Alexandria for Windows (by COMPanion) STILL in production!

["Garry Jantzen (Marshfield)" <GarryJ@COOS-BAY.K12.OR.US>]

My most sincere apologies for any misunderstanding!

In a previous post I seemed to indicate that Alexandria for Windows
(COMPanion Corp) was being discontinued. This is not so. The term our IT
mgr. used was "end-of-lifed" (I think, now, what that means, is from >our<
IT dept.'s point-of-view).

Alexandria for Windows is still very much in business and in-development. It
is NOT being discontinued. Alexandria for Windows is still being developed,
along with another Windows product designed to help former Mac user to
"crossover" to the new Win platform.

The e-mail I received from our network admin. _seemed_ to indicate the
opposite. What I think our IT mgr. might have been saying is that the
Companion Corp product does not match with our network goals and will not
meet our network design needs, and that we need to look for a more
"compatible" (but not necessarily "better") product.

Not being a technician I don't pretend to understand all this, except to
note that our IT mgr. has built a very rugged, robust, reliable and secure
network. It very, very seldom has a problem and hardly every goes "down", in
contrast to the network where my wife works that seems to crash almost
daily. From a strictly "user" point-of-view, our network works. And it works
well and fast.

I do understand that when considering a union catalog on a WAN, that there
are many factors to consider: network traffic, database "engines",
thin-clients, etc. and that there are a number of different ways to
construct programs and also, to install them onto networks, and that there
are many, many technical factors to consider. Our network architecture may
not match with the Alexandria product. That is not to say that it is an
inferior product -- just that it is does not seem to meet our needs.

Which goes to illustrate an important aspect of choosing a library
automation product for a district-wide union catalog. This a lot more
complex than merely installing a standalone in a single library. Were that
the case, we'd probably all be using Alex for Windows. We, as librarians,
may love the "front-end", the "user-side" of the product (and we do still
like Alex for Windows -- it is a very easy-to-use, user-friendly product,
which I still highly recommend -- as a Librarian), but you must also include
your IT manager to see that he or she is happy with how it will integrate
into the district's network.

No matter how pretty a picture the product might present, or how much you
might like it, it needs to work reliably on your WAN in order to be useful.
Please don't misunderstand me. Alex/Win may be perfect for >your< WAN. It
just doesn't seem to "fit" ours.

We did involve our IT dept. from the start. Alex/Win was not where our IT
mgr. wanted it to be when we first evaluated it, but he was hopeful that it
was headed the "right" (right, as fitting >our< network architecture)
direction. Alexandria was, by far, the best of all the products we evaluated
at that time, and, at that time, the closest to meeting our network's needs.
He continued to work with the COMPanion Corp mainly because the district
librarians liked the product so much. Evidently we need to be looking at a
more "compatible" (but not necessarily a "better") product.

I hope this rather lengthy apology doesn't create any further
misunderstandings. In case you've forgotten the original intent, I'll repeat
again, that the COMPanion Corp product, Alexandria for Windows is STILL in
production and is NOT being discontinued. From a strictly user's
point-of-view, I have absolutely no hesitation about recommending it as a
fine automation system.


Garry Jantzen, Librarian
Marshfield High School Library
Coos Bay, OR 97420
N7SBG

garryj@coos-bay.k12.or.us
http://www.marshfield.coos-bay.k12.or.us/library/Default.htm

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