Thursday, July 18, 2013
Library Management Systems
After reviewing the articles, I decided to research the Libramatic system. The reason I was drawn to this system was because of the cloud services it offered. I was also immediately intrigued when I went to the web page and it said that their goal was to focus on productivity and not cataloguing. They immediately referred to how many systems have to enter new items by a librarian hand entering them. The Libramatic system allows for items to be scanned with all the information inputted using the electronic scan of the ISBN number.
Libramatic can also be customized and worked on via a computer. They also include standard library needs such as overdue/reminder lists and a waiting list for books already checked out. Even in a small school library I think this would be important because often times I know my kiddos go up to check out a book they are really excited about, but it’s not available. They settle for something else they aren’t nearly as excited about. Then as time passes, they forget all about the book they wanted. I would like to encourage their return to the book they had wanted so badly to help them keep up their love of reading.
I found that the ease of being able to scan items with a smartphone or enter them manually is a huge bonus for librarians of various technology skills. I also like that the information is stored on a cloud and makes it easy for users to search from any place. I took a peak at the web based screen shots and it seems very easy to use.
Overall, I like the innovative, forward thinking appearance and usability of this system. I feel like it would meet the needs of a small school library and would be user friendly for the librarian, staff, parents, and students.
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I like the idea of a mobile app and the ease of entry for books. I am not in a library yet, but have wondered how that is done! Anything to make that easier would be well appreciated.
ReplyDeleteThis looks like an interesting system. I agree that being able to use it on smart devices as well as on computers. It would be neat to see how that works.
ReplyDeleteI think that it's great the Libramatic system can be accessed from the cloud. If Destiny was on a cloud, maybe DeSmet students could access it from home. I see how being able to scan the ISBN is easy, but even that can become time consuming depending on the publisher. For some reason, many Scholastic books are given their own ISBN and so the titles cannot be found in the LOC or Alliance Plus Databases. I'm not sure why this is exactly, but in these cases I have to search by title, match publication date, etc.. before adding the title. Thanks for the Libramatic review-- sounds interesting!
ReplyDeleteIt does sound interesting. Destiny records aren't stored in the cloud -- they are stored on a server owned by Follett, but that should not prevent them from being accessed by students at home. L, I think you should get some help putting your catalog online for everyone to see. Our catalog at UMW isn't in the cloud either, but you can use it from your house.
ReplyDeleteI haven't used it, but I like your review of Libramatic. Simple services, cloud-based, mobile-friendly -- all of these little ILS systems that are cropping up and focusing on these new trends and technologies are going to keep Destiny on their toes. They are not going to be able to stagnate or people will jump ship.