[LM_NET] HIT: Library Automation Systems

[Gregory Odell <odellhallco@GMAIL.COM>]

I'm having trouble posting this.  It keeps coming back to me.
What am I doing wrong?

The following are the responses I've received so far.  Thank you for
the replies.  More options than I thought.

Gregory Odell, Media Specialist
Jones Elementary School, Gainesville, GA
gregory.odell@hallco.org


In my district (Highline public schools) we had Library World forced
down our throats 8 years ago -- HATE IT!!!  Clunky, fragile, annoying!
Crashes at least once a week; sometimes more
Friends don't let friends buy Library World


follett's destiny
chose it over alexandria though a close race
library.usd437.net - washburn rural high school
Marcy V. Sandberg
Library Media Specialist
Washburn Rural High School
5900 SW 61st Street
Topeka, KS  66619
785-339-4197
785-339-4126 (fax)
sandbmar@usd437.net
library.usd437.net


We don't have a package that is used system-wide.  There are about 28
schools in our county.  About half of us have Concourse.  The other
half is split between Winnebago/Spectrum and Follett's CircPlus.

I have had Concourse for many years and am very happy with it.  I
understand there is now a web-based system called "Atriuum" from the
same provider (Booksystems, Inc.).  I have no personal experience with
that one, but I would expect it to have all the same good features and
support that I've come to expect from the company, plus much more.


Gregory,
We are moving our 50 schools from Follett's CirculationPlus to
Alexandria this year.  We are a Macintosh system, and Follett
basically abandoned support of the recent versions of the Mac OSX
operating systems.  So, as we upgrade equipment in our libraries we
are migrating to Alexandria, which DOES support the Macintosh
computers.  It has been a good move.  Our librarians prefer Alexandria
to Follett.  It is very intuitive..  The ease of finding and importing
MARC records off the web for import into the system is wonderful and
the easy ability of the program for printing barcodes, labels and
spine tabs wins everyone over.  The range of reports is unmatched. We
have 50 schools that will be on Alexandria.  We also use Powerschool
for our grade book, student records and parent portal, and are
currently beginning to use its SIF capibilities to interact with
Alexandria for instant notification and downloads of patron
information when a student enrolls.

Bottom line....we recommend Alexandria.


Laurie


We recently switched from Winnebago Spectrum to BookSystems Atriuum.
You can see our new catalog at www.csb-cde.ca.gov and click on "online
library catalog".

The on-site training I received was very good - I spent a whole day
with the trainer here at CSB learning how the system works.

I really like the way you can do all kinds of reports, and generating
letters to staff about items out is much easier. For our blind
teachers, I can cut and paste the "items out" letters into Duxbury
(our braille translation software) and with very little editing
transcribe them into braille. It was much harder to do that in
Spectrum.

The cataloging feature is VERY different from Spectrum, and it's taken
me a while to get used to it. There are still features I miss about
Spectum - for example, I really liked being able to see the whole MARC
record in one screen. I also miss being able to cut and paste MARC
records, but I do like the quick cataloging feature in Atriuum. Since
most of our braille books list the print ISBN number, I can usually
find a similar cataloging record somewhere, and adapt it for our
catalog.

We've had a couple of issues, but most have been because of our
network/server. Our IT person still hasn't gotten the e-mail feature
to work yet. Unfortunately, I do not have access to the server
(probably just as well, actually) and I don't always understand the
tech support answers. That's when I send the answers on to our IT
people.

Sometimes tech support is a little slow in answering questions,
especially at the beginning of the year. We still have one issue with
one computer, but I think it's the computer, not the program, since I
am not having problems with other computers.

The biggest problem we had with the conversion was a mistake of my own
making. I often have to use a print record and change it to fit our
alternate formats (large print reproduction, braille, etc.) when
cataloging. Problem is, I forgot to delete either the print record
ISBN and/or LCCN for all of those different formats (large print,
braille, print/braille, cassette, CD, CD-ROM). The result was all
those records that were listed separately because they were different
formats got merged into one format the first time the conversion was
done. It was a mess. The conversions department at BookSystems was
able to strip out the ISBN/LCCN numbers so that the records would stay
separate upon conversion. They were very helpful in working out all
the problems that basically I had created.

Elizabeth Hart
Library Technical Assistant
California School for the Blind
Fremont, CA 94536
ehart@csb-cde.ca.gov



I know you are looking for testimonial information, but I hope you don't
mind my mentioning Surpass.  There are many libraries in Georgia who use
Surpass, and our Sales and Marketing office is located north of Atlanta.
We offer centralized, individual, and hosted solutions.  If you add us
to your list of options, I'd be glad to get you some local site
references.   Best of luck with your research!

Diane Volzer
Director of Communications
Surpass Software
517 Oothcalooga St., Ste. C
Calhoun, GA 30701
p. 706-625-5399 ext. 120
f. 706-625-2699



Gregory, We use L4U Automation System.  I purchased the program last
year.  I am still in the process of importing our collection ( we didn't
have the funds to have them do it) but their tech support is great.

Carol Hammer
Librarian
Tiffin St. Joseph



Our district is using Sirsi Symphony through a consortium, but one I
recommend you look at is Atriuum from Book Systems.  I have used
Concourse from them for some years at our church library and really
like it.



Betsy Ruffin
librarian-technologist
Cleburne ISD
Cleburne, TX


I would suggest Alexandria through Companion Corp.  I used the system
for ten yrs. on Macs (can use Windows) and love the program.  The tech
support is wonderful and have gotten me out of problems I have created
several times.

I have an article that does a lot of comparison.  October 2008
www.infotoday.com

Check out the LM_NET archives.  Someone else sent one the other day.  Now
All I have to do is rundown prices.

Shirley Patrick
Librarian
Canton Junior High School
1115 So. Buffalo St.
Canton, TX 75103
slpatric@ednet10.net
903-567-4327 X 3118

Fax 903-567-1298

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