Hit-> Library Automation Systems

[Turner County <jbaxter@SURFSOUTH.COM>]

After previewing several systems, our libraries chose Alexandria for
Windows. We moved from a great UNIX system,Geac Advance(left it because
we could no longer afford it). We are running AfW 5.31 on Novell 4.x.
Our MARC records exported into AfW without problem, we exported student
info from OSIRIS into AfW easily, and we are pleased with circulation.
In Advance, we were cataloging MARC records, and chose AfW because of
its authority control and MARC records. Support has been good. Manual
could be improved, but we have no regrets about our choosing AfW.
*********
The following is a compilation of the responses I
received.
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Atlanta Public Schools chose Athena because of ease of use and the many
extras like easily launching to the Internet or to CD software.
**********
We have MacIntoshes in our libraries.  currently we are using CaspR.
Good, but we want to cast around before simply renew it.
**********
We moved from Follett Circ/Catalog Plus to Alexandria for Windows last
August, and have been very happy with the decision.  I am especially
pleased with the way Alexandria handles authority control.  It shows you
the existing authority file when you go to input items such as author,
title, subject, etc.  It does not keep you from adding new items, but it
does help you to see what is already there and makes it very easy to
avoid/correct mistakes with the stroke of a key.  You would see what I
mean if you could view someone's system that is already up and running.
***********
First, let me say that I am a computer person, not a librarian.  I am a
strong library patron and currently volunteer at the local public
library about 32 hours per week.  We have been researching library
automation systems for the past 6 months. A few months ago we had just
about decided on Athena.  It's pretty and is
used by quite a few public libraries in this area.  "It's like the
darling of Wall Street in the library world".  We continued to research
and last Thursday our 3 top vendors came to our library to present their
products. The products were CompanionCorp's Alexandria, Nichols' Athena
and Winnebago Spectrum.  We had 11 people that sat through the entire
day and voted at the end.  They represented 4 different public
libraries, 1 church library, and our area library system automation
consultant.  One librarian was currently on Follett.  Two librarians
were on MOLLI, the forerunner to Athena.  All 11 unanimously voted for
Alexandria.  Alexandria was recently chosen by San Antonio ISD over
Follett, Winnebago and Athena.  Athena was eliminated prior
to the presentation because they are only 16-bit software.

I have strong concerns about Athena.  First, they are still 16-bit, when
32-bit software has been out for 4 years.  They claim it's by design
that you can only open one window.  Their sales rep was not helpful at
the demo. Nichols has recently been bought by Sagebrush, the same
company that owns the Catalog Card Company.  The Catalog Card Company
has a terrible reputation in Texas for botching up retrospective
conversions.

Alexandria used to be the #1 MAC solution.  Their Windows product seems
very strong now.  They also include acquisitions and serials at no extra
cost. They seem to be the best balance of ease of use, functionality and
technical strength.  Currently they are offering a free handheld
PalmPilot specially designed to do inventory right at your shelves with
the purchase of the software (a $1495 value).  They also have 20+
authority files.
Winnebago would have been our second choice. We did not seriously
consider Mandarin because their installed system base seems to be very
small and I like more users so that updates happen faster and are
better, etc.
********
We have narrowed to two. We are currently using Surpass on a DOS
format,and we are considering Surpass/Safari on a Windows platform. The
screens are inviting. Navigability is good. The chief point in favor is
that the
conversion was flawless. We are also considering Winnebago. Again, the
screens are inviting. The manual is great. The program makes use of
templates for entering data. We are downloading our files into a copy to
see how the conversion goes. If the conversion is good, we will probably
pick this one. We also looked at Follett, and it is a good program. We
nixed SIRS Mandarin, Caspr, and Alexandria after looking at them.
********
We use Athena and are satisfied with it.  It has a very user friendly
template for adding new items to the collection.
*********
I would think long and hard before going to Alexandria.  We did, last
year, and have regretted it.
*********
Our system purchased Alexandria for seven school media sites in 1993-94.
We have been very satisfied with both the software and technical
support. Since then we have added 3 more schools. I also use Alexandria
for the system-level media center. COMPanion listens to our questions
and concerns in their revisions. We are presently using Alexandria 4.44
version (Macintosh) on a network (using AppleShare 6.1 and Mac OS 8.5).
Circulation is very fast. With version 5.0 (available in July) we will
have a MARC editor feature that will be wonderful. We have many, many
reports available to us and inventory capability works well. Overall I
have been very pleased with Alexandria.
**********
We have had a time this year with the Alexandria conversion.  Our
schools have been running both Novell and Windows NT.  We seem to have
very similar problems on both platforms. I would recommend that you have
them come down and install the software and do your data conversion….
All in all, I think Alexandria will be a wonderful program once the bugs
are worked out.  I would also recommend that your computer
specifications be above the minimum requirements.
**********
My only info is on Winnebago Spectrum, which we currently use. I really
like Winnebago very much, though it has its quirks, like any software.
They have just released Spectrum 4.0, which improved a bunch of stuff
and, of course, is still in progress (or messed up on some things that
worked previously.) Here are the notable facts:
Notices and lists are vastly more readable, however a printing glitch
currently causes them to print out with funny page breaks. They are
working on this, but it plays havoc with the notices in particular.
Global editing is supposed to be back in effect. I have not been able to
use it yet, because my attempts to do so have crashed the program each
time. Haven't learned yet if this is a known glitch or if it isn't
actually
operational yet. The catalog is vastly improved and makes use of
hyperlinks, so that you can automatically revert to all of an author's
works or all books under that subject heading from within the single
record you are looking at. Offers web access to the catalog (we aren't
using this feature yet, so can't comment on it.) and cataloging of
websites. Cataloging is much expanded, and offers easy entry for video,
sound, and
book entries, as well as computer sites. Each upgrade we have had has
had some tremendous improvements and a few annoyances that they seem to
be good about fixing relatively soon. Inventory is extremely simple and
has lots of nice features, such as letting you know if an item has
already been entered, was inventoried
through circulation, was wanded out of order, etc. Customer support is
very good.
**********
I have been the media specialist for the past two years.  We have
Alexandria, and I have had no problem with it.  It is the only system I
have ever used, so I do not have a great deal with which to compare it.
I will say that I had never done automated checkout, and after a
tutorial of about two or three hours by another media specialist I could
do all I needed to do to get started.  Of course, I have learned more
things about its functions as time has gone by.  It is good for
composits and summaries and for retrieval of information on records of
various types.  Also, the help desk is pretty good.  The only problem
I've had is that if you wait until the afternoon to call them often you
have to wait until they call you back in the morning. But they have
added more people lately, I think, to answer questions, etc. I would say
the support is worth the money. I know a number of people have Winnebago
and Follett and seem to like them too.  I can't really think of any
problems with Alexandria.
**********
We are in the process of implementing Athena here.  My prelim reaction
is that the program is plenty quick.  Nichols has had a Windows program
out longer than the other guys.  They seem to have knowledgeable people
in
tech support, and have known about transferring us from our old Columbia
software.  During the past week or so, I have been disappointed by the
response time from tech support, however.  This is probably due to the
end-of-year inventory crunch.
**********
I've been using the Alexandria system for five years and I love it.  I'm
using version 3.87 on the Macintosh.  We have twelve sites using this
system and another three are planning to automate soon.
The Alexandria system was also approved this winter by the provincial
Ministry of Education for B.C.  This happened after a yearlong process
where they looked at all the systems currently in use in B.C. schools.
**********
I am a media specialist north of Atlanta.  Our county has just been
through the automation search process in order to get our county on one
system.  We currently have Columbia, MOLLI, and Follett.  We are moving
to a windows platform. After company presentations, school visits, and
many questions our county has
decided to go with Winnebago SPECTRUM.  We will start conversions (over
a 3-year period) this summer.
**********
I was asked to give you my impressions of AFW.  We have used the system
for a year.  I am very pleased with the part of the program the students
see.  The catalog is easy to use and the kids have few problems.  The
cataloging and data entry are easy to learn to use, also. My main
problem with the company and it is a BIG problem, is the lack of
support.  We were promised several things when we purchased the program
and we have not seen some of the promises fulfilled.  In Missouri, we
must do state reports.  The program will run
something like a state report but it is not accurate and there are some
parts such as the count of encyclopedia that are not correct.  The
process of running the reports is very laborious.  I have a small
library (12,000 volumes) and could almost count the items by hand
faster. We have repeatedly asked for the overdue reports to be run
differently and have been assured it is just a very small matter to
change the report format.  It hasn't been changed in a year.  When we
call for service, phone calls often are not returned.  I quit sending
e-mail messages several months ago because they were not returned.  We
have one person in our district that all of us now route concerns to
AFW.  She has had better responses when speaking for the entire group.

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