[CALIBK12] Is Follett Destiny the only game in town?

[Susan Dubin]

Two other good programs are Alexandria and Surpass. Both have good tech 
support and are very easy to use.
Susan Dubin
Off-the-Shelf Library Services
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Waddle, Victoria" <victoria_waddle at cjuhsd.k12.ca.us>
To: "Calibk12" <calibk12 at listproc.sjsu.edu>
Sent: Sunday, June 01, 2008 4:17 PM
Subject: [CALIBK12] Is Follett Destiny the only game in town?


> All:
>
> I was recently on a WASC Visiting Committee to a small private K-12 
> school. It has three libraries--elementary, junior high and high school. 
> All three were neglected and the committee report recommended that the 
> school update the high school library. Now a small but dedicated group of 
> parents are heading up a committee to weed, purchase materials, try 
> databases, automate, etc. A library technician is employed by the school, 
> but is out on leave due to a grave illness in her family.
>
> Since the WASC visit, I have remained in e-mail contact with the parent 
> group. I've recommended this listserv, CSLA and its conferences, and other 
> helpful sources. One of the primary concerns is automation. They have 
> never been automated. The books have Cutter numbers and most are so old 
> that they will need to be weeded. I remember a discussion earlier this 
> year on library automation. Some individuals contended that Follett is 
> really the only choice because it is buying up other companies. If this is 
> true, then maybe that's what we should recommend. However, my own 
> experience with Follett Destiny is a truly lousy one--our district 
> switched from Sagebrush InfoCentre after only a year to Follett Destiny 
> when Follett purchased Sagebrush. Our conversion was a mess, we have never 
> had a single question properly answered by the support techs (although 
> they always try to get us to buy something else!), the support itself 
> costs almost four times what we paid to Sagebrush (a company t!
> hat actually could answer questions), and the format of the system is not 
> as user-friendly as Sagebrush was from running reports to simple things 
> like generating barcodes.
>
> So--if you have experience or knowledge in the area, please weigh in. 
> Since the private school has not been automated and won't need to have a 
> conversion done, they wouldn't have some of the headaches we've suffered 
> with Destiny. Still--would you recommend Destiny? Is there any other good 
> school library software system that is holding its ground and expected to 
> remain in business?
>
> Thanks once again for all your help! I've told this parent group what an 
> impressive, indispensable bunch you are!
>
> Victoria Waddle
> Teacher Librarian
> Colony High School
> Ontario
>
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