LM_NET: Library Media Networking
Thanks to all of you busy busy people who took time to reply to my request
for info. on Follett vs. Winnebago automation systems. Here is the HIT that
many of you asked for.
WINNEBAGO USERS & COMMENTS
Cass Lake, MN Winnebago is very user friendly, the support is great,
training in LaCrosse is great.
Luverne, MN More
variety of reports available with Winne.
N. Palm Beach FL Customer support excellent. With their DOS
program there
are not enough sort options for patrons or bibliography. Advised all to go
with the new networkable Winne. Spectrum Prgrm.
LeeMac
Service very good and very few bugs in the system. They
stand behind their product. Gives excellent reports, has excellent manuals
& workshops. They have an assigned service person for each district. It is
easy for primary students to use.
Philadelphia Novel networked w/3
stations. Great! No bugs. DOS
using Winnebago 6.1
Chisholm Middle School Follett user updating to Winnebgo Spectrum
system. They didn't feel Follett cross platform sys. was quite ready.
Otherwise Follett is fine. On past LM-NET surveys Winnebago won out because
of ease of use & customer service.
Alexandria, VA They have had a few bugs but Winne sent corrections or
fixed the problem in the next update. They stand behind their product.
Winne. has a wide variety of reports, is easy to use by the librarian and
also by primary students. Upgrades come out almost every year.
DeSota, KA Has been a enthusiastic Winne. user for eight years. Their
initial decision to go w/Winne was made after attending both Winne.Users
Groups and Follett Users groups and listening to the satisfaction of the
clients.
Raleigh, NC Just starting process of automation. Finding it very user
friendly.
Port Clinton, OH Use Mac SE 30 with system 6.0.7. Excellent support.
Unknown town Terrific support. It can print individual class
circulation lists.
Grand Rapids, MI First yr. of using Winne. , very happy with it. Very
good customer service. Haven't had to call in months because system works
so well. Two yrs. ago they had better & cheaper sys. of producing bar
codes. Very student friendly. He produced an instruction book but no one
uses it.
Chesterfield Co., VA Use IBM format. Very pleased. Has run many
workshops & user groups and seen many setups in last 10 yrs. "Winnebago is
quite user-friendly, not only for the student/patron, but also for the
librarian who may not have a great deal of computer literacy. You don't
have to know MARC to catalog in Winnebago." Additional databases are
seamless interface, which means student doesn't have to exit catalog to go
into another program. Tech. support superior. Also have own library
listserv which tech support monitors, thus you can get tech. support from
other librarians around world. Has also worked in schools w/Follett and
finds that Winne more user friendly, better manuals and excellent service.
Tallahassee, FL Been on Winne. for 3 yrs. after investigating Follett &
other systems. Very reliable, encountered no bugs. Tech.support fast &
friendly. Updates arriev annually. Three yrs. ago Follett tech support
sometimes took a couple of days to respond. Would have had to re-barcode if
they had gone with Follett.
Shaker Hts., OH Winnebago user 7 yrs. and loveit. Customer support
outstanding.
Dover, AR Have used Molly, Follett & Winnebago in other schools.
Winne.is far superior. Service fantastic. Reports--you name it and
Winnebago can do it.
FOLLETT USERS & COMMENTS
Eureka, CA Has Follett in middle sch. lib. for past 2 yrs.
Extremely
easy to use. Technical support with service agreement is always prompt and
good. Instructions for installation are clear & easy to follow.
Unknown town Use Follett Unison and likeit very much. Very good tech.
system and respond very quickly. No trouble loading upgrades & LOVE the
User's Group that meets regularly. She knows a librarian who has Winne. and
wished she had Follett.
Unknown town Has new circulation sys. & uses Follett CircPlus Have had
problems with 3400 scanner misreading the barcode a lot. Follett
has sent various barcodes which just slow down the process. They blame it on
lights or white circ. desk & won't replace scanner.
Russellville, AR They use Follett Circulation/Catalog Plus and Alliance
Plus. Think the cost of their service agreements might be too high.
Marinette, WI Like the fine level of support Follett has provided.
"We had some technical issues to resolve and I was pleased that I didn't
have to wait long. The tech. reps. stayed with him until all his questions
were answered.
Traverse City, MI From a previous HIT concerning Follett on NT. "Of the
ten responses, six indicated that Follett Unison version 2.0 and 4.0 run
without problems on Windows NT. However, two respondents who are using the
new Follett Windows Search Plus module (the other modules still DOS) said
there have been no problems.
Paterson, NJ From a previous HIT concerning MARC records for videos.
"If it is a record produced by Follett, it will be a good one."
"We subscribe to Follett's Alliance Plus and have found the majority of our
collection on their discs. It even includes CD-ROM cataloging.
ATHENA USERS & COMMENTS
Pittsburgh, PA Had Athena one year and loveit. Easy to use & install & the
elem.kids have no problems with it. Using it on IBM compatable. Only
complaint is that can't catalog cards from the system. They need to keep a
shelf-list as a back-up. Their HS has had problems with Follett all along &
will be switching to Athena.
Tampa, FL Recently installed Athena. Using Windows NT. Haven't yet
used the system. Follett sounded too slow in response time.
Tolland, CT Have Athena & love it. Most use just the simple search and
find what they want. Their collection has 14,000 titles
Hacienda Heights, CA Like Athena very, very much but have not yet
automated. Screens not at all utilitarian but more
colorful & more
graphic. Rated #1 by ALA. Requires IBM. Seems easy to use. "I've seen a
lot ofpeople on the listserv dumping Winnebago and (esp.) Follett (they've
had lots of problems and slow service)."
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