Marg Alexandria

The product went from a very user friendly system to a very cumbersome one with lots of steps required to do once simple functions. Running reports, checking items/patron statuses, and more have turned into multi-step operations that take time away from servicing students and staff. Add in programming bugs and the frustration has reached very high levels. When calling support I often talk to reps who haven't used the updated program, or not being librarians themselves do not understand what I am trying to accomplish with the program and therefore are unable to help. Hopefully a situation is found soon because I would once again prefer to like using this software since I need to rely on it daily.

My recommendation would be to look around and see what else is available that might meet your needs before making the decision to go with Alexandria. In this day and age, no one should have to host their own servers or import your own students. In my opinion it's a huge waste of man hours and it's limiting the resources you're offering your students. Look around and make an informed decision before you purchase. Reports are cumbersome to compile and often times don't give you what you really want. Often times when you call customer service you get handed off time and time again and must repeat your 'story' over and over again until someone finally helps you figure it out.

It is limiting to only have access to Alexandria as downloaded software, especially as a Chromebook user. Additionally, the lack of intuity with the names of commands makes it difficult for non-librarian trained staff to use the program to the fullest.

While the customer service is excellent, the product is not intuitive, is lacking a quality search function and lacking integration with other technologies (Overdrive, databases, etc.). There is a lot of manual inputting.

As a first year librarian, I feel like I struggle to navigate my way through the system. Also, there are too many steps for some actions (i.e. Holding a books) I also feel like the program freezes and becomes unresponsive more than normal.