Mandarin

Pros: Easy to use ,understandable,supportive ,Great

Cons: No difficulty ,functionality, easy, reliable

Pros: Mandarin is so easy to learn and use. And on those ocassions when I don't find the answer, their customer service responds with efficiency.

Cons: Nothing to report. Apparently I need more characters in this reponse to make if valid. Still, nothing to report.

Pros: It's easy and friendly to use. The size of the letters, and the space in the templates.

Cons: Update the manual not only the video tutorials.

Pros: The package was not my choice. I had to accept what the Hispanic Society Library was already using but I could make it work in a short time

Cons: The Advanced Search functions at the front end need to be made more intuitive and work better

Pros: The software is easy to personalize for the needs of our Library Learning Commons in a secondary setting. The technical support team is very knowledgeable and quick to respond with questions or things that needs to be fixed.

Cons: There was a bit of a challenge integrating with our old patron records at first, but the technical support staff was quick to resolve it. I would like if we could add other images or background colours to reflect our school more personally.

Pros: M5 is super easy to use and manage however, if a problem arises, the tech support at Mandarin responds quickly and delivers a solution fast so that we can continue to serve our community.

Cons: The reports are sometimes hard to navigate in order to get the correct info, however, tech support is always helpful in working with me to adjust the reports to what I need.

Pros: For a small to mid-range school library, this is a great budget-friendly automation program. It doesn't have all the bells and whistles, but it meets our needs adequately.

Cons: It's a bit time-consuming and ponderous to set up at the beginning of each school year. The reserving a book part doesn't seem to work well for me.

Pros: The company is excellent and the support is by far the absolute BEST I've ever experienced. If I email support or call I'm IMMEDIATELY helped. Outstanding is the best adjective. The software is very user-friendly. I'm not a full-time librarian so there was definitely a huge learning curve for me -- and the software was NOT hard to learn. There's tons of videos to help as well. The company completely integrated our old software program into Mandarin, so I didn't have to do anything -- except clean up our system. It's also fully integrated with FACTS -- our school management system. I'm very happy we went with this company.

Cons: I really need to use if for a longer period of time and honestly I don't have anything to compare it to because I'm not a "regular librarian" who might have had experience with other library software -- I have none. But, having said that, I think there are a few things that could be better. To Search for a "missing" book I look in "Status" -- but to do that I have to first go to Catalog and find the book's barcode -- that's an extra step. There should be a way to find who has the book or what the status is without first needing to look up it's barcode. So it's just a little cumbersome. Also, I'm finding that ALL my records are missing some key components that I'm having to add manually to each one. I wish there was a faster way to do that as well. But these are honestly very minor things. Overall, I'm really pleased so far.

Pros: I like that once you get to know it, you can really maneuver around the program very easily. I’ve rarely ever experienced the website being down, never during school hours. It takes all the work out of circulation. All I have to do is scan and shelve.

Cons: In the catalogue feature, when you’re adding or editing a single book, the fields are all numbered and not easy to know what you are doing. I would love to see that small feature become as modernized and easy to use as the rest of the program. With that said, it is easy enough to figure out, it just takes some time and since we don’t use it often, I have to get help every time I do use it.

Pros: This product was so easy to integrate, very stress free. I really do like the support that is offered. Always quick to respond and helpful in finding solutions.

Cons: I still am unable to get lists of holdings and other things like that to work.

Pros: Easy to use. Value for the money. Quick response to customer service inquiries. Records (new enrollments) automatically update from SIS (FACTS/RenWeb). Record Fetch is great!

Cons: OPAC not customizable enough. Financials do not integrate with SIS (FACTS/RenWeb).

Pros: I like that I got want I needed, the ease of use, and the tech support they gave for the price. I saved over $12,000 over other systems and working in public schools every dime you save can go toward books for the library.

Cons: That I had to have 4 different logins for the 4 schools that I had to remember. I also didn't like that I had to call or email them for new login for the staff even though they quickly did them for me.

Pros: Mandarin is one of those systems that is built for the end user. It is simple and logical to use, powerful, but not overly complex. Darn near perfect.

Cons: Some of the back end features could be made more user friendly for those of us who manage the application.

Pros: The software is versatile, and the features are endless.

Cons: Not intuitive- I find that certain features work very well, but you need to learn how to use them beforehand.

Pros: $8c

Cons: Much as the software is efficient, less developed communities with poor internet infrastucture may find the software irritating due to internet connectivity issues. Beside, not all titles can be found on record Fetch. This compels catalogues to look for alternative sources of information. This process consumes time

Pros: It is easy use read and getting used to also there is less complications when performing daily transactions by just scanning a barcode

Cons: a more modernized user interface

Pros: This library software is easy to use and easy to train students and staff to use. The ability to quickly download catalog records from Library of Congress or other libraries is extremely helpful. Whenever I need to create a record that can't be downloaded, an exceptional template is available. If I need to edit a record all of the MARC record fields and subfields show as options for insertion; and it is very easy to delete an unwanted field.

Cons: When there are multiple call numbers on one record the call number should be absent from the results page, instead a note to 'see holdings'.

Pros: We were already using Madarain M3 to the switch to M% was seamless. Staff were able to adjust to the new platform quickly. We really like the cataloguing module. Very user friendly and the online OPAC is great as well.

Cons: Patrons are not yet able to transfer books from their reading lists to their reserve list. I would like to see an easier method for patrons to reserve books with one click.

Pros: Ease of use; functionality; easy to learn.

Cons: Some of the report tools are complicated.

Pros: We recently transitioned from Mandarin M3 to Mandarin M5. M5 is very easy to use by the staff and patrons. It offers different functionalities that we did not have access to with M3.

Cons: Nothing negative to say for the moment we just started using M5 and everything is going smoothly.

Pros: Easy to use, M5 Reports seems easier than old method

Cons: Would like more kid friendly features, such as video book trailer ability

Pros: Our school has used Mandarin for a long time. This fall, we upgraded to the latest version. The upgrade was worth it! Our new Mandarin has a fresh, updated look. Many of the features have been streamlined and are easy to use. No more clicking between multiple screens! I can do more work more efficiently! Downloading records is super easy. Purging books from the system is also super simple.

Cons: I was looking forward to printing off spine labels and pocket labels from my new Mandarin. However, the spine labels only print on a certain kind of label. I'm having trouble finding that specific label, so I continue to type my own. The pocket labels come out blurry. I experimented with both those types of labels on Mandarin with no luck.