Several had asked me to post a hit on Destiny disadvantages and
advantages. Below is what I have received. Have a great day!
Advantages
*Yearly Tech Support/Maintenance Fee is cheaper than with Circulation
Plus.
*AWESOME program!
*Ease in patron input and changes throughout the year because of the
import/export alignment with Infinite Campus.
*Destiny has extra features to enhance student literacy such as
wishlists, visual cues, and etc. as well as will support our District
Literacy Goal.
*Each LMC records/data will be cleaned up and much more consistent.
*Online OPAC accessible 24/7
*Search is very graphical in nature
*Easy check in /check out
*From the training, the reports seem extensive and holistic. The
listserv comments I saw also aligned with this statement.
*It allows us to work from home.
*The graphics, effects, and layouts seemed eye catching and grab a
student's attention.
*I liked how Destiny Quest allows you see lists of your Top 10 and
Newest Books at all times and is updated constantly.
*Student Pictures available for ease in finding patrons.
Disadvantages
*Possible Learning Curve for some users
Barriers
*The need for New Scanners (I have enough money to cover this.)
*Only 4 computers in the LMC. This would create a time and use barrier
for the students to be able to use the many features of Destiny.
*A little extra money for AR features. However, $199.00 a year is not
bad.
Listserv Testimonials
*We switched to Destiny a year ago. There is virtually no learning
curve. It is very user friendly. The training was the best I have ever
had. They come to you and train you using your data and files. I have
not seen any downfalls to date. We started with Athena, then InfoCentre
(horrible), and now Destiny. Cataloging is easy. We have not had any
problems to speak of. I don't think you can go wrong by using Destiny.
*We have circ + prior to that and were ok with it. I will say Destiny
has been pretty easy and no major problems. Some of our subject
searches provide inconsistent results but it's probably our cataloging
that's done that. It's nice to be able to check our elementary schools
and middle schools collections and we often swap back and forth with
books. We love having the students pictures accessible on our circ
system and use that extensively and find the reports useful and
adequate. We didn't have any major issues converting, all went well.
Overall, I'd recommend Destiny. Good luck, hope this helps.
*This is my third year using Destiny and I love it. The only issue I
have is with how the system handles fixed due dates. At the high school
I have set Wednesday as book due date regardless of when the book is
checked out. So, the students get a minimum of 2 weeks for circulation.
The system doesn't like this so it requires me to override renewals.
It's worth it to me because I like the fixed due date. Makes overdue
reports and collecting books and fines organized.
*We switched from Circulation Plus to Destiny and there were no glitches
that I'm aware of. Of course, they are both Follett products, so that
may make a big difference if that's not what you're switching from. I
love Destiny. It has all kinds of great capabilities, like teachers and
students being able to search the collection from their classrooms or
from home. . .I could just go on and on about how great it's been and
what an improvement.
*The patron barcodes are populated with student ID# (9 digits long).
Students can't just remember a 4 digit # to check out books. However, I
have a notebook with the barcodes of every student in the school by
classes. It really is easy and you quickly learn the name of almost all
your students.
There is a slight learning curve, but the HELP feature is fantastic and
I have had good experiences with the tech dept.
Carol Jo Taylor
Library Media Specialist
Piner Elementary School
2845 Rich Road
Morning View, KY 41063
(859) 356-2155
caroljo.taylor@kenton.kyschools.us
<mailto:caroljo.taylor@kenton.kyschools.us>
"What a school thinks about its library, is a measure of what it thinks
about education."
Harold Howe, former U.S. Commissioner of Education
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