Corky

We used Dynix Automated Library Software for approximately 7 years. The decision to use it was made at a higher level by people who did not have to use it. While I liked the depth of data collection, I could never truly get information from that data that was useful or presented in a useful way. Weekly reports and reporting was a chore that required some programming knowledge and routine investigating in the manuals as it was not user friendly at all. When we finally made the switch to a different system, we discovered they owned our data and we had to start from scratch rather than just migrating the data. Every time I had to call customer service (which was often) I never felt like I got a solution to my issues.

Strengths: Dynix Automated Library Software's strengths are in its depth of information and amount of detail that you can input into the system.

Needs to improve: Oh so many weaknesses. It is NOT user friendly at all. You can input a lot of information but they you basically need to be a computer programmer to get the information out in any kind of useful manner. Reports are cumbersome and difficult to use. A database is only as good as the information you can organize out of it. This is nearly impossible with Dynix. Customer service is basically non-existent. They also own your data which to me is ludicrous. You pay a yearly fortune for the use of the software and they own your data?? This makes no sense to me.

Exceptional customer service. I just send an email to the rep with what I need and she gets back to me very promptly. They usually have whatever I need and at a competitive price. Prompt delivery as well.

Strengths: I can pretty much always find the textbooks I need from Follett. More often than not, I can find the textbooks used which is a great plus as Textbooks are very pricey. The customer service rep that I work with is very prompt with her answers and price quotes and will usually match or lower a price that I have found elsewhere. The used Textbooks that we order are in excellent condition and they usually have the quantities that we need. They are very prompt with their deliveries as well.

Needs to improve: Not too many weaknesses. Sometimes they cannot beat the price for large quantities of the same novel and I will end up having to go with a different vendor.

While I use Follett Library Resources to buy library materials, I mainly use them now for circulatable audio and ebooks, as the prices for their "hard-copy" books is on the high side. I can get more for our money buying hard-copy books from other vendors. We use their Follett Shelf and Enlight products which is a good interface for the audio and ebooks. Their book ordering interface, Titlewave, is an easy way to find what you want to purchase although it can be a tad confusing and cumbersome to use at times.

Strengths: Follett Library Resources has a good selection of useful books for our school library. They have a good e-reader component that works well with teachers and students alike and have a good selection of audio and ebooks from which to choose.

Needs to improve: Their prices trend on the high side and the condition and speed of delivery of "hard copy" books is on the slow to not-reliable side.

I have never bought from Perma Bound. I find that the high price is not justified. We also do not like the "feel" of the paper they use for the actual pages of their books. The sales rep that comes by once a year has never convinced me to buy from him as he is excessively pushy and a tad creepy. The only perma bound books that I would intentionally keep for our library are the free ones that I get from the rep or, if not available through any other vendor, a particular title that I needed.

Strengths: Perma Bound offers a wide variety of books that our library needs. They are hard-bound and are supposedly bound better than from other publishers and are supposed to stand up to multiple use.

Needs to improve: The quality of the printed page is newspaper-like and not appealing to the eye, especially for our clientele which is teenagers. The "supposed" high-quality binding does not justify the higher price for their books. The personal sales-rep that comes by is also a tad creepy.

Most of the time, I order directly from the printed catalog. Upon occasion, however, I have had to call customer service to get clarification or to inquire about a product that I could not find in the catalog. I have always found them to be knowledgeable and helpful. As mentioned earlier, just beware of their own-brand products. While described the same, the quality may not be the same (e.g., book tape.) Their catalog and prices even for name-brand products are much better than the competitors and they have always delivered my products in a timely manner. All of my orders have been accurately filled as well. They should put a disclaimer that their brand-name products may not function the same as the name-brand products.

Strengths: Demco has a wide variety of all the things we need to use on a daily basis in our library. We order from them for furniture, book carts/trucks, book tape. book covers, etc. Often-times, they have the same item in their own brand-name, thus making the price much better. It is an easy one-stop shop for most of our needs. Their printed catalog is easy to use as it has an extensive product index. The few times I have not found what I need in the catalog, I have called customer service and they have always been knowledgeable and helpful. They also are on top of sending me a new catalog with updated products and prices every year.

Needs to improve: As mentioned previously, often-times they will have similar products available in their own brand-name, thus cutting the price. Beware, however. Sometimes, the quality is not the same. I have bought their brand of book tape. The description in the catalog does not differ from the name brand except in name and price. Upon purchase, however, the quality was not the same and it is clearly an inferior product.

While they have the books I need for my clientele, I am reluctant to buy from them due to their poor customer service. Because they are local, however, I will use them in a pinch if I need a book right away. They do have a good educator discount program.

Strengths: Barnes and Noble usually has the latest titles of Young Adult novels that are sought after by our clientele. They are priced reasonably. Usually, if they do not have what I want in their store, they can get it for me. They often have good reference titles for our library on their discount tables.

Needs to improve: Customer service is lacking at B&N. They used to have book fairs where they would ask me for a wish list for our library that people could buy for our library during the book fair. The signage advertising the books in the store was barely visible. After the fair was over, an employee phoned me to say that I could pick up the books that were bought at the book fair. I picked up the boxes and then processed the books with our barcodes and stamps. A few days later, I got a call asking when and how I was going to pay for the books I was given. The employee who gave me the box of books assured me they were all bought by customers at the book fair. It turns out, they also boxed up the books that were not bought, but failed to inform me of this or remove them from the box. I already had marked up these books with our barcodes and stamps, and, therefore could not return them to the store. We felt that this was their error and that they should cover the difference. We went all the way to corporate to resolve the issue, but they would not budge. Since this issue, I am reluctant to buy from them.

As the website was not as clear as it could be, I had to call customer service. I found the lady extremely knowledgeable and helpful. She answered my questions clearly and steered me to the correct product and prices that I needed. I have bought bar code scanners from them twice now, and would continue to buy from them in the future.

Strengths: Our old barcode readers/scanners were hand-operated and slowly dying. Well-functioning and easy-top-use barcode scanners are a must for our business. They had a wide selection of hands-free scanners that fit our needs and their prices were much better than their competitors. Many years later, I needed USB-plugin scanners but wanted them to look and function like the ones we had. The customer service lady was able to match exactly what we had but in an updated USB-plugin model.

Needs to improve: I initially did my latest search online on the website. I could not find exactly what I was looking for on the site, nor could I find the prices. I did have to call customer service. The site was a little difficult to navigate to what I needed.

I have always had good experience with Computype. Our District used to use them and then migrated to another vendor. The other vendor was not delivering a quality and consistent product, so I took the initiative to return to Computype. Their prices are much better than the other vendor and they track our four different schools' barcodes much better than the other vendor. They were accomodating when we wanted to add unique prefixes to our barcodes. Although I have to call every time I want to re-order more barcodes, the customer service is always very friendly and prompt.

Strengths: Great Barcode Number Tracking
Good Quantity
Good Price
Quality Barcode Sheets
Ease of Use
Ease of Ordering

Needs to improve: They need to do a better job of keeping us informed of prices. I have to call every time I need to order new barcodes. They should just send either a hard copy of current prices for the year or keep in touch via email with the same thing.

For the magazine subscriptions, I do not have any other company to compare it to. It is easy to re-order and order for the next school year, although it would be easier to just order online. I have had to call customer service a few times, and they have always been helpful, although what I requested (name changes) have not always taken place as I requested. I am not impressed by their online databases as I do not believe you get quality for the money. Too many non full-text items.

Strengths: Ebsco provides my business with a wide variety of magazines and periodicals at a great price. We can subscribe to multiple titles all from one place and at a discounted price than if we were to subscribe to each individually. They also provide us with useful online databases for research use.

Needs to improve: It needs to be easier to change names on subscriptions. We have had several of the same subscriptions for multiple years, and even though the name on the subscription order changes, often-times the name of the actual magazine/periodical does not change and I do not get the materials. This has happened multiple times. Also, more of their online database articles need to be full-text instead of just citations for the material.

Follett software has great customer service and tech support. I have always been helped in a kindly manner and more often than not have had my problem resolved, except in certain cases where what I have wanted to do cannot be done with the current version. Other library software companies I have used have had terrible customer service if at all. For the most part, Follett does respond to patron feature requests in updated versions.

Strengths: Follett Library Software is a very good solution for Library database needs. It is relatively user intuitive and easy to navigate. It includes the majority of the features that we need in order to conduct our library business accurately and efficiently. Getting the information out of the database in usable reports is both easy to navigate and produce.

Needs to improve: Follett software matches up well with the competition. Prior to Follett, we used Dynix, which was a frustrating experience. Follett could improve in adding or changing features that might specifically apply to school libraries versus public libraries. It would be useful if certain features could be customizable rather than having to wait for updates to come out. Every report should come out in pdf format as well as convert more easily to excel if needed for further manipulation. In a patron fines report, the total owed should also appear when opened in excel rather than only from the software itself.

I had trouble navigating the website to get to the type of copier I needed. I then called the customer service line, and the person I spoke with sounded annoyed and impatient.

Once I was able to zero in on what I wanted, however, I was satisfied with the product and continue to be satisfied.

Strengths: Durable copier
Applicable/attractive features
Replacable parts
Size of copiers fits most spaces
User friendly
Good comparable price
Reputation

Needs to improve: Directions on how to correctly replace cartidges Website not easy to search Friendlier customer service Better warranty

I have always found the service to be good at Costco whether I am shopping online or in the store. Sometimes in the store it can be difficult to find someone to help you but when you do, they are always helpful. One time, I had a person that did not know the answer but they found someone who did. One thing I have found, however, is often nobody knows if they have something in stock if it is not normally where I have found it in the store before. My deliveries have always been on time as well.

Strengths: Costco always has what we need for our business. They have the best prices, especially for the quantity of what we get compared to other vendors. They are also rarely out of stock.

Needs to improve: There are very few weaknesses that I can think of, except, perhaps they could offer more variety of the same product. I know that for warehouse store, this is not always possible or their focus, but perhaps 1 or 2 different brands/colors/sizes for the same product would be useful.