By Rosario Garza
BCR and Bibliostat.com (formerly Management Dynamics) have signed an agreement
giving libraries that purchase the Bibliostat and Scholarstat Libraries software products a
12.5 percent discount.
Bibliostat software is set up to extract information automatically from a library's
automation system and warehouse it in an independent system. The software extracts
key information during off-peak hours and stores it in an independent SQL database,
preventing competition with a library's automation system's resources. Library staff can
access the information at any time. Transactions are stored in a format that can be
accessed weeks, months or even years later. Key data is not lost with system purges, new
transactions or other system maintenance operations. The software cross- tabulates
millions of rows of information, allowing staff to create reports quickly and easily.
Bibliostat software:
- Displays multiple graphs and tables for circulation, user and holdings
information.
- Provides precalculated report templates, such as circulation by zip code and user
age.
- Produces private or shared report templates.
- Allows single or multiple agencies to view reports.
- Copies graphs and data tables directly into word processing and spreadsheet
applications.
Scholarstat Libraries software allows academic libraries to compare themselves with
their peer libraries based on data from the Association of College and Research Libraries
(ACRL) survey and the Integrated Post-secondary Education Data Survey (IPEDS).
The software assists libraries in gathering
data for accreditation, preparing grant applications, benchmarking a library against other
best-of-class libraries and preparing assessments. It contains data based on hundreds of
variables available from a drop-down list, allows comparisons based on a library's
selected peers or random libraries using specific criteria. All data is automatically
converted into easily understood graphs or tables.
BCR libraries interested in these products should visit the Bibliostat.com Web site
(www.bibliostat.com) for more information. Contact BCR's Rosario Garza
(rgarza@bcr.org) to place your order. Billing is done through your library's monthly
BCR bill.
