REVIEW OF POLARIS LIBRARY SYSTEMS 9
A Review of Polaris Library Systems
Aimee Maranto
June 23, 2013
LS 573 Summer II 2013
Linthicum Heights, MD
Abstract
The integrated library system (ILS) provided by Polaris Library Systems was described and reviewed. Features of the ILS were explored. An interview with a branch manager in a system that uses Polaris was described. Polaris was compared and contrasted with Evergreen, an open source ILS, in the areas of organization, presentation, and functionality.
Keywords: 3M Cloud, Baltimore County Public Library, BCPL, Evergreen, ILS, integrated library system, open source ILS, PINES, Polaris Library Systems
A Review of Polaris Library Systems
The tasks librarians perform have become increasingly automated. Integrated library systems help coordinate these tasks in a single system. The term “Integrated Library System” or “ILS” is used “to describe software that operates the circulation, cataloging, public-access catalog, reports, and other modules that do the work of typical library operations” (Webber & Peters, 2010, p. 2). Desiree Webber and Andrew Peters state that “selecting an integrated library system is the most important and crucial purchase one can make for the library” (2010, p. xi). This paper reviews an example of a proprietary ILS called Polaris, a product of Polaris Library Systems. It is compared to an open source ILS called Evergreen. Open source means that the software “has either been developed by communities of libraries, such as Evergreen, or is a product in which its source code can be accessed and adapted by others” (Webber & Peters, 2010, p. 7).
Contact for Polaris Library Systems is:
Polaris Library Systems
103 Commerce Boulevard, Suite A
Liverpool, NY 13088
Phone: 800-272-3414
FAX: 315-457-5883
Email:
www.polarislibrary.com
Description
Polaris Library Systems provides a proprietary ILS. It is available as a turnkey or hosted system (Webber & Peters, 2010, p. 18). The company focuses “primarily on providing library automation to public libraries, though in recent years it has also begun to attract customers in academic libraries” (Polaris Library Systems, 2013). The company works with large public library systems, such as Baltimore County Public Library in Maryland; academic libraries, such as Lee College Library in Texas; and consortiums, such as Onondaga County Public Library, which serves the city branches, as well as 20 independent suburban libraries (http://tour.polarislibrary.com/).
The staff interface of the Polaris ILS allows library staff to enter and manage patron and bibliographic information, perform circulation and cataloging functions, create and manage hold requests, track serials information, and track orders. Polaris offers a product called SimplyReports to create custom reports from this information (http://www.polarislibrary. com/simplyreports/).
Added Features
The Polaris PowerPAC provides Feature It, which allows resources and upcoming community events to be displayed on the website (http://www.polarislibrary.com/polaris-discovery-suite/). This would help patrons discover resources they did not know about. Faceted searching, available from the PowerPAC, allows the patron to narrow results by such facets as material type, reading level, and branch (http://www.polarislibrary .com/polaris-discovery-suite/).
Community information can be integrated into the ILS using Polaris’ Community Profiles (http://www.polarislibrary.com/community-profiles/). Community information can be featured on the website and included in the catalog search. This would help patrons discover local information that they may not have sought out on their own. Polaris Mobile PAC is available for use on mobile devices. The mobile app allows patrons to view their account information, renew items, place holds, receive text notification for holds, view branch information and save their preferences for display. A tour of Polaris Mobile PAC is available at tour.polarislibrary.com. Owl iLibrary is available for Apple and Android devices (http://tour.polarislibrary.com/). The flexibility of the mobile app allows patrons to access library services when away from home.
Compatible Applications
The Polaris ILS is compatible with many products. Descriptions and links to 54 companies partnering with Polaris are listed on Polaris’ website (http://www. polarislibrary.com/partners/). CybraryN provides patron authentication and print management software that is compatible with Polaris (www.cybraryn.com). Bibliotheca products allow Polaris to work with RFID technology (www.bibliotheca.com). Unique Management Services utilizes the compatibility with the Polaris ILS to contact patrons about fines and overdue materials on their accounts (www.unique-mgmt.com). There are many other products that can work in conjunction with Polaris to extend the ILS.
In order to encourage development of applications that could be used with Polaris, the company created the Polaris Developer Network. This website provides “outside library software developers with testing tools and the information needed to build their own web or mobile applications using the Polaris integrated library system’s open application programming interface (API)”(Rapp, 2011). Polaris contract customers have free access to the Polaris Developer Network (Rapp, 2011). The website for the Polaris Developer Network is http://developer.polarislibrary.com. Library developers can test their applications at the Polaris Sandbox website (Rapp, 2011).
3M Cloud Library Integration:
One of the most recent developments is the ability to integrate the 3M Cloud Library eBook Lending Service with the Polaris ILS. Baltimore County Public Library (BCPL), a library system in Maryland, was one of the first systems to test this integration (Case study, 2013). This partnership allows patrons to “discover, check out and place holds on eBooks without ever leaving the Polaris library catalog” (3M, 2012). Patrons can view information about eBooks they have checked out in their account information, as well as check in items and remove holds on items. Previous to this integration, patrons interested in checking out eBooks had to navigate to a separate vendor site or app.
The 3M Cloud integration is a boon to staff as well. Cataloging records are automatically received and digital circulation is reflected in all circulation reports (3M, 2012). Less time is needed to demonstrate eBook capability to patrons. Cathy Wortman, the ILS administrator for BCPL, said “customers have commented on how nice and straightforward it is” (Case study, 2013).
Other companies are attempting to develop the same capabilities. SirsiDynix announced integration plans with vendors such as Baker & Taylor (B&T) and OverDrive (Enis, 2013). Polaris is also working with B&T to integrate B&T’s Axis 360 digital media platform (Enis, 2013).
Polaris Website and Support
Polaris provides support on its website for customers. As mentioned previously, the Polaris Developer Network and Polaris Sandbox promote collaboration for subscribers. The website includes news, events, and webinar information. Links to public, academic, and consortium libraries that use Polaris are included at tour.polarislibrary.com. Another feature that could be added for potential customers would be a sample of what the staff interface looks like and functions. The author has some experience with the staff interface of Polaris, and found it to be user-friendly and similar to windows. The usability of the staff interface would be a factor to consider when selecting an ILS.
Interview with a BCPL Branch Manager
BCPL contracted with Polaris in 2009 (Breeding, 2013). BCPL is a large public library system in Maryland, with a service population of 754,292 residents and an annual circulation of 10,130,476 transactions (Breeding, 2013). The first library automation system used by BCPL was CLSI, contracted in 1975, followed by CARL, contracted in 1993 (Breeding, 2013).
On June 16, 2013 the author conducted an interview with Robert Maranto, Jr., the branch manager of the Essex branch of BCPL. He was in this position in 2010, when the system migrated to Polaris from CARL. Overall, he likes the system. Polaris is flexible and the company can tweak the ILS for system-specific needs. This is unlike the process for changes in CARL, where all changes had to be approved by the CARL Users Group. The system is stable and runs very smoothly in the branches. For the conversion process itself, there was some trouble downloading the software on individual computers in the branches from the Administrative Offices. Some installations took hours and needed to be started over. That being said, the conversion process went much more smoothly than the conversion to CARL in 1994, likely due to advances in technology. BCPL was closed to the public for a weekend for the installation of CARL. Mr. Maranto said that the staff is satisfied with Polaris overall. Occasionally, a staff member will want to perform a function that was available in CARL, but not in Polaris.
Mr. Maranto indicated that one of the reasons BCPL migrated to Polaris was because of hardware (personal communication, June 16, 2013). BCPL purchased new servers not long before CARL was bought out by The Library Corporation (TLC). The new product offered by TLC was not compatible with the servers that BCPL had recently purchased. It is important to examine hardware compatibility when considering a new system.
Polaris works in conjunction with other programs. Polaris interfaces with Cybraryn, the software used to manage patron use of the computers. Cybraryn accesses Polaris to verify library card numbers and the status of patron accounts. If a patron has a block on their account, the block must be resolved before the patron can use the public computers. Polaris also interacts with the software used for the RFID tagging system provided by Bibliotheca RFID Library Systems. Mr. Maranto talked about how easy the recent integration of 3M Cloud into the OPAC is for staff and patrons.
BCPL is well-staffed to oversee the ILS. Cathy Wortman is a full-time ILS Administrator and she has an assistant. In addition, BCPL has an Information Services department to oversee electronic resources and an IT department to oversee hardware and other technology.
Other library systems in Maryland are using Polaris, including Howard County Library (www.hclibrary.org), Prince George’s County Memorial Library System (www.pgcmls.info), and Harford County Public Library (hcplonline.org).
Comparison to an Open Source Integrated Library System
The Polaris ILS is compared to Evergreen, an open source Integrated Library System. Evergreen was developed by the Georgia Public Library System in 2006. The system now uses PINES for the 275 libraries in the system (evergreen-ils.org). According to the Evergreen website (evergreen-ils.org), the product is“highly-scalable software for libraries.”
The availability of technical information is difficult to compare because the technical information for Polaris is available on the Polaris Developer Network and Polaris Sandbox are open only to subscribers. Evergreen provides extensive technical information from the Documentation menu on the website (evergreen-ils.org). The official documentation for the ILS is included for the current versions, developer version, and older versions. The documentation for the older versions is presented in HTML and PDF format. The documentation for the other versions is presented in HTML, PDF and EPUB formats. The documentation is extensive and includes information about software installation for server and staff clients, system configuration, system and local administration, acquisitions, cataloging, serials, circulation, using the public access catalog, and more. Also available from the Documentation menu on the website is a link to the Document Interest Group (DIG). DIG conducts meetings, assigns tasks to volunteers, and maintains a discussion list. There is a DIG test server and links to official and unofficial documentation for Evergreen. The Development Roadmap includes information about planned releases and historical information such as release notes, bug fixes, and technical improvements. There is also an Evergreen wiki organized by subject.
To compare the organization, presentation, and functionality between Polaris and Evergreen, the online catalogs of BCPL (bcpl.info) and PINES (gapines.org/eg/ opac/home) were used. All three of these aspects are important to evaluate when considering an ILS.
The organization of the catalogs available at bcpl.info and gapines.org/ed/ opac/home are similar. A user familiar with one would be able to use the other one easily. Both provide accordion menus to access special features. Both have the ability to place holds, email, and add items to a favorites list. The links to these options are both at the top right-hand corner of the screen. BCPL provides the additional capability to share an item using social media, including Facebook and Pinterest.
The presentation of PINES is uncluttered, yet still provides several options on the simple search screen. One can use drop down menus to limit the search by format, search type, and/or library. On bcpl.info, the simple search screen is busier and includes accordion menus on the side for browsing new materials by subject. One can limit the search by format. There are also book covers at the bottom of the screen for browsing. Polaris provides a kids catalog available on bcpl.info. The presentation for this is colorful and uses pictures to help children select themes for browsing.
The BCPL catalog and PINES both offer a wide range of functionality in the catalog and added features. The PINES website (gapines.org/eg/opac/home) offers a link to an advanced search page, which provides the capability for Boolean searching, limiting item type and form, language, audience, video format, and literary form (fiction or non-fiction). When selecting multiple choices in these categories, the user must click on the selection and use the Control button to select more. Lesser experienced users may not know to do this. A very useful feature is the ability to limit the search to available and select a particular library on the advanced search page. This would be helpful for patrons or librarians searching for materials that are available for the patron at that time at that location. There is no link for an advanced search on bcpl.info, but after performing a quick search, the user can limit the results by multiple facets, including type of material, subject, author, literary form, and series. The user is able to click in the check boxes to select multiple options. This is easier for patrons than using the Control button in PINES. The search results on bcpl.info reveal the number of copies available in the system, but a user would still need to go into the item record or Map It feature to reveal if the item is available at a particular branch. Both pages provide links at the top of the page to navigate to other parts of the website.
The bibliographic records and features on gapines.org/eg/opac/home and bcpl.info are similar. Both systems provide location, ISBN information, a physical description, publication information, subject headings linked to the catalog, awards, reviews, MARC records, and added content provided by NoveList, goodreads and Syndetics, a Bowker product. The PINES catalog includes a Shelf Browser feature, which shows items that would be shelved close to the item retrieved. BCPL’s catalog provides a Map It feature which shows a map with teardrops at each location indicating how many copies of a title are available. BCPL also includes a Summary/Biography profile of characters in the book. This could be helpful when assisting patrons looking for a book when they do not know the title, but know details about the character. The BCPL catalog has more series information available than the PINES catalog.