Automation Systems

I have had to chance to long-term substitute in one of the libraries here in town. During that time I used Alexandria. I found Alexandria very easy to use for the everyday task that I had to perform. These task included, running over due reports, checking in/out books, looking up books from other school/districts, add dropped books back into the system, charge and collect on book fees, adding/deleting student accounts. What Alexandria offers for the student use is a link to OPAC for finding books, and a chance to put books on hold. The drawback to this system, which I witnessed, is the books don't always check back in so the students are left with an overdue book until it is found. Alexandria also has a habit of switching users during check out, so one student puts in their information and when you check the book out it goes under another person’s name. These glitches mean that the librarian has to keep an eye on the screen while checking in/out books. I haven't had a chance to work with many of the reports on this system but some of them I have worked with are the overdue reports, inventory reports, inventory age reports, last time the book was checked out. I know there are many other types of reports that Alexandria can run but with my limited usage I haven't tried them out yet. Because I am not in the library on a daily basis it is hard for me to say how often a librarian should look at changing the system that is being used. I would think that about every five to ten years it would be looked at though just because by that time you have gained enough knowledge about the system and how it works to make a sound judgment about the program.