Help! New software needed for church library

I'm the head librarian for a church in Malaysia. We are interested in purchasing an updated software system for our library, as ours is quite dated and no longer supported by the local vendor. For various reasons, we cannot utilize open-source software.

I have been trying to do a little research online, and have narrowed my list down to the following:
1. ResourceMate
2. Church Library Organizer Pro by PrimaSoft Inc
3. Surpass CL

These types of software are not available here in Malaysia (I will have to order and have it shipped here), nor are there many churches that I can visit to see the software in action. Thus I'm hoping members of this forum can help me make a decision. Does anyone have any experience with these different software packages? Are they easy to use? Which would you recommend?

I'm quite anxious about the prospect of having to completely re-catalogue our entire collection into a new system. Our books already have bar codes and our patrons already have scannable cards. Does anyone have any experience transferring an entire collection from one software program to another? Is there a way to do this easily?

Thanks for any advice and recommendations.

Transfer your thread to the Group, Librarians who Librarything , maybe the

members will notice for asking assistance.

click this:( Your post being in the correct Group )

www.librarything.com/topic/173262

Do you believe in angels ?

Have you try to use Microsoft Excel to catalogue the books in your church?

Ii can be done at no cost at all, if you are familiar with the MS Excel software and do it by yourself.

I am not a computer expert but experimentng with "trial and error" undertaking in creating spreadsheets and records. Maybe, some of your fellow congregation's members especially the younger generation are the experts in computer's working knowledge.

Maybe, you can "cut and paste" essential information fields in your existing records(a existing catalog software) to a newly created Excel spreadsheets. You can ask for help at your church whether it is possible or you have to do it manually one entry at a time in the spreadsheet.

We considered Surpass and thought it a good system, but church balked at paying the annual maintenance fee for the software. We chose Librarything which does everything we need for cataloging -- in fact, everything we needed from Surpass. With the saved money purchased a laptop for catalog access and access to online resources. We continue to use a card system for check out which works fine for us. There is an import system for LibraryThing. An you can export to an Excel or print listing for shelf list.

The LT"s cataloguing system is very advanced and do serve the needs of a library.
You can click at

http://www.librarything.com/catalog/razzamajazz

This will give you a specimen of how a LibraryThing's catalog display as appear in this website.
The system has many options and you can select according to your requirements - there are many different spreadsheet's layouts; adjusting information fields by just clicking your "mouse" to the correct menu and many other options to select.

As long as your bibliographic records are stored in MARC format, it is relatively easy to move from one library automation system to another.

I've moved two libraries' bibliographic databases to new software with minimal issues. Moving patron databases can be a bit trickier if you have multiple types of patrons.

If your old software does not store bibliographic records in MARC format, cost of converting them for use in the new software may be higher than you're willing to pay.

You're located in Malaysia, but you don't say what language(s) are most heavily represented in your collection. If you can identify other libraries which own many of the same types of materials you do, and are able to download bibliographic records from them using z39.50 protocol (same protocol used for downloading records to LibraryThing) recataloging your collection will go much faster.

Be sure whatever new software you choose can not only import MARC records but also RETAINS the MARC format when they're stored. Plan for the future. In another 10-20 years it's likely that your library will need different software again--and you don't want your successor (or yourself) to face having to re-catalog the collection again.

Is there an academic library close to you? Librarians there may be able to assist you in evaluating the software you're considering.

Have you considered Koha?

http://koha-community.org/

It's free and open-source so it's available in Malaysia or anywhere.

I used it in a medium sized private library and it worked great. I did not install it, myself, and I suspect you need at least medium-level computer skills to do so.

It might be more than a church library needs, with full check-out capabilities.

When I've run church libraries, I just had a digital catalog system (like LibraryThing) but used old-fashioned cards and date stamps.