LM_NET 04/15/98: No Subject

As many of you may be considering the purchase of a new automation
system for the upcoming school year, I thought it might be helpful if I
shared with you our school district's recent selection process and
experience.

I work in the Office of Instructional Technology for the Jackson Public
School District in Jackson, Mississippi.  Our district serves over
32,000 students at 57 schools.  Currently 21 of them are automated with
Follett's DOS program (eight networked sites and 13 single user) which
has been a very frustrating and cumbersome experience over the past six
years.

After over a year of planning, we recently evaluated Follett, Winnebago,
Athena and Alexandria for Windows to replace our old Follett DOS Program
at our 21 existing sites with plans to add the remaining 36 schools over
the next 6-9 months.

We sent out an RFP and then invited all of the above mentioned vendors
to present their respective products to our committee of 43 Media
Specialists.  While I originally was very concerned about the group
reaching any type of consensus with such a diverse group of competing
products, the results were overwhelmingly in favor of Alexandria for
Windows.  In fact, 37 of the 43 Media Specialists ranked Alexandria for
Windows as their number one choice in ease of use.  Since people tend to
like the product they know and use the best, I was amazed that Follett
only received 5 first place votes with 21 current Follett users in our
District.

The 43 Media Specialists were asked to rate the competing products from
1 - 4, like golf, 1 being the better score.

The following is the exact voting result:

     Alexandria         1.2
     Athena             2.5
     Follett                    3.1
     Winnebago          3.1

As you can see, it was not even close.  Alexandria for Windows was by
far the easiest program to use, offered the most comprehensive features
and had the best reputation for technical support.  They also offered
multiple features that were totally unique to Alexandria for Windows,
including Rapid Retro, a cataloging tool that allows Media Specialists
to obtain full MARC records simply using a scanner, never touching a
keyboard!  The Elementary librarians were particularly excited about the
optional "Kids Catalog" feature.

While Alexandria is initially slightly more expensive than many of its
competitors, these front-end costs will be greatly equalized as students
and librarians actually begin to use and benefit from the program.
Unfortunately, we "lost" thousands of dollars investing in an inferior
product initially that was frustrating and unreliable for many of our
librarians.  In fact, when I explained to the librarians that by
purchasing the more expensive product that they may have to sacrifice
some other budget cuts to make up the difference, they were unaffected.
They did not hesitate in their continued overwhelming support for
Alexandria.

Currently we are installing 22 network sites and 18 single user
locations with Alexandria for Windows.  We have already seamlessly
imported our existing MARC records from Follett into Alexandria at
several sites without any problems. Simply put, it works!

Additionally, we found the Alexandria people to be the most professional
of all companies.  Upon hearing the voting results, one disgruntled
vendor threatened to sue our school district because they simply did not
believe their product faired so poorly in head-to-head competition.
Another vendor attempted to disparage COMPanion Corporation with
baseless rumors.  Upon researching the accusations, none of them had any
substance. These situations with the losing vendors were the most
unfortunate aspects of the entire process.  Fortunately, the Media
Specialists' excitement about receiving Alexandria has proven worth all
the effort and long hours.

COMPanion Corporation has thus far lived up to the reputation that they
have apparently earned.  They have been professional, responsive and I
am absolutely convinced that we will be very happy with their service
and product for years to come.

We highly recommend that those of you that are looking for a library
automation solution seriously evaluate Alexandria for Windows.  If you
have any other questions or are interested in receiving the rating
criteria we used, please do not hesitate to contact me.  We are always
eager to help other school districts since so many have willingly
assisted us in the past.  Good luck!

James Mason
Jackson Public Schools
jmason@jackson.k12.ms.us
601-987-3671a

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-==-=
To quit LM_NET (or set NOMAIL or DIGEST), Send an email message to
    listserv@listserv.syr.edu    In the message write EITHER:
 1) SIGNOFF LM_NET 2) SET LM_NET NOMAIL or 3) SET LM_NET DIGEST
  * NOTE: Please allow time for confirmation from Listserv.
For LM_NET Help & Archives see:  http://ericir.syr.edu/lm_net/
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=--=-=-=
One of our high school English teachers is looking for a British mystery
novel to have an entire class read and discuss.  Can you recommend
titles that have worked well?

I'll appreciate your input.

Linda Stelter
Media Coordinator
Eau Claire Area Schools
500 Main Street
Eau Claire, WI  54701
lstelter@central.ecasd.k12.wi.us

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-==-=
To quit LM_NET (or set NOMAIL or DIGEST), Send an email message to
    listserv@listserv.syr.edu    In the message write EITHER:
 1) SIGNOFF LM_NET 2) SET LM_NET NOMAIL or 3) SET LM_NET DIGEST
  * NOTE: Please allow time for confirmation from Listserv.
For LM_NET Help & Archives see:  http://ericir.syr.edu/lm_net/
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=--=-=-=