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Hi, All-- Lots of interest - and lots of confusion about Spectrum InfoCentre! Thanks to Diane, Adele, Nancy, Robin, Pat, Murry, Louise, Linda, Larry, Barb, Nancy, Miranda, Rychie, Lauri, and to those I thanked individually and deleted before I received the requests for a hit. We're still working out whether or not our school can afford it. We're using Spectrum Cric/Cat now. Evidently, there is more to consider than just purchasing the product and support. There is a necessary software upgrade ($95) for the handheld, if it's an older model, and the cost of conversion ($995) if done by Winnebago, which will save past circ data. Conversion done by the end user can *not* preserve past circ data. --Betty Rendino, Librarian Jericho Elem Sch Jericho, VT l0x6@yahoo.com Spectrum monitoring of LM_NET resulted in this message responding to my query: "Spectrum Discussion List" <spectrum@list.sagebrushcorp.com> As a general rule, Sagebrush does not actively participate in listserv discussions, but we do monitor them. When we feel something has been posted that will affect all of our customers, we will post a message to ensure everyone has accurate and complete information. A recent posting talked about our announcement of Sagebrush InfoCentre(tm). InfoCentre is the new next generation library automation system and major enhancement release to Sagebrush Athena(tm) and Sagebrush Spectrum(tm). It represents the first release of the amalgamation of these two products, combining the best features of each into one release. We will continue to offer customers the choice between Athena, Spectrum, Accent, and InfoCentre, and will continue to support all four products. Also, in the next few months, we will have Athena 9.3 and Spectrum 5.3 available via download. Please watch for future communications regarding these releases. If you have any questions, please contact us at 800-533-5430 or at sales@sagebrushcorp.com or contact your specific account manager. Sincerely, Sagebrush ------------------------- There has been a discussion on the Athena listserve. It is a new Sagebrush program. I am attaching the pdf's that were shared via the list. ***[Can't add attachments to messages for the list, so if you'd like these, please email me again, and, if the sender doesn't object, I'll share them individually -Betty] -------------------------------------- It's a completely new interface--analagous to Follet's Destiny. They will not be upgrading Spectrum. I am opening a new school in our district in the fall, so I am getting Infocenter and the other schools are taking advantage of the price now...rather than wait until it goes up $400 more. We saw a "teleconference demo" of it. -------------------------------------- Betty, I am so glad you posted your message to LM_Net. I am sorry that I don't have an answer for you but I can tell you that I forwarded your email to my Sagebrush rep (without your name) because I have been trying to get her to shed some light on this very situation and I can't seem to get a straight or timely answer. I am in a different situation in that I am not yet automated. I have been dealing with Sagebrush since the fall when the decision and the budget for automation was finally approved. The other schools in my district (except the one other one that isn't automated) all have Spectrum so I really never had to make a decision as to what system I was going to purchase, just how to fund it and when to do the automation. To make a long story short, I finally sent my shelf list out for retrospective conversion in April. At the end of March, my sales rep called me and said they were about to launch an upgrade (yes, she definitely called it an upgrade) and that it would be much better for my situation and priced the same (or maybe cheaper) so I should indicate Spectrum InfoCentre as my system when filling out the specs for retrospective conversion. Since then, there has been confusion about the barcode symbology as well as the timing of the availability. (First I was told that sales reps would be able to say more publicly on April 1st; then I was told that its official launch will be at ALA in June. In either case, the product isn't shipping until August 15th which doesn't exactly fit my time schedule to work on the automation over the summer.) I am meeting with Kim Fusco, my sales rep, tomorrow. I will try to find out as much as I can and post back to the listserv. Meanwhile, if you hear anything before tomorrow, could you please get back to me, even if you don't have time to pull together a "hit", because I may need "ammunition" for my discussion with Kim? Thank you so much. ------------------------------ Betty: Are you currently using InfoCentre? I have a rep. coming on Thursday to demo the product. There's supposed to be a large discount if purchased prior to July. The price I was quoted was certainly less than what it originally cost us to automate with CIRC/CAT several years ago. Feel free to gve me a call next week and I can tell you whatever I've learned from the rep. Take care, -------------------------------------- Betty, I would be interested in any responses you get on this. We have a meeting Tuesday noon on whether or not we should purchase it. We also have been told that it is reasonable, if not cheaper. Thanks. ------------------------------- Betty-- I received a fax regarding Infocentre and the web add-on alone for Athena is more than what I'd be paying for the totally new package. I'd planned on doing the WebClient addon, and now I will. I also e-mailed my sales rep and found out that with version two global changes for such things as item status will be easier. Also, I think that tech support will be about $500 cheaper/year. ---------------------------------- InfoCentre is a new product. They will not be upgrading Spectrum or Athena. It will take the place of them. We just learned about it at our state Media Conference. I was impressed and hope to be able to get it. Current Spectrum users should be able to get it for $595 before August 1 we were told at a session introducing the product. Please keep us informed about what happens. Thank you. --------------------------- Betty, Do I know about Infocentre! We have just been approved as a beta test site for the new program. From what I have seen in the demo's, it looks exciting. We currently run Spectrum 5, and it looks like the new program will keep the best features of it, and add some things that are great from Alexandria. However. . . that having been said, the program is in beta testing now, and we don't know how it will perform in the field. I know Sagebrush is hoping to have it available for general release in the fall. Stay tuned for further developments...! --------------------------------- Betty InfoCentre was demonstrated to us recently. It is not an upgrade but a new generation of Spectrum, as I understand it. It does have some real advantages and improvements over Spectrum, but not all modules have been released yet. As I understand it, the product is just entering the Beta test stage. ------------------------------ I believe I heard that Sagebrush is combining products to make InfoCenter. I use Athena and have been told that it will no longer be updated because of this new product. There is a listserv of users debating the issues. ------------------------------ Hi Betty, I have just recently sent in a PO to purchase Spectrum Infocentre which is an upgrade. It will be available August 2005 and is supposed to improve on the previous system in regard to reports, etc. We purchased it because I am hopeful that we can put our libraries on a central server and have a union catalog. My rep sold it to my for a special of $595 which he said is half price. Offer exprires on July 31, 2005. Hope this helps. -------------------------------- Hi! From what I understand, Infocentre is a new product that combines Athena and Spectrum. I use Athena, and heard about the new product from a competitor of Sagebrush last week. No one called to tell me this was happening. However, it is supposed to be better, and the tech support is supposed to be cheaper for me. I have been paying extra for Webserver and zMarc, but they are supposed to be included. Let me know what you think about the product. We still haven't decided whether to buy it or just stick with Athena. They are still going to support Athena, but will no longer update it. Thanks, ----------------------------- Betty, I've seen a demo of InfoCentre and it looks good. We are still using Winnebago Circ-Cat and would need to get those records converted. Sagebrush told us they'd have to be imported into Spectrum and then into InfoCentre. If they did the conversion, it would be $995 per building. They quoted us $595 per site for the program plus $495 per building per year for support. What did they quote you? ----------------------------- What product are you using now? We Athena users just heard about this a week or so ago on our listserv and were a little less that thrilled at the way it was brought out and the short time frame of getting it at a discount, though people who have seen it at shows say it looks wonderful. It is a new product--supposed to contain the positives of the various Sagebrush products. I don't have all the info on it here at home. ----------------------------(original message) Hi, All-- Called Spectrum to reactivate our support, and was offered a new upgrade called "InfoCentre". It was explained that it would cost less. The invoice arrived - almost double the amount I expected. Has anyone heard about InfoCentre? Are there advantages? Is it in fact an upgrade, or a new product? All help much appreciated. Betty Rendino, Librarian Jericho Elem Sch Jericho, VT 05465 l0x6@yahoo.com __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com -------------------------------------------------------------------- All LM_NET postings are protected by copyright law. To change your LM_NET status, e-mail to: listserv@listserv.syr.edu In the message write EITHER: 1) SIGNOFF LM_NET 2) SET LM_NET NOMAIL 3) SET LM_NET MAIL 4) SET LM_NET DIGEST * Allow for confirmation. LM_NET Help & Information: http://www.eduref.org/lm_net/ Archive: http://www.eduref.org/lm_net/archive/ EL-Announce with LM_NET Select: http://elann.biglist.com/sub/ LM_NET Supporters: http://www.eduref.org/lm_net/ven.html --------------------------------------------------------------------