We have been told recently that our library may have to change from Follett to Surpass due to Follett pricing continuing to rise. Also, we are so behind on Follett updates that if we upgraded, our server would not be able to support Follett. Would those of you who use Surpass share your experiences? Were you able to successfully export all the catalog over to Surpass?
Thanks,
Ann Nored
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I'm not sure I can help. I was using Surpass, as I've mentioned before. I'm not sure at this point if it is still available, but surpass did allow for a "catagory" to be sent to another space in the record...such as changing the dewey, or placing a note in a differnt field in Surpass from where it might have been in the old format. I suspect this will be hard to understand without seeing it happen, i.e., saving something that otherwise would not transferr.
Hi Paul,
That's correct! We can move a particular subfield of information to another space if needed. Just this morning, I had to move a call number from their old system's spot for it (852$k) to Surpass's spot for it (852$h).
Hi Ann!
I work at Surpass and my attention was recently brought to this question. I know it's been a while, but I wanted to touch base in case you are still weighing your decision.
It seems that a lot of libraries are in a similar position to yours! While I don't think it would be fair for me to share my experiences since I'm so biased, I do want to direct you to our Capterra page where lots of our librarians have left their thoughts on Surpass: https://www.capterra.com/p/10010536/Surpass/#reviews
As for migrating your catalog over, we have librarians on our team that can help with that process. We'll take a look at your 852 (local holdings) data and make sure that all of your Follett fields will map over to the places you want them in Surpass (think call numbers, categories, etc). One thing to be aware of is that Follett typically uses 'T' style barcodes and we do not, however, we've built in a tool that will keep your current barcodes compatible so that you don't have to worry about relabeling.
One thing to be aware of is that circulation data does not transfer between systems, so transaction history and fines will not walk over. You would perform a "side-by-side" after the migration for that part. If you want to have us take a look at your data or to chat more, we're happy to help! Feel free to shoot us an email at sales@surpasssoftware.com
Best,
Naomi
We have 16,700 books in our collection. Not sure what your size limit is.
Ann
I'm not sure about Surpass. I've used it many years ago because they allowed certain updates, and transfers. However, be careful. Some programs when moving to another program might update the 'record' and give you the wrong date for the work you have. I've seen this happen with Readerware when asking it to add something from another database. I would test it with a few items first.
Records are usually easily transferred. Check with the new software company and they will walk you through it. I would suggest making sure your records are a "clean" as possible.
Thanks, Carol.
Ann
Sad to say that not all exports are easy transfers. When my records were downloaded from Concourse for the export, they came with dollar signs on the cost/price, publication dates had (c) in front of some, and creator names were last, first...and there were no tags used by the previous system. Before I could import into our new system, Libib Pro, I had to remove the dollar signs and any (c), make the creator names by first last (commas meant an additional creator to Libib), and determine & enter as many tags as possible. Prayers for a much simpler transfer for you!