Library Technology Guides: Documents, Databases, News, and Commentary

Selected Survey Findings: Top Performers

Apollo received superlative scores in the small and very small library categories, toping the charts in general satisfaction, overall ILS functionality, print and electronic functionality, customer support, and company loyalty.
ByWater Solutions, providing services for Koha, earned highest scores from mid-sized public libraries across all categories except company loyalty.
Alma from Ex Libris led as the top performer among large and mid-sized academic libraries for general ILS satisfaction, overall functionality, end effectiveness in managing electronic resources. For large and mid-sized academic libraries, Ex Libris received top company loyalty scores for its three products: Alma, Aleph, and Voyager.
Polaris received top rankings among large public libraries for general satisfaction, overall functionality, print resource management, electronic resource management, and company loyalty.
Symphony from SirsiDynix received top scores among large public libraries and large academic libraries for customer support.
OPALS received highest scores in all categories among school and small academic libraries.

I have posted the results the eleventh annual survey of data collected on how libraries rate their current integrated library system, the company involved, and the quality of customer support. Perceptions 2017: an international survey of library automation gives the general conclusions and presents all the statistical results derived from the survey. As usual, some of the most interesting and valuable information can be found in the comments offered by responders.

"Some interesting themes can be seen in the analysis of this year’s survey results. Large libraries of all types have complex requirements and evaluate their systems on a much harsher scale than smaller organizations. Conventional integrated library systems dominate public libraries, with top scores going to proprietary products in the largest tier and to those based on commercially supported open source software in the mid-size category. Small and very small public libraries also favored proprietary ILS products. In the academic library sector, survey results reveal interesting patterns regarding the newer generation of library services platforms. These products received strong marks in most categories but are perceived as less capable for managing print resources than legacy ILS products. Small libraries give superlative scores to products able to meet their basic requirements without complex features they don’t need."

Just as I did for the previous editions survey, I created an interactive tool for viewing the statistical summaries and comments. The main tables in the article show statistics only for those products that had more than 15 survey responses. You can use the ILS Product Report to view the statistics on any of the products mentioned in the survey and to read the comments about that system, even if the number of responses did not meet the threshold. The comments that display have been edited to remove any text that identifies the individual or institution, preserving the anonymity of the responders. The narrative data in the comments largely corroborate the statistical responses and makes for interesting reading.

Marshall Breeding Mar 18, 2018 13:27:15
Link to Posting: Perceptions 2017: An International Survey of Library Automation

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