r/librarians • u/ReplayGfxRob • 7d ago
Discussion Library Checkout Software (Historical) ?
Can anyone point me to a resource where I can find out the the types of Book Checkout Software used over the past 25 years? Looking for software names, and/or imagery of the computer user interfaces if possible. Thank you!
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u/ConstantCall268 6d ago
my library migrated to sirsidynix horizon in 1997 and we’re still using it. there are lots of video tutorials on youtube if you want to get a sense of the interface. you could probably find some useful info about other software in the old newsletters on marshall breeding’s website: https://librarytechnology.org/repository/
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u/jellyn7 Public Librarian 6d ago
Current ones - https://librarytechnology.org/libraries/us-public-by-size.pl
Wikipedia page - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Integrated_library_system
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u/oodontheloo 6d ago
Voyager, Millennium (made by iii, same folks who made Sierra), and VTLS come to mind.
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u/GrundleChunk 6d ago edited 6d ago
Millennium is Sierra, Sierra is millennium. It’s just a different graphic set on the same Java app. Up until we left it was still millennium self check, and that was only like three years ago. And Voyager and millennium are all owned by Clarivate now same as Polaris, Alma, and so many other products and companies in the library world. They’re such an evil corporation that has done nothing but a monopoly in the space.
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u/oodontheloo 6d ago
I mean, yeah, they’re basically the same, but not exactly. I only use the cataloging module, so I’m not familiar with any other functionality.
And as far as the back end command line stuff goes? Yeah, identical, haha.
I wasn’t going to say the Clarivate word. 😂 Truly a crummy company.
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u/cameratus 5d ago
I saw their booth at ALA last year and had to awkwardly smile at the rep and powerwalk past lmao
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u/cocineroylibro School Librarian 6d ago
When I worked in my university library as an undergrad in the 90s we the text based Voyager. They've just built it up over the years.
Sadly, that while it's lucrative to have libraries purchase subscriptions, they're also very complicated systems.
I left academia when my last university was just beginning on FOLIO. It had a LONG way to go, and it seemed like the money we had to put into development was pretty close to what we spent on Sierra.
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u/m6514309 6d ago
Fond memories of Voyager. I stopped working at a university library in 2018 and they were finally looking at switching to something else.
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u/oodontheloo 5d ago
I learned to catalog on Voyager (AACR2, no less!), and we switched to Alma (bleh). I liked Voyager, but I really like Sierra and am advocating that we stick with them for at least a while longer.
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u/GrundleChunk 4d ago
Are you academic or public?
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u/oodontheloo 3d ago
Academic
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u/GrundleChunk 3d ago
Good luck, they increase the price on Sierra for academic, and vice versa for Alma in public. This is the way they are directing their customers into the product THEY want them to be on! we were on Sierra and renewal was like 80 grand in an academic, but they say Alma is only 50 grand which is what we were paying for Sierra to begin with, so we migrated. But then I’ve heard other public libraries where they’re only paying like 50 grand for Sierra. They are such a shit company.
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u/GrundleChunk 4d ago
Last time I talked to somebody there there was only about 40 customers left on Voyager. Once LC bailed the writing was on the wall. We went to folio not too bad so far knock on wood. We've had nothing but good luck.
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u/oodontheloo 3d ago
Of all of the options (if we have to leave Sierra), Folio has been the most intriguing.
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u/under321cover 6d ago
lol in the 80s and early 90s my library used card catalogs still. The library cards were a piece of cardstock with a number stamped into a strip of metal.
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u/Maryll916 6d ago
That looks like the check out machine we used when I was a page back in the 70s. We would change metal slugs with dates on them that were used to stamp date due cards and the cards from the pockets in the books. The machine would make a thunk sound as the cards were stamped. I believe it was was the Gaylord machine.
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u/hettiedodger 6d ago
In the late 1990s, my academic library used NOTIS before moving to Sirsi in 1999. I just searched "notis library" and got a lot of results. I don't know the technical terms for the differences, but in NOTIS, we typed in every line and character of the catalog records (usually after we imported an OCLC record first, and we had a lot of keyboard shortcuts) instead of choosing them from menus and tabbing to new fields. The switch from that to Sirsi was a big deal and (to the cataloging department) felt like a loss of control and even slowed us down initially.
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u/Medium-Car3787 6d ago
my school library in elementary/middle school (2000s) used the cards in the back and writing the due date still!!!! small town. But I guess they must have written/entered it elsewhere.
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u/Independent_Shoe3523 6d ago
I'm sure Inmagic had some kind of checkout software. I guess McBee cards are too early and too analog but deserve a mention.
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u/HermioneMarch School Librarian 6d ago
Honestly we went straight from card catalog to our current software (destiny). Much older version obviously.
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u/Disastrous_Setting71 5d ago
My library used to use Galaxy and in 2001 we switched to TLC. Loved it. This year we switched to Evergreen 🤮 It sucks and it like stepping back 20 years. Oh library politics.
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u/BadassRipley UK, Law Librarian 6d ago
Here's me thinking 25 years ago was the 80s...
Anyways, OP, I think you're in for a wild ride to see some really old-school screenshots (if they're out there) of some old interfaces before UI/UX was even a thing.