Take a look at the history, strengths, & weaknesses of the COMPanion Corporation Alexandria system as well as whether we recommend it or not. The only way you'll find out is by giving our presentation a look!
2. The History Behind…COMPanion Corporation
Alexandria
• The founder of COMPanion Corporation is Bill Schjelderup.
He began offering library automation software in 1987. His
goal was to provide user-friendly, state-of-the-art technology to
meet the needs of librarians, technicians, and administrators.
• Alexandria is one of the biggest industry-leading products in
the library automation market. It is offered throughout the
United States and the world.
• The company is located in Salt Lake City, UT. The CEO of the
company is Bill Schjelderup. COMPanion Corporation also
lists Sandra Brown as Chairman.
• For nearly 28 years Alexandria has been automating school,
public, college, church and special libraries.
3. TIMELINE
1987-
COMPanion
Corporation was
founded
1988-
According to
COMPanion
Corporation,
Alexandria
has been
used in many
libraries
1997-
Alexandria
was
released for
Windows
1998-
COMPanion
has been
accepted as
Qualified
Information
Systems
Vendor in
Texas
2000-
Eisenburg,
Berkowitz
and the Big-
6 partner
with
Alexandria
2001-
They
delivered a
carbonized
version of
Alexandria
for Mac OS
X
2002-
Everton
Publishers,
Inc. choose
Alexandria
2003-
COMPanion
Corporation
released
Alexandria
5.44 rev B
2004-
COMPanion
releases
Alexandria
v5.44 rev D
in March
and
Alexandria
v5.4.4.1 in
October
2005-
COMPanion
Corporation
launches
Textbook
Tracker
v3.03
2010-
COMPanion
releases
Alexandria
v6.03
2011-
Novelist
and
COMPanion
partner to
improve
access
2014
Alexandria
Library
Automation
Software
and TABvue
enhance
partnership
4. Strengths Of The System
• It is specially designed for K-12 libraries
• The mobile app is compatible with iPhone, iPod and iPad
• Self-service kiosks allow patrons to perform their own
book drop and checkout transactions, freeing librarians to
take care of other library responsibilities.
• Alexandria provides several setup options so you may
select the one that best fits your library's unique needs.
• With Alexandria’s item management interface- Title
Assistant you can easily acquire MARC records. LONG
VERSION( Title Assistant makes it easy for you to locate
and obtain complete, rich, and up-to-standard MARC
records by searching across hundreds of Z39.50 servers, or
by specifying your own favorite sources.-maybe too long
for bullet so use
5. Strengths Of The System (continued)
• Alexandria's free Cover Art utility brings your
collection to life by displaying book jackets for
items in your collection.
• It can perform a comprehensive analysis of your
collection with Alexandria’s powerful Super
Summary reports.
• Alexandria can automatically email overdue, hold
fulfillment, and item renewal notices.
• With Alexandria, answers are always close at hand.
A user can talk to somebody from support 24 hours
a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year, email our
Technical Support Department directly from the
program, or access our Online Help with a single
click. 800.347.6439
6. Strengths Of The System (continued)
• Has all the same functions as Destiny and Atriuum
in terms of modules in cataloging, circulation,
textbook management, admin management, etc.
• It integrates with NetTrekker for additional
resources for students.
• The library gets to choose from different server
solutions such as cloud, multi-data station,
distributed, or centralized catalog.
• The additional features that are offered enrich the
students’ resources. They get book reviews,
summaries, the cover art is displayed, it has some
sound effects, and also has a few digital books
available.
7. Weaknesses Of The System
• It does not have a discovery interface like the other
programs. This means that the search function is still at the
standard level and cannot produce more than the item(s)
you searched for. With discovery interface programs, the
search function is more flexible and allows the user to
produce more resources from the keyword(s). For
example, it could correct spelling errors for the user and
also retrieve database articles and other “you might also
like” this type of items.
• You must have Safari, Google Chrome, or Firefox to work
the system efficiently. Explorer takes too long to load.
• Sometimes the book covers do not show on the list of
results. It’s a great feature for the kids to see the cover art
of each book, but it should work correctly for all titles.
8.
9. Alexandria has many great features but one that really stood out was that Alexandria has a mobile app and
this one is available on iOS and Android, with a portable Bluetooth barcode reader you’re free to roam
around the library and still circulate anywhere. The portability alone makes it a modern day marvel that can
be appreciated by any user.
It is also a good system that would be beneficial to schools. It is very similar to Destiny and Atriuum, looks
good, and all the extra features make it very marketable. Among these features are the reviews and being
able to look up just Award Winners in the library collection. As this company partners up with other third
parties the system will just keep getting better.
10. References
• About COMPanion Corporation. (n.d.). Retrieved March 29, 2015, from http://www.companioncorp.com/about/profile.html
• Alexandria Press Releases. (n.d.). Retrieved March 29, 2015, from
http://www.goalexandria.com/about/press_releases/index.html
• Bilal, D., & Bilal, D. (n.d.). Structuring user requirements and selecting a system. In Library automation: Core concepts and
practical systems analysis (Third ed., p. 279). Santa Barbara, California: Libraries Unlimited.
• Library Management - Library Software - Library Management Systems - Library Automation - Library Automation Software.
(n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.goalexandria.com/solutions/index.html
• Library Technology Guides. (n.d.). Retrieved March 29, 2015, from http://librarytechnology.org/ltg-displaytext.pl?RC=18932
• Library Technology Guides. (n.d.). Retrieved March 29, 2015, from http://librarytechnology.org/ltg-displaytext.pl?RC=18931
• Library Technology Guides. (n.d.). Retrieved March 29, 2015, from http://librarytechnology.org/ltg-displaytext.pl?RC=6174
• Library Technology Guides. (n.d.). Retrieved March 29, 2015, from http://librarytechnology.org/ltg-displaytext.pl?RC=6517
11. References (continued)
• Library Technology Guides. (n.d.). Retrieved March 29, 2015, from http://librarytechnology.org/ltg-displaytext.pl?RC=9074
• Library Technology Guides. (n.d.). Retrieved March 29, 2015, from http://librarytechnology.org/ltg-displaytext.pl?RC=9972
• Library Technology Guides. (n.d.). Retrieved March 29, 2015, from http://librarytechnology.org/ltg-displaytext.pl?RC=10341
• Library Technology Guides. (n.d.). Retrieved March 29, 2015, from http://librarytechnology.org/ltg-displaytext.pl?RC=10825
• Library Technology Guides. (n.d.). Retrieved March 29, 2015, from http://librarytechnology.org/ltg-displaytext.pl?RC=11384
• Library Technology Guides. (n.d.). Retrieved March 29, 2015, from http://librarytechnology.org/ltg-displaytext.pl?RC=15472
• Library Technology Guides. (n.d.). Retrieved March 29, 2015, from http://librarytechnology.org/ltg-displaytext.pl?RC=16241
• Library Technology Guides. (n.d.). Retrieved March 29, 2015, from http://librarytechnology.org/ltg-displaytext.pl?RC=18932
