From the President's Desk

2009 is an exciting year for COMPanion as we release new technology and services across the company.

Alexandria v6.01 will become available this summer for existing customers. At about the same time we’ll also be releasing Textbook Tracker v4. These versions will require that you get new registration codes and as always, will be a FREE upgrade for those who are current on their yearly software subscriptions. We will continue to support and update Alexandria v5 so there is no rush for anyone to upgrade. We’ll also be updating the COMPanion Controller, Web Router and District Librarian to work with the new products.

Our new products will provide a solid platform for the next decade of growth that will enable us to fully take advantage of upcoming hardware, operating systems and advanced web technologies to provide you with the best products in the industry.

There are substantial differences in the new products so before updating, it would be prudent to download the demo version and look at the changes. We will also be providing documentation and videos on making the transition that will help it go more smoothly for everyone who interacts with Alexandria or Textbook Tracker.

In addition to the major software updates we are releasing this year, we are updating our websites, Online Documentation and Training materials. The new documentation Wiki will make it easier for you to get up to date information about your products and how to use them. A new series of videos will be another option you can choose to learn how to get the most out of your software. We are always looking for ways to improve our products and services so please give us feedback via ideas@companioncorp.com—your comments really make a difference.

We recognize that no matter how exciting our new products and technology are, it takes an effort on your part in order to take advantage of our new features. We are working hard to ensure that when you choose to upgrade, that transition will be as smooth as possible.

Everyone at COMPanion appreciates you choosing our products and for referring your friends and professional associates. Thank you.

Bill Schjelderup, President.

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Kaaren's Corner

By Kaaren Linton, Librarian/Alexandria Trainer

Introducing MAX2™!

Great things are happening these days! We’ve talked in the past about other partnerships that COMPanion Corporation has with such companies as Capstone Interactive and Perma-Bound, but now, we want to highlight another partnership that is going to provide fantastic benefits for our Alexandria users. COMPanion Corporation and Mackin Library Media have applied their combined 50 years of experience in the K-12 school library market to establish a new business partnership that was announced in April, 2009. This new partnership is named MAX2™ and will provide many benefits to Alexandria users.

First, Alexandria users will be able to access their personal Mackin.com accounts from within Alexandria. You will also be able to search for and order materials from Mackin.com without changing websites. This will give you access to the world’s largest age-appropriate K-12 database without having to open a browser or leaving Alexandria!

Another benefit of MAX2™ is that you will be able to initiate an automated online collection analysis by Mackin Library Media directly from your Alexandria catalog with only a few extra clicks. If this isn’t enough to put a huge smile on your face, then, the fact that all materials ordered and received from Mackin will automatically be added to your standing collection for real-time title matching using Mackin’s “TitleMatch” system should guarantee that smile. New titles will seamlessly load, match and update your title data directly to your Alexandria online catalog with no additional action required.

Be watching for more great things resulting from the partnership of these two companies. Soon additional new interfaces will be released that will provide web-based collection development tools and the ability for users to easily identify district-approved and/or custom list titles.

Setting Mackin Book Vendor Preferences:

• Go to www.mackin.com and set up an account if you do not already have one established.

• In Alexandria, go to Edit on the menu bar and select Preferences.

• Change the first drop-down menu in the upper-left corner of the Preferences window to Book Vendors and the second drop-down menu to Default Local.

• Click on the Mackin tab and check the box to Enable Mackin, then fill in your Username and Password.

• Click Save in the upper-right corner of the Preferences window.

Note that you can click on the Export Collection button right on this window to export your collection for collection analysis by Mackin. You may also click on the Account Website to go directly to your Mackin account.

Make certain that you have one of the following browsers since these are the ones that Mackin’s site supports:

Internet Explorer v.6 or higher
Firefox v.3 or higher
Safari v.3.2.5 or higher
Chrome v.1 or higher

Accessing Mackin from within Alexandria:

• Click on the Vendor icon under the Current Item pane of the Alexandria Circulation window.

• Select Mackin from the Vendor List.

• An internet browser will open and take you to your account at Mackin’s website.

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Alexandria Tech Tips

Keeping Patron History:

To keep patron history (of the items they have checked out) you need to make sure the Keep Patron History box is checked under the patron record. This is found on the Statistics tab of the Patron Record.

To turn this on for all patrons, go to File>Utilities>Utility Type: Patrons>Operation: Keep Patron History. Once you have turned on Keep Patron History there will be a Show History button in the patron record under the Statistics tab.

If you wish to see the history of an item, go to Show>Items, find the title record in question, and double click on the exact copy you want to see. This opens up the Item Copy Data window. Clicking on Copy Stats will show you the last 5 patrons that checked out the book.

Z39.50 Searches:

For computers that are being used to catalog books using a Z39 server, you’ll need specific network ports open. The Z39 search originates from the machine doing the search, usually through port 210. If the port is closed, you will not be able to contact the Z39 server to download your MARC records. Most of the Z39 servers use the standard, port 210, but there are those places that break from the standard, such as the Library of Congress, which uses port 7090.

When a record is saved, it is sent to the Data Station via port 30724 and then saved in your data file. This port is usually open because it is internal networking between your work stations and the Data Station—so communication over this port is rarely an issue.

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Upcoming Tradeshows

For the latest information on Alexandria Tradeshows, follow this link to our Tradeshow Schedule.