The libraries of most CCI colleges are geared to the working adult or career oriented students. Our business model therefore does not lend itself to stacks with large collections of books, periodicals and documents, but rather small collections of resources that are geared specifically to our curriculum. Our libraries are normally run by a single MLS librarian with the help of student assistants.

And while many of our libraries have up to date cataloging and circulation systems, some do not and resort to building collections through dBase and Excel spreadsheets. I also know in many cases this is do to a priority issue within the library or a budget constraint.

The FMU campuses have for a number of years used a product from Sagebrush called "Athena". Athena is a multi-user system that is easy to use and reasonable in cost. The major drawback with Athena is that we can not use its web product and are limited to using the system only on campus. This is due to CCI policies (no on-campus proxy servers)rather than any difficulty with the software.

There are a number of other automation products that are available for small libraries such as ours that offer a good range of services and low cost. Two of these products are listed below. Please feel free to contact these companies and set up a demo.

http://www.librarycom.com

http://www.librarysoft.com

If you still want to consider Athena, you can contact them at:

http://www.sagebrushcorp.com