HIT: Alexandria Pt. 3 (Final)

[beth kapp <beth_kapp@acsd.k12.pa.us>]

We converted from the DOS-based program, Columbia, because we were not
pleased with the program. We LOVE Alexandria. The converted the records
for us, and I know other schools have converted Follett records into
Alexandria without problems. There were no problems with our conversion.

For your elementary schools, I recommend you get Kids' Catalog, but it
will not be able to interface with Alexandria until version 4.0, due out
this summer. Contact Companion for system configurations needed with it.

We have had NO problems with Alexandria, and we have used it going on 4
years now. Be sure to back up your data!
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We are in our fourth year of using Alexandria and I love it.  I'm happy
with the report capability, ability to add patrons and items quickly and
easily.  The technical support is great, though I seldom use it.  I find
it
easy to use and meets our needs at a PreK-5th grade school.  Also, I
order
from Follett without barcodes.  They send a disk of cataloguing info and
it
is easy to add items and designate barcodes.
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I have been using Alexandria for 2 years.  We have 4 schools now
using it, and plan to have the remaining 5 online by next year.  Three
schools started with Alexandria and one switched from Follett, so that
the
whole county would have the same system.  As with any system, there are
things that we don't necessarily like, but overall we really like it.
Tech support is good, and they seem to listen to our suggestions.
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e converted from Follett Circ. PLus to Alexandria.  I think this new
system is so much more versatile and allows so many more reports and ways
to
manipulate the data.  I was able to throw away all the catalog cards and
now
have my library totally on OPAC.  We have Alexandria networked in our
bldg. and
hope to go district wide in the future.  I am pleased with the system.
The
tech support is abslolutely fantastic.  I almost always talk to someone
immediately.  With Follette I had to leave a message and wait for a
return
call that generally came 48 hours later.
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We have been using Alexandria since Nov 93.  We have adopted the
Alexandria System district wide and have been very happy with it.  We
previosly had the Folliet system
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We have been using Alexandria for about 10 months and have a number of
problems:
1.  The catalog display does not display subtitles when one searches.
2.  Dewey numbers longer than 4 decimals go over onto the next label.
3.  multivolumed works are handled in a strange way, each volume as a
seperate title and it is difficult to get volumes numbers on spine
lables.
4.  the default to sounds like is a pain

My technology person my communicate with you and share a long list of
problems as well as the joys.

Another major problem is the fact that there is no users group meeting
at ALA and no listserv, making it hard to develop a community of users.
 If things are not improved in the next months we will be looking for a
new OPAC.
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I've been using Alexandria for 2 years now.  I'm in a K-2 school and
my fellow school 3-8 also uses it.  I've not used any other totally
automated system except a circulation system by Winnebago.  My only
problem
with the system is that because it doesn't batch checkins, it is very
easy
to read in 2 barcodes and only have one of them "take".  Although I am
keenly aware of this and keep my eyes open for it, by volunteers do not
always do so.   Except for this one thing, I find it very easy to use.
However, my collection is very small.  I have only 194 students.  I have
no
idea how long it would take a larger system to print reports, etc.  For
me,
it's great.  I hope you hear from others with larger libraries.
---------

Beth Kapp, Librarian
Annville-Cleona High School
Annville, PA 17003
beth_kapp@acsd.k12.pa.us