Thank you to those who responded to my email. I had asked for
recommendations for library automation systems. We have been looking at
a lot of automation demo CDs this past week. We've also had two
presentations from reps of automation software systems. We're still
deciding because after all, switching to another automation system is
not something you want to do carelessly.
These are the responses I received.
********************
I just did a paper for one of my MLS courses comparing three automation
systems: Alexandria, Mandarin, and Follett. In my opinion, I rated
Follett first, Alexandria, then Mandarin. I was very much impressed
with Follett's reports. (You can customize your own). You can call
Follett and request a demo cd to see what you think. =20
Just a suggestion but did you try contacting Alexandria and asking if
they could change the reports to give what you need. Sometimes these
programmers don't always understand all of our needs. It would
definitely be a lot cheaper than buying a new system.
I have been using Winnebago Spectrum for years, and have been very happy
with it. I understand that those who run it on a MAC base have had
issues, but I find their Windows based program both reliable and
flexible.
If flexibility in reports is one of the features you're interested, I
can recommend the system I'm using: Concourse from Booksystems, Inc. of
Huntsville, AL. I can get just about any report I need by selecting the
proper "filters" from the list of options. Their web address is
www.booksys.com. You can get current system requirements and pricing by
e-mailing sales@booksys.com. I've had the system since it first came
out as a Windows version and have been very pleased with it...and their
tech support is great (but the system is so stable that I almost never
have to call them.)
Look at Sagebrush Corporation. Our entire district has had Athena since
1998. The support is wonderful. We are hoping to migrate to Accent,
their centralized product.
I have used only 2 different automation systems: Accent and Spectrum,
both are Sagebrush products. I loved Spectrum! It was a wonderful
program! I used it the first 4 years in my job. Two of the 4 schools
in our system used Winnebago Spectrum and the other 2 used an earlier
version of it, the DOS version. Those other 2 schools just needed to
upgrade to the one that we were using (Spectrum) but our system
technology guy (who didn't need to make the decision) decided that we
needed a union catalog (we were not planning to share any materials) so
they decided to change our whole system to Accent. I do not like it at
all. It is not user friendly and not as sophisticated as Spectrum.
Spectrum could do a WHOLE lot more than Accent can. I would go back to
the Spectrum if I had the opportunity but it is too late now! =20
All the automated school libraries (except one that has Follett) in our
district use Library Pro. I am in my first year as a teacher-librarian -
so really have nothing to compare Library Pro to, but it seems to do
everything we need it to do. I have called customer support with a
couple of questions this year - the rep. was very helpful & also sent
info via email. Information & contact numbers are at
http://www.chancery.com/prod_libpro.html
Have a look at the list at http://www.shambles.net/pages/staff/libsoft/
This is part of a larger librarian's page at
http://www.shambles.net/librarian/ It might be useful one day to survey
all of LM_NET to see what library management software is being used in
schools ... I don't think that has ever been done. Two of the main LMS
used in International Schools in Asia ... is Alice and Winnebago
For the past 11 years, I was in another school system using Follett
Unison and loved it. I could make it do what ever I wanted, and never
had a problem. If I needed to call tech support for anything they were
always able to solve the problem in a timely manner. I now have=20
Alexandria and I hate it. It's not user friendly, reports aren't what I
need, etc. Of course you know all this. I want Follett back, and that's
what I would recommend to you.
Our school system has used the Follett system, CirculationPlus, for many
years, and we have been very happy with it. This year we migrated to
their web based system, Destiny. Our school was chosen as one of the
first hundred schools (our district is 300+ schools) and we are
delighted with it. I have always found them to be extremely helpful. I
am not at all familiar with Alexandria so I cannot comment on how they
would compare.
Take a look at Surpass. We switched this year and I like it alot. You
can design your own reports or use their templates.
I highly recommend Surpass Central (www.surpasssoftware.com). With
Surpass there are MANY MANY different reports and you can even create
your own and save it. The support is wonderful and they really do
listen to their users and make changes in the upgrade based on what we
requested.=20
Karna Antoniw
Librarian
Instituto San Roberto
San Agustin Campus
Monterrey, Mexico
kantoniw@sanroberto.edu.mx
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