to
a Dynix product.  One of Scholar's strengths has always
been
its strong customer support and the use of librarians who
really understand your problems on their technical staff.  We
have felt over t
sonal friends; they have been responsive, warm, and
caring, and we counted our
o years ago (if my dates are right), Dynix was
purchased by Ameritech, a Baby
we saw changes; changes we didn't like and continue to be
unhappy with.  The top management has all gradually gone,
as have most of the truly responsive customer support
people.  The ones who remain are still attentive, informed,
and interested, but not to the degree that they were
previously.  Most recently we have had significant problems
with our up

name it, it's gone wrong.  At this point the 2-3 day down
time that we were p

We haven't been down the entire time, but this is the first
day since Jan. 10
with confidence.  Things will get better, I know, and to a
certain extent I am venting on you.  But if you go with
Scholar (and I still heartily recommend it) I would urge you
to be extremely proactive about what customer support will
entail, how soon you will get response, and what they will do
f
 get it in writing.  Today I look at the goodwill and trust I
have generated i
been undone by the events of the last three
weeks.  I don't like to be in that situation, and I hope no
other school librarian ever has to be either. So, use my
school name if you post a hit.  Encourage others to e-mail or
call (808) 944-5822 if they want to talk specifics.  I just don't
want to get accused of a flame.  Good luck to you.  You're
making a very imp
If you haven't looked at Scribe's Media One package I highly
recommend that yo
 the product nor the support staff.  They can be
reached at:Scribe Software 4435 North Saddlebag Trail
Suite 1 Scottsdale, AZ 85251 602-990-3384
602-990-3505 FAX
email: scribe@xroads.com
______________________________________
Jamie Boston, Libra
600 Birch Ln.  & Pioneer
Elementary, 5212 Hamel St.
Davis, CA 95616
916-757-5395/5413(FAX)& 757-5480
jamieb@dcn.davis.ca.us

My library has b
fortunate to be using the Mandarin system.  Not only is it
user friendly and easy to manage.  But easy access to
Technical Support is only a quick phone call away.  And the
support that you receive is outstanding!

The Mandarin listserv is also a useful forum for sharing with
other Mandarin users. Go for it!

==================
=========
Rita Kaikow, MLS             | Oceanside High School Library
Library
Internet Coordinator,                     | Oceanside, NY 11572
Found

Co-Pres.: Long Island School Media Assoc. |
K12ocKZR@HOFSTRA.EDU         | [Phone: 516/678-7534]

===========================================
From: Joyce Conklin <jconkli@smcoe-
ns.ed.co.sanmateo.ca.us>
Subject: Re: TECH: Librar
gh an EXTENSIVE survey and investigation
before we settled on Dynix Scholar an
McGraw Hill has sold them!)
-- after a 'head-to-head' answers to questions ses
voted on Dynix Scholar. If you have nobody in your
librarians' group who is really techie oriented, you may have
to ask for some help, but I would strongly recommend Dynix.
Their service is unparalleled, any program changes as the
result of user input, they beta-test new versions in real-world
situations, an
can't do from within the program.

Joyce Conklin            jconkli@ed.co.sanm
San Mateo, CA

Joanne:  I saw your posting on LM_NET about automated
systems, and thought I'd share our experience.
We decided on Dynix Scholar, and implemented it two years
ago.  I am one of their biggest fans!  The whole automation
project was *SO* e
 no
marc records, although had been using Circulation Plus.
Dynix had us down
ded isbns), and they used that as the basis for our
catalog. The most measurab
circulation stats.  We'd always had healthy numbers, but
with Dynix our circulation DOUBLED!  Suddenly, kids could
find materials!  Those kind of hard numbers really wowwed
my headmaster and Board, and has enable me to add a lot
more technology to the
nd full Internet access).

I think you'll find this kind of jump in stats no m
 find the keywork searching on Dynix
to be the best around. Since Ameritech ha
have heard murmurs from other users that the technical
support (which I have always found superb and was one
the selling points for me) has slacked off a bit.  Fortunately,
my system has been running well (knock wood) and I
haven't had any maintenance calls this year.  Last
arrived by FedEx the next day!

I also did inventory last summer for the first
solo (because we only had one hand-
held unit), and our collection of 30,000  took me less than a
week.

FYI - we are an independent school of 750 students in
grades 7-12, with a collection (as mentioned) of 30,000.

Good luck!

Beth Reardon
Head Librarian
McC
tanooga, Tennessee


From: fhslmc@netrix.net (John York)
Joanne

We have been on-line with Ameritech's Dynix Scholar for 3
years now and are quite pleased with it.  It was a little pricier
than some of
ional dollars have been worth it.  It is
a quite flexible system, and our serv
pay for).  Currently
we are working on a project to upgrade the server for our
system in the high school and begin bringing the other 7
school libraries in the
district on-line with a shared system.  We will be working on
that over the next three years.

Our one problem so far has been getting our AV call
numbers setup so that we
tatistics by
Dewey categories on our reports.  For some reason we can
get gene
ion has occurred in the 610s like we can in the
non-fiction book area.  They have been extremely
cooperative with us while working on this problem.  I think it
has to do with the alphabetic designators we use at the
beginning of our call
Our students and staff have responded very well to the
system.  They are exper
cate information within our collection.  They
especially like the general keyw
searches for keywords in title, contents notes, subject and
summary fields.  Gives us a lot of flexibi
searching.  We are now making sure that there are
summaries for all our new titles including things such as
main character names, important place names, or other
things
that might be unique or the type of concept that a user might
try to look up.  We also included good contents notes on
non-fiction items if
e words that might be used as keywords.  All of our
short stories on the syste
tories included in the contents note field so one can look
for
a particular sh
r
own indexing to our short story collection).

If you have any specific questions e-mail me with them and I
will do what I can to help you out.

The Duke of York
John York, Library Media Specialist
Flathead High School Library
644 4th Ave. West
Kalispell, MT 59901
Voice - 406-756-4504 / FAX - 406-756-4595
E-Mail - fhslmc@netrix.net (John Yor
ay enough good things about the product
and especially the support, which is o
any specific questions, please feel free to email me.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~
~ Alicia M. Astorga      aastorga@cccbi.chester.pa.us ~
~ Director of Librarie
   ~
~ 1106 Pennsylvania Ave., Wilmington, Delaware  19806 ~
~ phone (302) 658
-8832 ~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
From: Pat Kauffman <kpat@nebo.edu
been wonderful and their technical support has been quick
and outstanding.  There has been a major restructuring and
it remains to be seen if the school division will still be as
strong, but we certainly have had no complaints.


We had Mandarin installed l
sed with it.  Their tech help is good and they are a
growing company. I am sti
am but the daily circ and records are easy to do
and the system is fast.  I th
than Dynix.  Our local union catalog had a problem reading
Dynix records.
Good luck with whatever you choose.
Ellen McLane            email: emclane@int1.mhrcc.org
Library Media Specialist

Fallsburg Jr/Sr High School
Box AH, Brickman Rd., Fallsburg, NY 12733


l district looked at several programs a few years
ago and decided to go with W
had it for two years now and absolutely love it! There are
about 8 of our schools that have it now and I haven't heard
anyone complain.  For about $295 a year you get updates
and an 800 number to call for support.  I call every time I
can't
figure somet
is their guarantee) but usually it is before that.
Sometimes I get help the m
I am teaching my third graders Boolean logic this year for
the first time.  It


Valerie Phaup
Media Specialist
Pike View Elem
NLR, AR
<vphaup@ualred.ualr.fred.org> ------------------ 34.43.48N,
92.14.32W
Teacher K-12 at PIKE VIEW ELEMENTARY, N. LITTLE
ROCK


Date:    Thu, 1 Feb 1996 13:15:35 -0500
From:    Mark Williams <WillmsMark@AOL.COM>
Subject: Re: Target: Follett Versus Dynix

Our local public library uses the Dynix system, and I use
Follett -- I much pr
ynix screens, less of
that on Follett.  Since I don't work at the public, I can't vouch
for any problems or advantages in data entry, patron
creation,
scanners almost identical to the CCD ones Follett has been
selling for the last six mo
systems. Also, Dynix uses proprietary hardware - the
keyboard is customized to their system commands.  So,
from a patron's
standpoint, Follett wins, I think.  See if you can talk with
someone who uses Dynix -- better yet, see if they'll let you
enter some data
you before a choice is made.  Be sure
streaming tape for backups is an option with Dynix.

Hope this helps,
Mark Wil
Colton High School Library

Thanks again,
Joanne Parnes Shawhan
js3462@cnsvax.albany.edu
57 Wakefield Ct.
Delmar, NY 12054