Library Technology Guides

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Volume 10 Number 03 (March 1990)

Annual survey of automated library system vendors

Once a year we systematically survey the library automation industry to get an overview and to facilitate comparison among vendors. This entire issue is devoted to the vendors which offer integrated, multi-user, multi-function systems. This year both turnkey and software only vendors are included in the same issue because a majority of vendors now sell both ways. Turnkey vendors are those which provide hardware, software, installation, training, and ongoing support from a single source. They assume liability for total system performance. Software only sales give the buyer only a guarantee that the software is free of defects. In the next issue we will summarize the survey results for PC-based systems.

INTRODUCTION

All major vendors are now committed to providing acquisitions, serials control, circulation and online patron access catalog modules--and in some cases, additional functionality such as information and referral, journal citation, interlibrary loan and media booking. Virtually all of the vendors could deliver the four core modules by the end of 1989, although some had only Beta sites for serials control, with general release scheduled for 1990.

This survey uses the same methodology employed in previous years. Vendors were contacted by mail, with telephone follow-up as necessary. Our queries focused on whether the product was available as a turnkey, a software package, or both; the hardware platform, operating system and programming language; the number of sales during the past calendar year; the total number of installations; the number awaiting installation and/or acceptance; gross sales for 1989; profitability; the percentage of customers using each module or major function; the sizes of the installed systems; and the number of staff devoted to software maintenance and development and to other customer support. Major enhancements reported by the vendors also are included.

SUMMARY

The Editors identified 29 North American organizations marketing integrated multifunction turnkey library systems or software packages for supermicro, mini or mainframe computers. Twenty-five companies--including all those that ranked in the top 15 in sales in 1989--responded to the survey. Seventeen offered both turnkey systems and software packages, S offered software only (although one of them also sold hardware , but not "bundled" with the software as a turnkey system and another plans to introduce a turnkey option in 1990), and three offered only turnkey systems.

The 25 respondents sold 435 systems during 1989 as compared with 376 in 1988. In 1987 the number was 350, in 1986 it was 210, in 1985 it was 196, and in 1984 it was 232. The total number of installations claimed by the respondents was 2,378. The vendors not included in the survey are believed to have fewer than 50 systems altogether.

Four vendors--CLSI, Dynix, Geac, and Information Dimensions--reported gross sales in excess of $20 million. However, the Information Dimensions figure includes revenue of related units within the company. DRA, INLEX, and Innovative Interfaces reported sales of $10 to $20 million each. NOTIS and UNISYS claimed sales of $5 to $10 million each. The others had sales of under $5 million for the year or declined to provide information.

Dynix reported the highest number of new system sales during 1989 (117) , more than double its 1988 figure; Innovative Interfaces was second (40) , a figure which does not include major upgrades by 16 libraries which previously had the standalone Innovacq system; Information Dimensions was third (34); Sobeco/Mu1tiLIS was fourth (30); DRA and SIRSI were tied for fifth and sixth (28 each); INLEX was seventh (26); CLSI and VTLS tied for eighth and ninth (19 each); Geac was tenth (17); IBM DOBIS was eleventh (16); UNISYS was twelfth (15); NOTIS was thirteenth (13); and TKM was fourteenth (10) . No other vendor claimed to have sold more than 10 systems in 1989.

CLSI led all vendors with the largest number of installed and accepted systems (345); Dynix was second (343); Geac was third (177); IBM DOBIS was fourth (167--inexplicably down from 182 claimed in 1988); OCLC Local Systems was fifth (166); Information Dimensions and Innovative Interfaces tied for sixth and seventh (155); NOTIS was eighth (132); DRA was ninth (130); VTLS was tenth (118); Sobeco/ MultiLIS was eleventh (87); and INLEX was twelfth (59). All other vendors had fewer than SO installations each.

Information Dimensions claimed to lead the industry in staff devoted to software maintenance and development (60. a figure which appears to include some staff devoted to development of products which are common to library and non-library product lines); Geac was second (48); DRA was third (43); NOTIS was fourth (40); and CLSI and Dynix were tied for fifth and sixth (34 each); OCLC was seventh (30, a figure which includes all local system products, not just multi-user systems); Sobeco/MultiLIS was eighth (21); VTLS was ninth (17); Innovative Interfaces was tenth (15); and UNISYS and UTLAS were tied for twelfth and thirteenth (13 each). No other vendor claimed to have more than 10 people devoted to software maintenance and development.

Dynix led the industry in the number of staff committed to customer support (102); CLSI was second (67); VTLS was third (34); Innovative Interfaces was fourth (23); UNISYS was fifth (21); DRA and NOTIS were tied for sixth and seventh (19 each); Inlex was eighth (13); and Information Dimensions and Sobeco/Mu1tiLIS were tied for ninth and tenth (12 each) Geac, which one would expect to be in the top ten, did not provide the requested information. All other companies had fewer than ten staff each devoted to customer support.

The following vendor reports are arranged alphabetically and are based on information furnished by the respondents:

Advanced Computer Concepts, Inc., also known as Washington University School of Medicine Library, offers both turnkey systems and software packages. The hardware is Digital VAX and personal computers using the standard MUMPS operating system and programming language. The company made 2 sales during 1989, bringing its installed base to 16--15 in North America. No systems were awaiting installation and/ or acceptance at the end of the year. The company reported gross revenues at under $1 million, and did realize an after-tax profit. All sites were using local cataloging, circulation, online patron access catalog, interlibrary loan, report generator, inventorying, community information, journal citations, acquisitions, authority control, and serials control, as well as word processing. None had materials booking. An OCLC interface was in use at all sites. All sites had interfaces with other systems of the same vendor and remote data base searching. Two of the sites supported 60-99 terminals; 4 had 8-15; and 10 had 2-7 terminals. Three persons were committed to software maintenance and development, and 3 to other customer service. Major enhancements made in 1989 included: Medline enhancements; data base search enhancements; and library groups and clusters.

[Advanced Computer Concepts, Inc., Washington University School of Medicine Library, 660 5. Euclid, Box 8132, St. Louis, MO 63110; (314) 362-7080.]

CARL Systems, Inc., offers both turnkey systems and software packages, as well as centrally supported service bureaus. The hardware is Tandem, and the operating system is Tandem's Guardian 9OXF. The applications are written in TAL (Tandem Application Language). CARL made one sale during 1989 and added six new clients to its service bureaus. One system was awaiting installation and/or acceptance at the end of the year. Its installed base was six systems as of the end of the year. The company declined to report sales figures or profits. All sites were using local cataloging, circulation, online patron access catalog, interlibrary loan, report generator, and inventorying capabilities. Community information was at 83 percent of the sites, and journal citations files at 67 percent. Half were using acquisitions and serials control. None had authority control or materials booking. An OCLC interface and LC Authorities online were in use at all sites, and MiniMARC or BiblioFile interfaces each were in use at 17 percent of the sites. Half of the sites had local area network interfaces, and all had interfaces with other systems of the same vendor. One of the sites had over 400 terminals; 4 had from 200 to 399; and 2 had from 100 to 199. Six persons were committed to software maintenance and development, and 4 and 1/2 to other customer service. Major enhancements made in 1989 included: acquisitions completed and released; full text and document delivery introduced with credit card clearance; continued mounting of external file and directories included; Choice Book Reviews now linked to catalogs to reflect ownership.

[CARL Systems, Inc., 777 Grant Street, Suite 304, Denver, Co 80302; (303) 861- 5319.1

Carlyle Systems, Inc., offers a turnkey system which until recently utilized a proprietary hardware based on Intel 80386-based processors in multiprocessor architecture, but now is being migrated to open systems. The operating systems are UNIX and RMX, and the programming languages are PL/M and C. The vendor made no sales in 1989, a year during which it went into Chapter 11--and from which it has emerged. In 1988 the company had sold four systems, and in 1987 it had sold 22 systems. The total number of systems installed and accepted by the end of 1989 was 45--37 in North America. No systems were awaiting installation and/or acceptance at the end of the year. The company declined to report sales figures or profits. All sites were using online patron access catalog, and 76 percent are using local cataloging. An OCLC interface was in use at 64 percent of the sites, and 15 percent of the sites had local area network interfaces. Two of the sites supported 100-199 terminals, one had 60-99, 6 had 30-60, 7 had 16-29, 17 had 8-15, 11 had 2-7, and one had only 1 terminal. The company appears to have dropped plans to introduce acquisitions and serials control modules. Nine staff were devoted to software maintenance and development at the end of 1989, and 3 staff were committed to other customer support. Major enhancements included upgraded hardware to 80386/Unix-based "X" series processors.

[Carlyle Systems, Inc., 5750 Hollis Street Emeryville, CA 94608; (415) 428-3900.]

CLSI offers turnkey systems only. The company has migrated to Sequent 827 and 581 and Altos 2000 hardware platforms using the UNIX operating system and C programming language, but continues to support the Digital PD? 11 platforms previously installed. The vendor reported sales of 19 systems during 1989, 16 of them in North America, down from 42 sales in 1988, 29 of them in North America. At the end of 1989, it was supporting 345 installed systems, with 319 of those installed and accepted systems in North America. At the end of the year, 26 systems were installed awaiting acceptance, and seven were not yet installed. Gross sales were in excess of $20 million. As a result of the reinvestment of all 1989 revenues in ongoing development of CLSI's next generation product as well as other accounting write-offs, CLSI did not realize an after-tax profit for FY 1989. All CLSI sites had both circulation and local cataloging. Forty-nine percent of the sites were using the online patron access catalog module, 26 percent were using acquisitions, 25 percent authority control, 20 percent community information, 15 percent interlibrary loan, 12 percent a report generator, four percent materials booking, and two percent serials control. Sixty percent of the sites were using an OCLC interface; 24 percent were using the BiblioFile; two percent each were using the RLIN and UTLAS interfaces; and one percent were using WLN C interfaces. Seven percent had local area network interfaces; 24 percent had an interface with other systems of the same vendor; and 25 percent had a remote data base searching interface. Ten of its clients had 200-399 terminals; 33 had 100- 199, 21 had 60-99, 128 had 30-60, 84 had 16-29, 50 had 8-15, and 19 had 2-7 terminals. The company reported that 67 staff were assigned to customer support and another 34 were assigned to software maintenance and development. Major enhancements during 1989 included: Release 27.5, which includes major enhancements to the circulation module, the CL-CAT module and statistical/management reporting was field tested and successfully introduced as a general release product in 1989; Release 28, which was developed primarily for CLSI's European installations, was developed and tested inhouse as well as introduced into beta testing in 1989; continuation of the introduction of CLSI's Unix-based hardware platforms--introduction of the Altos multiprocessor configurations and introduction of the Sequent/ Altos multiprocessor configurations; and completion of the development of the migration of CLSI's serials control module, CL-Perline, to run under the Unix operating system on both Altos and Sequent platforms.

[CLSI, 320 Nevada Street, Newtonville, MA 02165; (617) 965-63l0.]

CoBIT offers turnkey systems and soft ware packages known as TLM (The Library Machine) for the Data General Eclipse (Mv) line of mini-supermini-computers. The product was previously marketed by OHIONET The operating system is DG's AOS/VS and the programming language is PL/l. The company reported sales of one system in 1989, bringing the total number of installations to five. One system was awaiting installation and/or acceptance at the end of the year. Revenues were between $1 to $2.5 million. The company did not report on profitability because it is a non-profit organization. All of the sites had local cataloging, authority control, circulation, and report generator; 80 percent had the online patron access catalog; and 20 percent had acquisitions. Al]. had an OCLC interface, and 80 percent were using word processing. Two of the sites supported 200-399 terminals, one supported 30-60 terminals, and 2 supported 16-29. The company had 2 persons devoted to software maintenance and development, and 2 1/2 to other customer support. Major enhancements made in 1989 were refined acquisitions and enhanced accounting modules, and enhanced technical services (including full-screen MARC editor).

[COBIT, 665 B. Dublin Granville Road, Suite 250, Columbus, OH 43229; (614) 841-1222 or (800) 837-1222.]

COMSTOW Information Services offers software only. The product, known as Bibliotech, runs on Digital VAX hardware using the VMS operating system, DRS with some external programs in Fortran and C. The company sold five systems in 1989, with its total installations at 44, all in North America. No sales were awaiting installation and/or acceptance. Revenues were under $1 million, and the company realized an after-tax profit. All of the sites were using local cataloging, authority control, online patron access catalog, report generator, journal citation files, and inventorying at the end of 1989. Some 75 percent were using circulation, and 60 percent were using serials control. Half were using acquisitions and interlibrary loan. Approximately 25 percent were using an OCLC interface, and 10 percent a BiblioFile interface. Approximately 80 percent had a local area network interface, and half had interfaces with other library systems of the same vendor. Ten percent had a remote data base searching interface. All sites were using word processing. Three of the sites had over 400 terminals; 3 had 200-399; 13 had 100-199; 5 had 60-99; 9 had 30-60; 5 had 16-29; one had 8-15; and 3 had 2-7 terminals. These are terminals that are on the same network as the library, but not dedicated to library software, but all can access the online patron access catalog. The company had 3 persons devoted to software maintenance and development, and 6 committed to other customer support. Major enhancements included Version 5.0 with Gateway interface, extensive windowing, several downloading and uploading modules.

[Comstow Information Services, P.O. Box 277, 249 Ayer Road, Harvard, MA 01451-0277; (508) 772-2001.]

Data Research Associates markets ATLAS, an integrated automated library system, as a turnkey system or software package. It also offers a standalone library system for the blind and physically handicapped. DRA reports having sold 28 systems during 1989, bringing its installed base to 130 sites-- 115 in North America. Five systems were awaiting installation and/or acceptance at the end of the year. The company had gross sales between $10 and $20 million, and an after-tax profit. Local cataloging, authority control, and circulation were being used at all sites; 88 percent were using the online patron access catalog and community information capabilities; 83 percent were using acquisitions and serials control. Materials booking was in use by 40 percent; inventorying by 50 percent, and interlibrary loan and report generator by 10 percent. Over 80 percent had an OCLC interface, 3 percent each a BiblioFile interface and a UTLAS interface; and 6 percent had a WLN interface. Thirty percent had an interface with other systems from the same vendor, and 25 percent had a local area network interface and 40 percent had the remote data base searching interface. Over 20 percent were using word processing. Two sites were supporting over 400 terminals, 2 had 200-399; 16 had 100-199; 20 had 60-99; 37 had 30-60; 28 had 16-19; 14 had 8-15; and 8 had 2-7 terminals. A staff of 43 was committed to software maintenance and development; and 19 to other customer support. Major enhancements included: IAC network access; networked authority verification; upgraded Boolean/keyword; loading of EBSCO serials data; and new releases of major modules.

[Data Research Associates, Inc., 1276 North Warson Road, St. Louis, MO 63132- 1806; (800) 325-0888 or (314) 432-1100.]

Dynix offers turnkey systems and software packages for a wide range of machines which use the Pick operating system. Its major hardware platforms are Ultimate-DEC, Ultimate-Honeywell, IBM-RF and MIPS. During 1989, the vendor reported sales of 117 systems worldwide, with 56 in North America, up from 49 systems during 1988, bringing its total installed and accepted systems to 343. There were 63 systems awaiting installation and/or acceptance at the end of the year. Gross revenues from sales were over $20 million worldwide, and the company realized an after-tax profit for the year. All sites were using local cataloging and the report generator; 95 percent were using circulation; 80 percent were using the online patron access catalog; 15 percent had acquisitions; 5 percent had journal citation files; 5 percent had community information; and 2 percent had serials control. Forty percent of the sites had an OCLC interface; 15 percent had a BiblioFile interface; 2 percent had a WLN interface; and one percent each an RLIN or UTLAS interface. Half had interfaces with other systems of the same vendor; 5 percent had remote data base searching interfaces; and 2 percent had a local area network interface. Fifteen percent had other bibliographic interfaces, and 3 percent had reserve book rooms. Two sites had 200-399 terminals; 15 had 100-199; 35 had 60-99; 55 had 30-60; 75 had 16-29; 95 had 8-15; and 65 had 2-7 terminals. The company had a staff of 34 committed to software maintenance and development, and a staff of 102 committed to other customer support. The major enhancement for 1989 was Release 120.

[Dynix, 151 East 1700 South, Provo, UT 84601; (801) 375-2770.]

Gaylord Information Systems offers both turnkey systems and software packages. Its only multifunction, multi-user system is Galaxy, introduced in 1989. It has a number of circulation-only installations. The hardware is Digital VAX VMS using the VMS operating system. The programming language is C. The company sold 5 systems during 1989, all awaiting installation and/or acceptance at the end of the year. Revenues were between $2.5 and $5 million, and the company realized an after-tax profit. The reports on functionality combined integrated and single function systems, with local cataloging reported as in use at 95 percent of the sites, and circulation was at 21 percent. Five percent each had report generator and interlibrary loan; and 2 percent had online patron access catalog. Three sites supported 100-199 terminals; one had 30-60; one had 16-29; 6 had 8-15; 25 had 2-7; and 8 had only 1 terminal. The company had a staff of 9 committed to software maintenance and development, and a staff of 9 committed to other customer support. Major enhancements during 1989 were the cataloging, circulation and patron access catalog nodules for Galaxy.

[Gaylord Information Systems, P.O. Box 4901, Syracuse, NY 13221; (800) 634-6304.]

Geac offers turnkey systems using its own hardware platform, operating system, and programming language. However, it now also offers a second product called Advance using the Pick operating system and capable of running on a variety of hardware platforms. The vendor reported sales of 17 worldwide during l989 bringing its total installed and accepted systems to 177--117 in North America. There were 12 systems awaiting installation and/or acceptance at the end of the year. Sales for the company were over $20 million. Though its fiscal year ends at the beginning of the first quarter of the calendar year, it will realize an after-tax profit. The modules implemented included: circulation at 97 percent of sites; local cataloging at 62 percent; and online patron access catalog at 54 percent. Acquisitions was in use at 37 percent; and community information at 9 percent. Interlibrary loan, materials booking, and report generator functions were included in major modules and, therefore, were available at all sites using the modules. Fifteen percent of the sites were using online interfaces to OCLC; 10 percent were using UTLAS interfaces; 3 percent had RLIN interfaces; 4 percent had WLN interfaces; and 2 percent had BiblioFile interfaces. Five percent of the sites also had Geac's electronic mail module and 3 percent had the word processing module. Information was not available in order to estimate site usage of authority control modules, LC-CD authorities interface, remote data base searching, local area network interface, or interface with other library systems from the same vendor. Eight users had 200-299 terminals each, 37 had 100-199, 40 had 60-99, 50 had 30-60, 20 had 16-29, 13 had 8-15, and 10 had 2-7 terminals. The company had a staff of 48 committed to software maintenance and development, down from 86 people in 1987. Major enhancements for 1989 included: a new release of ADVANCE - release 1.9; and new user documentation for ADVANCE - 7 volumes.

[Geac, 350 Steelcase Road West, Markham, Ontario, L3R 1B3 Canada; (416) 475-0525. Or 515 N. Washington Street, Alexandria, VA 22314; (703) 836-0225.]

Georgetown University Library Information System offers software only for Digital hardware. The operating systems VMS M/VX from InterSystems (VAX) and M11+ from InterSystems. The company reported sales of 2 packages in 1989, bringing its total to 40 in North America. Two packages were awaiting installation and/or acceptance at the end of 1989. Sales were reported to be under $1 million, with no after-tax profit. Acquisitions, local cataloging, authority control, circulation, serials control, online patron access catalog and report generator modules were being used at all sites; and 18 percent were using the journal citation files. All sites had an OCLC interface and local area network interface; and 4 percent a BiblioFile interface. Word processing was in use at all sites. Ten sites were supporting 30-60 terminals, 9 had 16-19, 6 had 8-15, and one had 2-7 terminals. Eight people are committed to software maintenance and development, and one is committed to other customer support. Major enhancements included: the release of Alerts/Current Contents module; release of version 4.0 of LIS; support for OCLC M310 workstation; and expanded mini-MEDLINE option.

[Georgetown University Library Systems, Library Information Systems (LIS), Georgetown University Medical Center, 3900 Reservoir Road, N.W., Washington, DC 20009; (202) 687-1035.]

IBM DOBIS offers software only for hardware based on the IBM 370 architecture. The operating systems are MVS/SP, CICS, and VSE, and the programming languages are PL/I and Assembler languages. IBM sold 16 systems in 1989, and supports a total of 167 systems worldwide, with 26 in North America. IBM DOBIS is not itemized on the annual statement, but an after-tax profit was claimed for 1989. All sites were using acquisitions, local cataloging, authority control, circulation, serials control, online patron access catalog, report generator and inventorying modules at the end of 1989. All of the sites had an OCLC interface and 4 percent each also had an RLIN interface and a BiblioFile interface; and 4 percent had a local area network interface. The estimated number of sites of each size (number of terminals) was not available. The company had a staff of 4 committed to software maintenance and development. Major enhancements included: Version 2.1 announced in the U.S.; ProCite Link to DOBIS MARC tag display; abstract expansion; and negotiated toll free defect support.

[IBM Library Marketing, 472 Wheeler Farms Road, Milford, CT 06460; (203) 783-7350.]

Information Dimensions, Inc., offers software only. The product, known as Techlib/Stacs, runs on VAX, IBM, and Wang mainframes and minis. The operating systems are VMS for Digital VAX, MVS/TSO and VM/CMS for IBM, and VS for Wang. The company sold 34 packages during 1989, bringing the total number of installations to 155 worldwide--111 in North America. Four systems were awaiting installation and/or acceptance at the end of the year. Revenues were in excess of $20 million, and there was an after-tax profit for the year All of the sites were using local cataloging, online patron access catalog, and report generator modules; 90 percent were using circulation; 80 percent had authority control; 75 percent had serials control; 60 percent had acquisitions; and 20 percent had interlibrary loan. An OCLC interface was in use at 30 percent of the sites, and 5 percent had an RLIN interface Half of the sites had remote data base searching. Thirty sites each supported over 400, 200-399, and 100-199 terminals respectively; 20 had 16-29; 15 had 8-15, and 30 had 2-7 terminals. Over 60 persons were committed to software maintenance and development, and 12 were committed to other customer support.

[Information Dimensions, Inc., 655 Metro Place South, Suite 500, Dublin, OH 43017-1396; (614) 761-8083.]

INLEX offers turnkey systems and software packages for the entire line of Hewlett-Packard 3000 series computers. The operating system is MPE or MPE/XL, and the programming languages are PASCAL and C. The company reported sales of 26 turnkey systems and packages during 1989, bringing its total number of installed and accepted systems to 59--58 in North America. Fourteen were awaiting installation and/or acceptance at the end of the year. Sales were between $10 and $20 million, with an after-tax profit. All sites were using local cataloging, authority control, and report generator modules; 95 percent were using circulation; 80 percent were using the online patron access catalog; 10 percent were using inventorying; and 5 percent were using acquisitions. None of the sites had serials control, interlibrary loan, materials booking, journal citation files, or community information. All sites had a BiblioFile interface; over 60 percent had an OCLC interface; 20 percent had an WLN interface; and 10 percent had the RLIN interface. Fifty percent were using word processing. The sites included two with 100-199 terminals, 9 with 60-99, 11 each with 30-60, 19 and 16-29, 17 with 8-15, and one with 2-7. A staff of 8 were committed to software maintenance and development, and 13 to other customer support. Major enhancements in 1989 included: the release of the Acquisitions Module which provides for electronic ordering and confirmation from Baker & Taylor; enhanced Boolean searching with the keyword indexes to include 'and,' 'or,' and 'not'; and released software to allow full MARC authority records to be loaded from tapes and CD-ROM products. All headings and cross references can be indexed. Libraries can also add and maintain local headings as desired.

[INLEX, P.O. Box 1349, 656 Munras Avenue, Monterey, CA 93940; (408) 646-9666.]

Innovative Interfaces offers both turnkey systems and software packages. The hardware is UNISYS/Convergent, DEC or most other Unix machines since the operating system is UNIX. The company installed 56 systems, which included the installation of 16 OPACs into existing INNOVACQ sites in 1989, bringing its total to 155 installations--all in North America. The programming languages are PASCAL and C. The company usually bids Convergent computers when offering a turnkey solution. Its software only sales tend to be on Digital VAX equipment. There were 31 systems awaiting installation and/or acceptance at the end of 1989. Sales were quoted at $10-$20 million, with an after-tax profit. All of the sites had a report generator module, 90 percent had acquisitions; 85 percent had serials control; 60 percent local cataloging; 40 percent had online patron access catalog; and 30 percent each had authority control and circulation. Seventy percent had an OCLC interface, 10 percent an RLIN interface; 5 percent a UTLAS interface; and one percent a WLN Interface. Ten percent had a local area network interface, 6 percent had interface with other library systems from the same vendor. Three percent had a remote data base searching interface; and one percent had BiblioFile interface. One of the sites had 200-399 terminals, 4 had 100-199, 13 had 60-99, 24 had 30-60, 40 had 16-29, 35 had 8-15, and 38 had 2-7 terminals. Fifteen people were committed to software maintenance and development at the end of the year, and 23 were committed to other customer support. Major enhancements included journal citation files and inventorying, both introduced at the end of 1989.

[Innovative Interfaces, Inc., 2344 Sixth Street, Berkeley, CA 94710; (415) 644-3600.]

NOTIS offers both turnkey systems and software packages. The NOTIS Library Management System (LMS) is a software-only product, comprising a complete, integrated package for library automation running on all models of IBM System 370 platform. The LMS may be installed on a dedicated or a shared machine. Source code is provided to allow total flexibility. KeyNOTIS-- announced in late 1989--is a bundled hardware/software product, providing the functionality of the LMS running on an IBM 9370 configuration; KeyNOTIS does not require programmer support. The operating systems are MVS or VSE with CICS. The code is in BAL and PL/I. Thirteen packages were sold in 1989, bringing the total worldwide installations to 132--127 in North America. No systems were awaiting installation and/ or acceptance at the end of 1989. Sales were in the $5 to $10 million range with an after-tax profit. When a NOTIS site is in full production, it uses acquisitions, serials control, cataloging, authority control, circulation, online patron access catalog, and online interfaces to OCLC, RLIN and/or UTLAS. NOTIS sites may use NOTIS to track interlibrary loan material and load records on community information. For report generation, NOTIS Systems has introduced the NOTIS Report Writer, an online, menu-driven interface to SAS that requires no SAS training or SAS programming skills.

Journal citation files may be mounted using the Multiple Data Base Access System (MDAS). This software permits the loading of reference and local data bases on the local NOTIS computer with the ability to configure record displays and help screens for each data base through an online, menu-driven program. MDAS is integrated with the NOTIS OPAC and uses identical search syntax. Ninety-five percent of the sites were using local cataloging; 88 percent each had online patron access catalog; 73 percent had authority control; 67 percent were using circulation; and 63 percent were using acquisitions; 55 percent were using serials control; and 12 percent were using journal citation files. Materials booking and inventorying modules were not available. The BiblioFile interface was in use at all sites. An OCLC interface was in use by 5 percent; while one percent each had RLIN, UTLAS and WLN interfaces. Two percent had a local area network interface; 6 percent interface with other library systems from the same vendor; and one percent had remote data base searching. Most libraries have an OCLC interface, 3 are known to have an RLIN interface, and one a UTLAS interface. Data is not available on actual implementations. Six of the sites had over 400 terminals; 20 had 200-399; 29 had 100-199; 28 had 60-99; 24 had 30-60; 7 had 16-29; and S had 8-15. Forty staff are committed to software maintenance and development, and 19 are committed to other customer support.

Major enhancements included: NOTIS Library Management System Release 4.6; NOTIS Generic Transfer and Overlay for OCLC, RLIN and/or UTLAS; and the Multiple Data Base Access System.

[NOTIS Systems, Inc., 1007 Church Street, 2nd Floor, Evanston, IL 60201; (708) 866-0171.]

OCLC Local Systems offers turnkey systems or software packages for Data General hardware using MIIS/MUMPS operating systems and programming language. The product, known as LS/2000, does not include acquisitions and serials control because they are mounted on PCs. The acquisitions and serials control systems can be standalone or interfaced with the LS/2000. The company made two LS/2000 sales during the year, bringing the total number of systems worldwide to 126. The company also was supporting over 40 LS/2 systems, former DataPhase ALIS II systems. The company declined to report sales figures or profits for 1989; however, gross sales for the Local Systems Division in FY 1988 were just over $10 million. The company did not report an after-tax profit because it is a non-profit organization. No breakdown on modules was available--all sites are profiled for all subsystems; however, at the end of 1987, some 94 percent of the sites were using local cataloging and authority control; 75 percent, online patron access catalog; 70 percent, circulation; and 35 percent, interlibrary loan. Some 79 percent had an OCLC interface, and 24 percent had a LAN interface. Only 4 percent were interfacing with another system from the same vendor. At the end of 1989, 2 sites were supporting 100-199 terminals, 11 were supporting 60-99; 41 were supporting 30- 60; 66 were supporting 16-29; 13 were supporting 8-15; 128 were supporting 2-7--a number of them acquisitions or serials control only; and 264 were supporting only 1 terminal. OCLC had a combined staff of 30 committed to software maintenance and development and other customer support. Major enhancements included: updated parameters module allowing users the capability of maintaining their own profile; more enhancements to the circulation subsystem; port parameters function added to allow adding and maintenance of ports; print/view function to list profile information; and LS/2 - Releases 8.0.2a and 8.0.2b.

[OCLC Local Systems Division, 6565 Frantz, Dublin, OH 43017-0727; (614) 764-6000.]

Ringgold Management Systems, Inc., offers both turnkey systems and software packages. The product runs on personal computers and supermicros, and the operating systems are DOS, UNIX, and XENIX. The programming languages are COBOL and BASIC. The company made 5 sales during 1989. No systems were awaiting installation and/or acceptance at the end of the year. Its installed base consisted of 30 sites world wide--29 in North America. The company reported gross revenues under $1 million, and they expect to realize an after-tax profit. Fifty-three percent of the sites were using acquisitions; and 47 percent were using circulation. An OCLC interface was in use at 33 percent of the sites; WLN was at seven percent; and a local area network interface was in use at 17 percent of the sites. Two of the sites had 16-29 ter-minals; 6 had 8-15; 10 had 2-7; and 12 had only 1 terminal. One person was committed to software maintenance and development, and 1/2 to other customer service. Major enhancements made in 1989 included: conversion of OCLC screen MARC to MARC; added custom electronic ordering interfaces; LAN; UNIX interface for public access.

[Ringgold Management Systems, Inc., Box 368, Beaverton, OR 97075-0369; (503) 645- 3502.]

The SIRSI Corporation offers turnkey systems and software packages for a variety of UNIX-based machines, including Unisys, NCR, Arix, H-P, Digital, IBM, and Sequent. Lately, it has tended to bid the UNISYS 5000 series. The operating systems are Unix, XENIX, and Ultrix; and the programming language is C. The company sold 28 turnkey systems and packages during 1989, bringing its total installed base to 49--48 in North America. Six systems were awaiting installation and/or acceptance at the end of the year. The company reported that its sales figure was not available (but the editors believe it was under $1 million), and the company claimed to have realized an after-tax profit. All of the sites were using local cataloging, inventorying, and a report generator. Ninety-one percent were using circulation; 79 percent were using online patron access catalog; and 34 percent were using interlibrary loan. Acquisitions and serials control were each in use at 33 percent; authority control and community information were used by 8 percent each; and media booking was in use at 2 percent. Six of the sites were supporting 30-60 terminals, 8 had 16-29, 14 had 8-15, 18 had 2-7, and 3 had one terminal. An OCLC interface was in use by 30 percent; a BiblioFile interface by 6 percent; and WLN at 2 percent. Six percent had a local area network interface; and 20 percent had interfacing with other library systems from the same vendor. Two percent had remote data base searching. Four staff were committed to software development and maintenance at the end of 1989; and 5 1/2 were committed to other customer support. Major enhancements for 1989 included major authority control release; revised OPAC; significant enhancements to system administration and security.

[SIRSI Corporation, 2904 Westcorp. Boulevard, Suite 209, Huntsville, AL 35805; (205) 536-5881.]

SOBECO Group, Inc., also known as MultiLIS Corporation in the United States, offers turnkey systems and software packages. The major hardware environments are Digital VAX, NCR Tower, and MIPS. The first uses the VMS operating system and the other two the UNIX operating system. The programming languages are PASCAL and C. The company reported selling 30 systems during 1989, bringing its total to 87--85 in North America. Fourteen of the systems were awaiting installation and/or acceptance at the end of the year. Gross sales were between $1 and $2.5 million, and the company realized an after-tax profit. Ninety-six percent of the sites were using online patron access catalog; 95 percent were using local cataloging; 90 percent had authority control; 48 percent had circulation; thirty-one percent had acquisitions; 12 percent had word processing; and 6 percent were using report generator. Twenty-three percent of the sites were using an UTLAS interface; 8 percent were using a BiblioFile interface; and 6 percent had an OCLC interface. Nine percent of the sites had local area network interfaces, and 13 percent had interfaces with other systems of the same vendor. One site had 200-399 terminals, one had 100-199 terminals, 2 had 60-99, 6 had 30-60, 9 had 16-29, 27 had 8-15, and 41 had 2-7 terminals. Ten staff were committed to software maintenance and development, and 12 were committed to other customer support. Major enhancements during the year included a RISC chip port and authority control.

[MultiLIS Corporation, 505 Rene-Levesque Blvd., West, Montreal, Quebec H2Z lY7; (514) 878-9090.]

TKM Software Limited offers both turnkey systems and software packages using Digital VAX hardware and IBM or IBM compatible computers. The operating system is VMS for VAX and XENIX or MS-DOS for IBM. The programming language is C. The company reported selling 2 systems during 1989, bringing its total to 25 installed and accepted systems by the end of the year. Two systems were awaiting installation and/or acceptance at the end of the year. The company reported gross sales of under $1 million with an after-tax profit. The company reported that all of its sites were using local cataloging, online patron access catalog, report generator, and journal citation files. Half of the sites were using inventorying; and 33 percent were using circulation; and 5 percent had acquisitions. The UTLAS interface and BiblioFile interface were reported in use at an undisclosed percentage of sites. Half of the sites supported 8-15 terminals, and the other half supported 2-7 terminals. The company reported to have 4 persons committed to software maintenance and development, and one committed to other customer support. Major enhancements included circulation for the Micro Product (MicroCAT) and a menu system for managing BuCAT. A province-wide network was established. [TKM Software Limited, Box 1525, Brandon, Manitoba, R7A 6N3; (204) 727-3873.]

ULISYS Software Group, Ltd. Until May 31, 1989, the ULISYS System was marketed, installed, and maintained by Universal Library Systems, Ltd. On May 31st, this company ceased to conduct business. The ULISYS software was copyrighted in both the United States and Canada in 1982 and the title registered with Penelope Holdings, Ltd., a company controlled by Mr. J. A. Speight. When the License to market, install, and maintain the ULISYS Software was cancelled for Universal Library Systems and on June 1, 1989, the ULISYS Software Group was granted an exclusive License to market, install and maintain the ULISYS Software in North America.

ULISYS offers both turnkey systems and software packages. Most sales are software only since many clients can take advantage of Digital discounts. The product runs on Digital VAX hardware using the VMS operating system. The programming language is BASIC+. The company made no sales in 1989, with its total installations at 24, all in North America. No sales were awaiting installation and/or acceptance at the end of the year. All of the sites were using local cataloging, authority control, circulation, and interlibrary loan. Sixty percent were using online patron access catalog; half were using inventorying; and 15 percent were using community information. Acquisitions, serials control, and report generator were each in use at 5 percent. Half of the sites were using an OCLC interface; with the RLIN and UTLAS interfaces each in use at 10 percent of the sites; and WLN, LC-CD authorities, and BiblioFile interfaces each in use at 5 percent of the sites. Five percent had a local area network interface, and half had interfaces with other library systems of the same vendor. None of the sites had a remote data base searching interface or word processing. One of the sites had over 400 terminals; one had 200-399; 2 had 100-199; 7 had 60-99; 7 had 30-60; 5 had 16-29; and one had 8-15 terminals. The company had 3 persons devoted to software maintenance and development, and two committed to other customer support. Major enhancements included: automatic keyword searching; ability to "string" keywords together on initial search; support of "Alias" files for each search index; enhanced searching techniques for faster response times; new holds module; new reserve book room module; and a new company policy to offer interfaces to a wide variety of acquisitions/serials control systems.

[ULISYS Software Group, Ltd., 18 Gostick Place, Suite 225-L, North Vancouver, B.C., V7M 3G3 Canada; (604) 987-0588.]

UNISYS offers turnkey systems configured around the UNISYS 1100/2200 machines. The product, known as PALS, uses the OS1100 operating system with the COBOL programming language. The company reports sales of 15 systems during the year, bringing its total to 41--22 in North America. The company realized revenues of $5 to $10 million and realized an after-tax profit. Ninety-eight percent of the sites were using the online patron access catalog; 54 percent had report generator; and / 80 percent were using circulation. Some 44 percent had local cataloging; 42 percent were using acquisitions; and 39 percent had serials control. Community information and interlibrary loan were both at 7 percent of the sites; and 3 percent had inventorying. Forty-four percent of the systems had the OCLC interface; 4 percent had a BiblioFile interface; and 7 percent were using the remote data base searching interface. Twenty percent were using word processing. Two sites had over 400 terminals, 12 had 100-199, 8 had 60-99, 3 had 30-60, 3 had 16-29, one had 8-15, 11 had 2-7, and one had 1 terminal. Thirteen staff are committed to software maintenance and development, and 21 staff are committed to other customer support. Major enhancements included a new MARC editor and inventory control modules added.

[UNISYS Corporation, P.O. Box 500, 3-140, Blue Bell, PA 19424; (215) 986-4023.]

UTLAS offers turnkey systems and software packages for Tandem computers. The system uses Tandem's Guardian operating system. The programming language is COBOL. One new system and three total system replacements were sold in 1989, bringing the total installations to 14--13 in North America. No systems were awaiting installation and/or acceptance at the end of the year. Total revenues were between $2.5 and $5 million, which reflects turnkey/local systems sales only. Profitability information was not provided. All sites were using local cataloging, circulation, report generator, and inventorying. The online patron access catalog was in use at half of the sites; 30 percent had authority control; and 20 percent had materials booking. None of the sites had acquisitions, serials control, interlibrary loan, journal citation files, or community information. Half of the sites had an OCLC interface. RLIN and BiblioFile interfaces were each in use at 10 percent; and 3 percent had a UTLAS interface. Twenty percent had a local area network interface, and half of the sites had interfaces with other library systems from the same vendor. Eight sites were supporting 200-399 terminals, 2 had 100-199, one had 30-60, and 3 had 16-29 terminals. Nine persons were committed to software maintenance and development, and 8 were committed to other customer support. Major enhancements during 1989 included: authority control and library-specified OPAC screen layouts.

[UTLAS International Canada, 80 Bloor Street West, Toronto, Ontario M5S 2Vl; (416) 923-0890.]

VTLS offers both turnkey systems and software packages using Hewlett-Packard and IBM computers. The operating system is MPE/MPE-XL and Image on HP, and VMI SQL on IBM. The company reported selling 19 systems during 1989, bringing its total to 118--81 in North America--at the end of 1989. Twenty-one systems were awaiting installation and/or acceptance at years end. The organization's gross sales were between $2.5 and $5 million, and it did realize an after-tax profit. The company reported that all of its sites were using local cataloging and online patron access catalog; 15 percent had report generator capabilities; 95 percent were using circulation; 80 percent had authority control; 50 percent used serials control; 40 percent had interlibrary loan; 8 percent used acquisitions; one percent each used community information and journal citation files. Some 45 percent were using the OCLC interface, and 5 percent each had the RLIN interface and WLN interface. Five percent were using the LC-CD authorities interface, and one percent had the BiblioFile interface. A local area network interface was used by 15 percent, and an interface to other systems by the same vendor by 35 percent. Eight percent were using word processing, and 3 percent were using remote data base searching. Six sites were supporting 100-199 terminals, 15 had 60-99, 28 had 30-60, 30 had 16-29, 25 had 8- 15, and 14 had 2-7 terminals. VTLS reported that it had a staff of 17 people committed to software maintenance and development, and 34 committed to other customer support at the end of 1989. Major enhancements included: announced IBM platform software called MARCUS: and released VTLS-89; developed VTLS-RIM (Remote Information Manager) and Al based user interface called Intelligent Workstation.

[VTLS, 1800 Kraft Drive, Blacksburg, VA 24060; (703) 231-3637.]


Publication Information


PublisherLibrary Systems Newsletter was published by the American Library Association.
Editor-in-Chief:Howard S. White
Contributing Editor:Richard W. Boss
ISSN:0277-0288
Publication Period1981-2000
Business modelAvailable on Library Technology Guides with permission of the American Library Association.