A Summary of Answers to Questions Raised about Assignment Four - Evaluating a Library System.
(From a past offering of LIS 506, School of Informatics, University at Buffalo).

At some point (probably soon) in your career, you will probably be on a selection committee for an automated system. Knowing the functions and features of available systems, and understanding how local automation systems help libraries manage their workflow, is to your advantage. This will also help you in other classes, such as cataloguing and reference.

Here is the original wording on the assignment from the syllabus:
 

Assignment Four: Evaluating a Library Automation System. 20 points.

Compare and contrast three different integrated library automation systems. Examine the ease of searching the catalog, the availability of information on how to search, and the presentation of information from the MARC catalog record itself. Are the software and hardware choices more suitable for specific situations; e.g. for children, large networks, schools? Compare the costs, company information, support, purchase and maintenance agreements, etc., and conclude by ranking the systems for possible purchase. Addresses of several systems vendors are available on the Web site http://valinor.ca/sites and several small systems vendors offer free demonstration disks. Since obtaining sample software takes time, you might wish to order any demo disks well in advance of the assignment due date. [ends].
 

In response to student concerns about contacting vendors, we collectively obtained 4 systems and mounted 3 on the machines in the lab. However, some people may have obtained demos on their own. Of course, you can use them too.

Here is a summary of suggestions given in response to individual questions from students:

The exercise is meant to simulate a Request for Proposal and system selection experience (see 506notes.html on valinor.ca). Your report should convince an imaginary board or boss that, for your application, system X is nice, system Y might do, and system Z is probably not a good buy.

Use the questions in the RFP on the Web site for guidance (though some will not make sense in, say, a school library, and can therfore be skipped).

Compare the usefulness and ease of use of the systems in the lab (or substitute others if you wrote away for disks). Present a recommendation, ranking three systems so your library could make a choice - whatever you need to plead your case.

With an introduction, comparison, and conclusion, that should take 8-10 pages.

You can include screen display printouts from the company Web sites, literature you received, or anything you feel necessary to justify your conclusions.

Be analyitical - do not just list all the functions and features of the systems, because that won't help your imaginary boss or board decide.

Don't base your decision JUST based on a comparison of the functionality and ease of navigation. The vendors' Web pages often give the company history, customer service, cost, evidence of a customer base, and all these things might help. In the end, it's your call - your informed guess - which system(s) the library ought to buy, which matters.

You can summarize company information briefly and easily, in a paragraph which reads, "MightyMax appears to be a stable company, and the Module M system is installed in 40000 academic libraries similar to ours. They offer 24*7 customer care, with a 2 hour guaranteed response to phone calls. On the other hand, SuperDuper is a new company with...."

Beware. Every system advertises itself as "the leader in library automation... providing state of the art solutions". That is marketing hype. Explore the systems, and make an informed recommendation.

A spreadsheet-type comparison of the systems in the lab, BY ITSELF, will NOT do, because it would not convince your library board to buy system X over system Y without more explanation...

DO NOT feel BOUND by the hundreds of questions in the sample RFP. They are there to give you hints about what to look for. Not all of them apply to all types of libraries. (E.g., would you charge fines for a corporate library, or would you buy books for a school library using foreign currency? If not, currency conversion and adjustable fine rates wouldn't matter).

The sample (Acme/Nanabush) RFP simulates something which would be sent to the vendors. Staff would then evaluate and compare vendor responses. It describes the situation for which the system is intended, then lets them respond to concerns. Choose pertinent questions, and/or make up additional ones which apply more readily to your situation, and pretend you are evaluating 3 systems sent in response. The systems in the lab are there by class request. Some people may have obtained additional ones, and are, of course, free to use them.

Do NOT try to compare EVERY function and feature of these systems. Think about them from the staff point of view, and from the patron's point of view. Don't worry too much about acquisitions, beyond noting whether or not it is available - unless you imagine yourself as a book selector.

In the main, think about how nice it would be for staff to manage patron and book records, and think about how nice it would be for the public to use the system. If kids are important, is there a visual search? Is it necessary to have photo ID of the patrons in their records? Do you have to go through 3 screens before you can discover the book's location? If you need 3 addresses for each patron, is there room? etc.