> Has anyone out there had good experiences with online catalog software? > Would you recommend the latest version of the software you use?
We just went through this process and posted a couple of notes on HaSafran about our experience. The short version is that we ended up selecting Libib, a start up catalog service on the low end of the range, but one that fits our situation fairly well. The longer assessment can be found here. http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/msg06372.html Our catalog, still in development with about 1500 records, can be seen at http://tbeaptos.libib.com/i/temple-beth-el-aptos A couple of points I'd like to offer up that might save you a few hours of unnecessary work. I didn't find the AJL site to be much help. I started with a search of the HaSafran archive and then the KnowledgeBase and found very little that was current, up-to-date or practical. One somewhat helpful source was the list of catalogs: "somewhat" because many of the links are broken but still helpful when you find a working temple catalog and can see how different systems work. My note to the list garnered some pointers and offers of help, but nothing that got me past the crucial hurdles of assessing and selecting a catalog package. Here are a few basics I picked up ... When you say "software," do you mean a package you license or purchase and load on local hardware? Or are you also considering off-site hosting options? We don't have the means to support a local option, so I did not look into these. However, there are some important players. We investigated Surpass because we saw they had church library pricing ($495) but that was a local option, and the remote/hosted option was beyond our means. Quite a few temple libraries also use Follett's Destiny system. This was priced beyond our means and we didn't investigate. OPALS is an open-source catalog system that is strongly recommended and well-supported. You can load and run the software for free or there are several services that will host your catalog for a fee. Again, we didn't investigate this very far once we looked at some of the hosting fee schedules. The top-of-the-line option we explored most thoroughly is LibraryWorld. This is a robust and well-supported hosted catalog system with an attractive annual fee. You can set-up a free trial account, load records and assess the functions on your own. We decided to look elsewhere after trying to load records. The bulk load option required providing MARC format records and our experience of loading ISBNs one-by-one was in the 5-10% success rate range. Will still say that LibraryWorld came with strong recommendations from our colleagues, even if it didn't fit our needs and resources. Libib is a less-expensive system with fewer features but still feels like a library catalog. One of our reasons for going forward with this choice was the ease in uploading records: bulk loading ISBN lists, scanning ISBN barcodes from book covers via an iOS or Android app, entering ISBN, LCCN and keywords ... We have a 85-95% success rate, having to enter a very small number of records manually. For more info about pros/cons, see the above link to my posting. Further down the hierarchy you find LibraryThing which was an intriguing option – they have a "For Libraries" module – but we found the interface too loose and too easy to get sidetracked into other libraries... and we lost patience figuring out how we'd made it work for us. There are some other book collection packages – e.g., Collectorz – out there that could also be applied to a modest library catalog. For any of the systems you are considering seriously, I'd recommend setting up a trial – if the trial is beyond your resources, the system is probably a non-starter – and loading a sample of records. See how easy it is to load records, what kind of "hit rate" you get, how easy it is to customize the interface and edit records to your specifications. Then let some knowledgable and critical testers wreak havoc in your test database and tell you what they think. You don't mention a number of considerations that may be crucial to your selection process and I'm not going to speculate on your situation or what might work for you. But budget, size of the collection, technical and personnel resources and, if you plan to circulate the collection, the size of the community served will be factors. Regarding your question ... > Does it support the Weine Cataloging & Classification System? I don't know that any system "supports" Weine natively – i.e., brings over Weine call numbers – but perhaps someone else can share their experience on that front. The systems we tested supplied DDC and LCC info (as well as LCCN, ISBN, etc.). In our experience, Libib provides a blank Call Number field and we have to supply our own local call number. We consult the Weine classification table and we look at other Weine libraries to see how they classified some items and we enter the call number we think makes the most sense for our collection in that field. My sense is that assigning local call numbers is a normal part of cataloging and it is tedious and time consuming process. I should also note that Weine doesn't provide subject headings. Nor does Libib does not include subject headings as part of the records it loads. We create modified LC Subject Headings and enter these manually, record by record. Again, those who work with other catalog systems may be able to tell you whether these work differently. I know this is a lot of information, but I was trying to summarize 5-6 months' research, trial-and-error, and processing to give as complete an answer as our experience gained us. You rarely get to benefit from your own experience/mistakes unless you share what you learned with others. Lee Jaffe, Temple Beth El, Aptos (Calif). __ 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
