About OPALS, which we've used for two years: see comments below. we used Winnebago Spectrum before that.
On Oct 29, 2014, at 6:57 PM, Joanna Katsune <[email protected]> wrote: > I am a member of the Library Committee of Temple Beth El in Providence, > Rhode Island. We're a general collections and browsing library of around 10 > -15 thousand volumes. Our library consist of children's books, young adult > fiction and non fiction, and adult fiction and non fiction. We're a Reform > synagogue and most of our collection is in English. Some of our material has > been cataloged using the Winnebago cataloging module. We never "migrated" to > Follett, although our former librarian continued to create cataloging records > and spine labels using Winnebago. > > The Committee is looking into OPALS web-based system for our online > public catalog and for cataloging, maintaining local holding records, and > circulation. The other system that we are considering is Library World. We > would appreciate any input and suggestions you may have on these two systems: > > Ease of implementation and usage. Is there a > heavy learning curve for one or the other system? What is the level of > technical expertise and skills needed for initial implementation? Once > implemented, is ongoing maintenance a smooth process, with few glitches? We had no trouble learning OPALS. The only thing that was less satisfactory than Spectrum was that they make you select MARC records from the libraries they list. Not a big deal because it includes LC, but once in a while when I couldn't find something in LC I could find it in my local library catalog, and OPALS doesn't pick those up. Also you can't make your labels in any font you want, and there's a limited selection of spine labels that work. They're very easy to select and print. > > Users reactions to the OPACs. Any suggestions > of online features and design that users found most useful. Useful links? Having the catalog online. Also, nice features like showing pictures of new arrival books on start screen. > > Cost. A tricky question. Any "ball park" > estimations of implementation cost and ongoing maintenance? We pay $500 a year maintenance plus $250 a year hosting. Forget what startup was (not in the office) but not much. > > The test database. What features need to be > especially tested and / or questions that are most useful when planning for a > "test" database. What are the key questions we should be asking to the vendor > or issues to look into? Testing is a great feature. Only problem is that we couldn't migrate our circulation records. They are geared to people who return books promptly, where we have members who keep them out for years. So we manually transcribed some of those but finally gave u on them. > > Vendor support. Is vendor support easily > available through e-mail, chats, or phone? How helpful are onsite vendors? Email and phone, and it's very prompt. Barbara Mende Congregation Mishkan Tefila Chestnut Hill, MA 02467 > > And in summation: Once again, we'd appreciate all your suggestions and > thoughts of which system to choose … or can some one suggest another system? > Is there a "AJL" Committee or source of consultation for these questions? I'd > welcome all comments. I am the "contact" or "point person" for implementing > the system and along with Hasafran I can be reached at [email protected]. > > Thank you and hope to hear from many of > you > > Joanna Katsune > > > > > > > > __ > Messages and opinions expressed on Hasafran are those of the individual author > and are not necessarily endorsed by the Association of Jewish Libraries (AJL) > ================================== > Submissions for Ha-Safran, send to: > [email protected] > To join Ha-Safran, update or change your subscription, etc. - click here: > https://lists.service.ohio-state.edu/mailman/listinfo/hasafran > Questions, problems, complaints, compliments send to: [email protected] > Ha-Safran Archives: > Current: > http://www.mail-archive.com/hasafran%40lists.service.ohio-state.edu/maillist.html > Earlier Listserver: > http://www.mail-archive.com/hasafran%40lists.acs.ohio-state.edu/maillist.html > AJL HomePage http://www.JewishLibraries.org > -- > Hasafran mailing list > [email protected] > https://lists.osu.edu/mailman/listinfo/hasafran __ Messages and opinions expressed on Hasafran are those of the individual author and are not necessarily endorsed by the Association of Jewish Libraries (AJL) ================================== Submissions for Ha-Safran, send to: [email protected] To join Ha-Safran, update or change your subscription, etc. - click here: https://lists.service.ohio-state.edu/mailman/listinfo/hasafran Questions, problems, complaints, compliments send to: [email protected] Ha-Safran Archives: Current: http://www.mail-archive.com/hasafran%40lists.service.ohio-state.edu/maillist.html Earlier Listserver: http://www.mail-archive.com/hasafran%40lists.acs.ohio-state.edu/maillist.html AJL HomePage http://www.JewishLibraries.org -- Hasafran mailing list [email protected] https://lists.osu.edu/mailman/listinfo/hasafran
