The Great Falls schools have used the Alexandria system from COMPanion Corp for about seven years. Since then there has been no discussion about changing the system. It seems to work well and do what it needs to do for our school district. I don't anticipate any of us recommending a change or upgrade any time in the near future.
Alexandria is used for everything such as OPAC searches, cataloging, and circulation. The cataloging is done at the district level so I can't speak to how efficient it is, but I have gone into the system in my building to change the cataloging of an item and it's fairly easy.
The strengths of the system are that it is easy to use for searches and circulation. The schools are all linked so we can search for materials in all libraries throughout the district and we loan materials to one another. This saves a lot of time. Circulation is straightforward and pretty easy to guide someone like a substitute teacher through.
The weaknesses of the system for me are really its strengths. There is a vast amount about the system that I haven't discovered. I was thrown into the position without much training so it has been challenging to figure out all of its capabilities. The manual is a whopping three inches thick (so is the dust on the cover :)). I have tended to shout for help from another librarian rather than to delve into the manual. Maybe now that my endorsement classes are almost finished...
Alexandria can generate a huge array of reports, and one can make changes to any report to suit one's needs. Last year being my first in a new school, I generated collection evaluation reports and circulation figures to help me tackle weeding. I've used circulation reports to really understand my schools' reading preferences and to help me make teaching and ordering decisions. Many more are generated on a district level than are actually used in each individual school.
Two years ago I was the librarian at a small charter school in Salt Lake City. That school was completely independent and used Destiny system from Follett. Again being thrown in on my own, I found it very user-friendly. I had to do my own cataloging which was very easy to do. It was nice being linked to Follett Titlewave since that is a site I use a lot for materials consideration and purchasing.
It did not have all the report options of Alexandria, but for that independent library it was more than enough. I was able to run collection and circulation reports to help me maintain the library. I still miss how straightforward it was.
It sounds like there is not a lot of differences in the functionality of the two systems other than the reports that can be generated. I just got hired for a K-5 library position in Missoula, and so far it seems that the hour of training I got last year to sub is about all I am going to get, you think it would be a priority to train new librarians. It does sound like you are making the best of your situation, and I'm sure that the system will grow on you as time goes by.
ReplyDeleteNo I don't think there's a lot of difference. Good luck in your new position - the adventure awaits!
DeleteAlexandria is good too! MT schools love Follett, but there are other options out there and it's important to be aware of them because you are regularly asked to look around and make an informed decision before you renew a contract for an old service.
ReplyDeleteI think you're really smart to focus on what you need to get by first and then look at using other functionalities and accessing reports and stats. I don't think we'll ever again be able to learn everything that a system has to offer bc new features and apps come out all the time -- there will always be another great tool!