Centralization Success with Surpass: A Technician's Viewpoint

Walton County (Georgia) Public Schools
Interview with Duane Embry, Director of Instructional Technology

As a technician, what do you think of Surpass?

Surpass is a great product! As a technician, I would definitely recommend centralization with Surpass. Surpass has essentially been maintenance free on my part. Now that we're installed and up and running, most of my work is maintaining the upgrades, which are easy to get. You just log into SurpassSupport.com and download them.

How well has Surpass Support served you?

Support was a key issue when we were looking for a centralized solution. We wanted to make sure the software vendor we chose was responsive and easy to reach. With Surpass, the level of support was much more generous than with other systems we reviewed.

With Surpass, all of the media specialists at our 13 schools can call support; with other systems, only 2 or 3 people in the district could call. The media specialists like being able to call themselves without going through another person first. They get their questions answered more quickly and easily that way.

Do you think Surpass is a good buy?

Economically, I think Surpass has been well worth the money we spent on it. It is certainly much more reasonably priced than many other products, and the support is so much broader. We've been especially happy with Surpass Copycat [copy cataloging software]. It's a good price and has saved us quite a bit of time.

Did Surpass ease your workload?

Overall, Surpass certainly makes my job as a technician easier! I think someone with even limited technical understanding could maintain a centralized installation of Surpass. Actually, if I weren't here, I think the media specialists could run the system fine without me!

Centralization Success with Surpass: A Media Specialist's Viewpoint

Walton County (Georgia) Public Schools
Interview with Jocelyn Deal, Media Specialist, Loganville Elementary School

What is your favorite feature of Surpass?

Having a centralized installation has been rewarding; I like that we are global within the county. For example, if a child has moved to our school but is already enrolled in another school, you just bring them over. It allows me to really quickly enter a child without going into the school administration program. If the child has overdue materials from a former library, that shows up, too. We also share MARC records, which saves cataloging time for all the media specialists in the district. The benefits of centralization are great!

Which administrative features of Surpass do you find most useful?

I like that you can customize the screen, which is like a grid. You need different information visible for different times. I choose to see exactly what I am concerned with most of the time: bar code, call number, category, status. The other information I move to the side where it is still available but not cluttering the screen.

A special use I had for the customizable grid was when I wanted to compare how each school in the district was cataloging a certain type of media, class book sets. By simply moving call number and category in the grid next to the location, I got the information I needed quickly on the screen and without even generating a report.

Also, I also like being able to toggle back and forth between circulation and patron screens. There are tabs at the bottom of the screen that make it easy to see what area you're in and to switch to another. When I have an armful of books, I can even just use the function keys!

What do you think about cataloging with Surpass Copycat?

I can't tell you how much I love Copycat! I have access to free MARC records, know they're accurate, and can quickly import them. Though properly cataloging a book is a critical function, I am a school library media specialist, not a professional cataloger. My feet need to be out in the school where I am actually putting books in the hands of kids. Copycat frees up my time to do that.

How does Surpass Copycat improve processing new acquisitions?

Surpass Copycat is wonderful! For example, after books fairs we are able to receive part of our profit in books. Without Copycat, I'd be hesitant to accept the books; it's often hard to find MARC records because the books are so new, and it's so time-consuming to do the cataloging. However, with Copycat I am not hesitant to get these great new books because I can catalog so quickly and accurately.

Do you like Safari Selections, the subscription service that pulls book jacket pictures into search results?

Kids are so visual. You tell them not to judge a book by its cover, but they really are drawn by the cover illustrations. They use them when they're searching because it's like browsing the shelves.

Book jackets help me track down overdue materials, too. Kids might not recognize the title when I ask for it, but when I turn the monitor to show them the book jacket, they remember!

Overall, what do you think of Surpass?

Surpass has more features than we've had with past software. And I've been really pleased with Surpass Support, too. The Surpass Support staff has been really helpful and always good about getting back to me when necessary. I'm very pleased with Surpass.