In the last issue of LSN we presented our annual review of turnkey automated library systems. In this issue we report on our survey of companies which offer multi—user supported software packages——those which include ongoing software maintenance and development, and installation support, documentation and training. Some of the software vendors are also beginning to give libraries assistance in configuring the hardware on which to mount the software. Comparisons cannot be drawn between the gross revenues of supported software vendors and turnkey system vendors, as the figures for the former do not include the hardware price.
The Battelle Software Products Center reported that there were 38 installed and accepted BASIS Technical Library systems at the end of 1985. Twenty-three systems were sold during the year, of which five were awaiting installation or acceptance. Gross sales were under $1 million. The library division of the company realized an after tax profit during 1985. Circulation, acquisitions, local cataloging, global authority control, serials control, interlibrary loan, materials booking, report generator and an OCLC tape interface were all operational. Battelle has a total of 22 staff committed to software maintenance and support. The group is responsible for the company's basic BASIS software as well as for the library systems based on that software.
[Battelle Software Products Center, 505 King Avenue, Columbus, OH 43201— 2693, (614) 424—6424.]
Comstow Information Services, vendor of the BiblioTech Library Software reports that 22 libraries were using the software by the end of 1985. Nine packages were sold during the year, one of which was awaiting installation and acceptance. Gross sales were under $1 million, and the company realized an after tax profit. All users had implemented the local cataloging, global authority control, patron access catalog, interlibrary loan, word processing and report generator modules. Circulation was operational on 19 systems, acquisitions on six, and serials control on 15. Some libraries were using the OCLC offline interface. Eight staff were committed to software maintenance and development, an increase of three over the previous year.
[Comstow Information Services, 302 Boxboro Road, Stow, MA 01775, (617) 897— 7163.]
Georgetown University Medical Center Library reported that it had eight installed and accepted library Information system sites at the end of 1985. Seven packages were sold during the year and a total of ten were awaiting installation or acceptance. Gross sales were under $1 million. The institution is nonprofit and did not comment as to whether revenues exceeded expenses. The eight fully operational systems were utilizing the acquisitions, serials control, local cataloging, global authority control and OCLC interface components of the system, and three installations were using the interlibrary loan module.
The system's word processing capabilities were being used at 15 sites. The MiniMEDLINE component, available as part of the LIS or as a standalone system, was being used at six sites. Georgetown had seven staff members assigned to software maintenance and development.
[Dahlgren Memorial Library, Georgetown University Medical Center, 3900 Reservoir Road, Washington, DC 20007, (202) 625-7673.]
IBM reentered the market as a software vendor in late 1985 after leaving it at the end of 1984. The product will be known as DOBIS, but it will be a rewritten and better supported version than that previously offered. IBM has never revealed how many DOBIS sites there. are in the U.S., but the editors estimate it to be between five and ten. The revived DOBIS will be offered by IBM Academic Information Systems, a different division than that which previously handled DOBIS. One sale was made in 1985. The company did not provide any particulars.
[IBM Academic Information Systems, 472 Wheelers Farms Road, Milford, CT 06460, (203) 783—7385.]
Info/Doc (Information Documentation) offers a software package called CAIRS, which is claimed to operate on a wide range of mainframe, mini, and micro-based systems. The company would not answer questions about the number of installations, sales, income, or profitability. The editors have not been able to confirm any U.S. installations, but did establish that there is at least one installation in the United Kingdom. Info/Doc claimed to have 50 persons devoted to software maintenance and development.
[Info/Doc, Box 17109, Dulles International Airport, Washington, DC 20041, (800) 336—0800/(703) 486—0900.]
Northwestern University reported that it made 21 sales of its NOTIS software during 1985. By the end of the year 43 systems were installed and accepted and four were awaiting installation. Gross sales revenues were between $1 and $2.5 million and revenues exceeded expenses. The modules reported to be operational on various NOTIS installations were: acquisitions, local cataloging, global authority control, circulation, serials control, patron access catalog,. and interlibrary loan. A MARC tape interface and an OCLC interface were also being used, as were word processing and COM output capabilities. Northwestern has 18 staff devoted to software maintenance and development.
[Northwestern University Library, 1935 Sheridan Road, Evanston, IL 60201, (312) 492—7004.]
The Pennsylvania State University Libraries are supporting two installations of the Library Information Automated System (LIAS), one in a multiprocessor configuration. No systems were sold during 1985 nor were any awaiting installation or acceptance. Penn State received revenues of less than $1 million from LIAS during the year. The local cataloging and online patron access catalog functions are operational on both installations, and the circulation and word processing capabilities have been implemented on one system. The RLIN interface and the interface with remote data base service vendors are each being used on one system. Penn State has a staff of eight persons devoted to software maintenance and development.
[LIAS Program Office, E 1 Pattee Library, University Park, PA 16802, (814) 865— 1818.]
McLeod-Bishop Systems Ltd., the North American agent for the MINISIS system software reported that as of the end of 1985 approximately 170 systems were in use throughout the world. Since many of the systems are made available to developing countries by the International Development Research Centre, it is inappropriate to report in terms of system “sales.” However, the company estimated that nine new installations were arranged during 1985. Two systems were pending installation in North America. During 1985 the company realized MINISIS-related revenues of under $1 million and made an after tax profit on this aspect of its business.
The capabilities supported by the version of the system designed to support library automation include: acquisitions, cataloging, authority control, circulation, serials control, patron access catalog, interlibrary loan, and materials booking. A report generator and generalized MARC interface are also available. Circulation, serials control and patron access catalog are up in only a small number of installations. There are no interfaces to the bibliographic utilities. Some three persons were committed to MINISIS software development and maintenance at the end of 1985. Other versions of MINISIS are available to support records management and museum inventory systems.
[McLeod-Bishop Systems Ltd., 1600 Carling Avenue, #400, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1Z 8R7, (613) 728—7781.]
Swets and Zeitlinger BV reported that SAILS is not yet commercially available. It was being tested at University College (Dublin, Ireland) and Oklahoma State University. The former site has serials control and circulation and the latter has acquisitions, serials control, circulation, and patron access catalog.
The Washington University School of Medicine Library did not respond to the questionnaire. Last year it was reported that one sale of its Bibliographic Access & Control System (BACS) software had been made. At the end of 1984 it was supporting two installations, both multiprocessor systems, and had one system awaiting installation or acceptance. Gross sales for 1984 were under $1 million. Acquisitions, local cataloging, global authority control, circulation, serials control, patron access catalog, report generator, word processing and an interface to provide linkage with other BACS systems were all operational at two sites. One site was using the interlibrary loan capability, one the OCLC interface, and one the interface to remote data base services. Three people were committed to software maintenance and development.
[Washington University School of Medicine Library, 4580 Scott Avenue, St. Louis, MO 63110, (314) 454—3711.]
