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Summer 2004 Update

THE ISSUE:

We have been using EBSCO's LinkSource and A-to-Z for just about a year and we have been satisfied with the product and the service. In the last two weeks, however, we have reviewed two other link resolvers: TDNet's TOUR and SFX.

Link resolvers are considered a "light" application, meaning that they are not terribly complicated in and of themselves. The most important pieces are actually apart from the software itself: those pieces being the knowledgebase against which the application resolves, and the reliability of the database from which the OpenURL is generated (this is beyond the control of the resolver itself). We are also considering customer service and company responsiveness, as well as compliance with published standards.

THE COMPARISON:

The criteria we are using to judge the products are:

  1. functionality of the resolver
  2. knowledgebase maintenance/updating
  3. hosted vs local maintenance
  4. customer service
  5. customizability of products
  6. relative stability and reputation of the vendor
  7. standards compliance
  8. price

EBSCO (our current vendor)

  1. Resolver works well; some lingering problems with Gale products which may be cleared up soon
  2. Knowledge base is fairly solid; we encountered one major problem, but it has been satisfactorily resolved
  3. Hosted solution, therefore, no hardware or software maintenance required
  4. Customer service has been quite responsive, our initial contact was knowledgeable and helpful
  5. Can customize text and some graphics
  6. Company is stable and diversified, and is well-respected
  7. NOT OpenURL 1.0 compliant, although this has not seemed to impede linking
  8. estimated at about $8,000 for LinkSource, A-to-Z and EJS

OVERALL RATING: 8 out of 10

TDNet

  1. Resolver seems to work fine
  2. Knowledgebase has known issues with embargo dates, but should be resolved in next release. Weekly updates.
  3. Hosted or local solutions
  4. Customer service is iffy - the company is very small and they may not have the manpower to serve quickly enough
  5. Limited customizability
  6. Company is very small and only has two products, but it is a division of a much larger Israeli company
  7. OpenURL version 1.0 compliant, including San Antonio profile
  8. Estimated at $6,000 to $8,000 per year

OVERALL RATING: 6 out of 10

SFX

  1. The "cadillac" of resolvers; first one ever produced
  2. Knowledgebase is probably more robust than others; uses multiple names for one journal; updated monthly, although slated for more frequent updates
  3. Local installation (quoted)
  4. Customer service unknown, but many large research libraries use SFX
  5. Highly customizable
  6. Company is part of Ex Libris
  7. The director invented the OpenURL standard and continues to update it! Ensures optimal performance...
  8. Approx. $10,000 for initial installation, approx. $3,500 thereafter

OVERALL RATING: 9 out of 10

IMPACT ON OUR USERS:

Our users will only be affected by a change insofar as the A-to-Z list will look different if we move to another product. Since the resolver is built into our databases already, we can keep the same wording and the change would be practically transparent for our patrons.

CONCLUSION:

Since the pricing is very similar for all products, we eliminated cost as a criteria. Our preferences, in order, are:

  1. Be consortial!

    a. Move to SFX with the others and have the system office pay for it OR

    b. Have the consortium join in on EBSCO and have the system office pay for it*

  2. Stay with EBSCO on our own
  3. Move to SFX with the others to have common interface
  4. Switch to TDNet? only if the other two options are absolutely impossible

*We would be equally satisfied with either choice.


comments:

If it ain't broke... -- Fri, 30 Jul 2004 18:30:25 +0000 reply
If you are happy with EBSCO at Western, you should stick with it. As for Eastern, TOUR would be good enough, but that's for the librarians to decide, not me. We don't need SFX, but again, that's just my opinion.

All the Same -- Fri, 30 Jul 2004 18:57:51 +0000 reply
All of these products are good enough! Pick any of them and you get most of what you need. I would pick the one that allows the best opportunity for growth and adapting to future needs, but that's my opinion. brian




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