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

[Carl W Feucht]

Athenaeum Pro won me over this year!

I've just spent the past year administering a 15,000 item collection  
using this automation system, a system which I'd never even heard of  
before I began my job, and I can honestly say, I am more than  
impressed by what this system is capable of doing. So much so in fact,  
that It truly seems every bit as capable and feature rich as the Sirsi  
Dynix catalog which I had grown familiar with during a stint at the US  
Marine Corps libraries in Hawai'i a few years ago. The only feature  
which it lacks is a serials module.

I don't know what you Follet Destiny people pay, but the current  
version of Athenaeum Pro 7.6 only costs a one-time $350 along with  
whatever version of the requisite FileMaker Pro database you select  
for your particular needs. Value such as this is rare, I think, and it  
continually impresses me how feature rich the package is at that  
price. Circulations stats, reserves, holds, stock take, acquisition  
costs by year, reports on depreciation, you name it it does it. During  
the course of this year I've probably emailed the developer a half- 
dozen inquiries and quickly gotten answers back, too.

I earned my MLISc in 2004, at the University of Hawai'i, where one of  
my most enjoyable classes was library automation. Our professor set an  
ambitions agenda that had us surveying the entire landscape of  
automation systems and comparing them feature for feature. We even  
wrote model RFPs to prepare for our future careers. I came out of that  
class sure that there were but a few dominant players and expecting  
fewer as the years went by.

What I did not expect was to run across a system of such modest cost  
that would so ably compete with the goliaths. But let me assure you  
all, Athenaeum Pro does just that.

Carl W Feucht
Librarian
Indianhead International School
Gyeonggi-Do, South Korea

On Jun 2, 2008, at 2:16 PM, Susan Dubin wrote:

> 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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>
>
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