ResourceMate

Pros: We upgraded to the extended version of ResourceMate. 1)We love the fact that we can differentiate between the borrowing period for staff and the borrowing period for students. 2) Reading levels are now added automatically when data is imported -- so helpful in finding appropriate books for young readers. The Library Web OPAC has been a life saver during the pandemic. Students can reserve books right from the classroom or from home. This has been particularly helpful in boosting the Grade 2 and 3 reading programmes which depend so heavily on access to interesting books.

Cons: Lists of available books on reserve are presented in a seemingly random order. I understand that Jaywil Software is working to correct this. I also had a problem with the programme wanting to shut down from time to time. Oddly enough this problem has mostly gone away after purchasing a new scanner.

Pros: Complete integration of main database with the web OPAC and with generating spine labels, usage reports, producing professional [pdf] listings of holdings details using search criteria.

Cons: Patron checkouts are a bit awkward for some of our volunteers. The Reserve utility could use some adjustments.

Pros: The stability of this software is its best characteristic. The software code is well-written and very stable. Everything you do within the software is instantly saved. Many options are available for pulling backups and if necessary restoring data. A user is never afraid of an equipment o electrical failure.

Cons: Fields cannot be renamed (to my knowledge). It is very difficult to custom design printouts, without mounting a steep learning curve. Fields have to be changed one at a time, with no known rapid change function where all fields with a certain designator may be changed or erased quickly.

Pros: ResourceMate does everything I need it to do and more!

Cons: Not much to not like. Sometimes if you enter a title or name into the search bar incorrectly, instead of giving you an alternative, RM can't find it.

Pros: easy to use and the support is good, price is reasonable for church

Cons: you have to paid for yearly subscription

Pros: During report writing sessions, I supply workshop participants with information resources in various formats including print. Resourcemate is able to record such training sections. With Resourcemate, I have created two tables; one holds particulars of workshop participants, while another contain records of resources. We relate the two tables with check-in and check-out activities. What is more fascinating about Resourcemate is that it has templates for printing catalogue cards, lables and reports. Once in a while, we need printed records The institution saved some money for training on the usage of Resourcemate. We used the available training DVDs for the community members' self orientation. For practical purposes, the finance had to be Certain on the necessity of the expenditure. We made use of Resourcemate's trial version to discover these amazing features

Cons: DVDs are now becoming obsolet. I wish the training resources were presented in a lighter downloadable file.

Pros: The program is easy to use even for a non-techie like me. There are still features that I am learning, but we use it every day. It is nice to have all our books listed in the same place.

Cons: The directions are not always clear from the booklet as to how to do some things, but tech support has been helpful there.

Pros: We have a small (<5000 item) church library and volunteer staff. The software has been user-friendly and the learning curve for basic functions has been stress-free. I particularly appreciate the ISBN retrieval feature when onboarding new items.

Cons: From our point of view, we have had no issues or have any suggestions for improvements.

Pros: The new OPAC is beautiful! It is easy to use and to train others. The main differentiation our users want is large print and regular print, the information they want is call number, location and publication date; all these except location are now available in a grid format on the first result list. For collection analysis I like that the database looks like and works a lot like Microsoft Excel. The training videos are very good and easy to follow. The online help notes are easy to understand. Hosting by RM means fewer automation skills are necessary at our site.

Cons: A printed manual would be helpful. Even though the videos and online help are among the best I've seen, a printed manual would be so useful for many of our volunteers. Having location and availability on the first results screen would simplify the OPAC for users. Handling multiple copies could be less tedious. I would prefer that copy numbers reflect the number of copies currently in the collection. For example, Copy 1 and Copy 4 in a display can be confusing when there are no copies 2 and 3 in the collection.

Pros: I use ResourceMate entirely for cataloging our church library collection, and am completely satisfied with it.

Cons: I can't think of anything I don't like about it.

Pros: Our church library started with the donation of over 1, 200 books from the estate of a former minister. ResourceMate Lite software made it so easy to catalog and print labels for all of those books and many more over the years. As a librarian who has not worked in a library for over 20 years, I find ResourceMate extremely user friendly and simple to use. Customer Service has been excellent in the few times I have used it in the last six years. There is also a built in help option titled "How do I...". I highly recommend this software program!

Cons: I have not encountered any problems that stand out in my mind.

Pros: I like this software. It is easy to use and does almost everything I want it to do. There are a very few reports that this software does not do like make a list by location by call number or barcode number. Anyone who is cataloging a small library collection on a budget should use this software.

Cons: This product does not make reports by location and then by call number or barcode number within location.

Pros: I like Searching other databases to help catalog my books. I can find Dewey# and subjects to pick from to suit my library.

Cons: I don’t use the reports because I find them a little confusing.

Pros: It is fairly easy to set up for use (does take time to populate library, but after being set up can be updated and managed by senior aged volunteers .

Cons: Can be hard for volunteers to find the reports they need and help is usually needed to make changes to a report.lem

Pros: Though I had zero working experience cataloguing library books, the program made the process intuitive for me. I participated in the instructional opportunities provided to users which were quite helpful and deepened my understanding of how to use the program more effectively.

Cons: It seemed to me that there were any other number of bugs trying to install the program. On the other hand, it is technology: it does not always work correctly all of the time.

Pros: This software is easy to use. The updates are timely and add to the proper functioning of the software.

Cons: There are some glitches that may occur, however they are resolved one I make it known to the providers.

Pros: I like the import of metadata feature by ISBN number..

Cons: I have no opinion yet since we have just purchased the software.

Pros: It is cheap and it allows us to function as a library.

Cons: It is difficult for people to use, especially non-library-oriented volunteers which make up the majority of our users.

Pros: Originally, and this was some years back, it was easy to use, uncomplicated, and inexpensive.

Cons: All sorts of bells and whistles have been added that we don't need adding needless complication. Plus, costs have skyrocketed. For example, we've opened for a paper circulation system. Why does a small church need a computerized circulation system like a public or school library? A notebook catalog works just fine for us, but even production of that has gotten complicated. I'm a professional librarian but a volunteer. I've installed networked library software in public libraries with annual circulation, but I'm not going to spend hours wading through all these features we don't need at my church. I really wish you had a stripped down program for those of us with simple needs. What the heck, you had one and you did away with it.

Pros: New materials are easily entered into the software, with online search to Library of Congress and Amazon. Barcodes and spine labels are printed with purchased supplies, and covered with protectors. It is easy to search for an entered title, and make changes if they need to be made. The price is within the available budget. The supplies have remained affordable. The students can check out their books by scanning their individual barcodes, and the staff can enter the returned materials.

Cons: The least is not an issue with software itself, but due to the Canadian location, shipping is higher than in the continental United States for supplies, especially for a parochial school with a limited budget, but we would not switch software for that reason.

Pros: It is so very easy to use. The set up was easy, the renewal process is easy, too. Our teachers have an easy time using it even though several are not very tech savvy.

Cons: Sometimes it doesn't seem to like the input. Then it is hard to figure out what to do.

Pros: This is our first experience with library software so we have nothing to compare to

Cons: Many features missing that would be helpful and difficulty getting answers