Evnisionware Products were installed at my local library. These products have changed what used to be a pleasant experience to an experience that is very extremely unpleasant, and wastes a patron’s time.

These products weren’t even needed by the library. The library got a grant, so now they have Envisionware. The expense doesn’t end there. There is then maintenance fees, the cost of system printers, a reservation station, and now bar code readers. This is a small county library with a small number of computers. It is definitely over kill, and a waste of tax payers money. It also wastes patrons time.

Here are my personal experience with the products installed: PC Reseveration and LPT:One.

Overall, I have seen beta software products that have less bugs. There is no way these products have been adequately tested. Unfortunately, my library did not do an testing or trials of the products, so they are stuck with them.

If you want to decrease patronage at the library, these are definitely the products to buy. Computer usage has dropped dramatically at the library. I don’t hardly use it myself anymore, since it is too annoying.

The library bought two systems, the reservation system called PC Reservation and the printing module, called LPT:One. The vendors web site says most libraries provide the printing at no charge. My library decided that patrons were printing “too much”, so they increased the cost by 100% – well beyond the actual costs incurred. In addition, some of the staff has no interpersonal skills, so their idea of patron relations when you want your print out, is to say “Give me 10 cents.” Walmart does a better job of taking your money. In addition, I have repeatedly been charged for worthless printouts, such as one that only says “Data Missing”. The librarian insists that if the job is in the print queue, you have to pay for it. When this is brought to the Managers attention, that patrons are being charged for worthless printouts, I was told that the small fee isn’t worth her time.

I realize that these last issues aren’t a function of the software, it is a function of management.

The worst part of the printing cost is the impact on those in the lower social economic brackets who are trying to get ahead. A report for school or college, of 15 pages, printed 4 times, would cost $6.00. This is probably an insignificant expense to the library staff, since they aren’t in the lower social economic bracket. For a family with several students, or a single mother trying to go to college at night, this is a significant expense. The library is supported by tax dollars, and should not be gouging the patrons.

You can check out all the videos you want for free, or read all the best seller paperbacks, but if you are trying to suceed at an educational endeavor – it will cost you money.

Printing was 5 cents a page, with 10 free copies. The Envisionware web site says that 85% of the libraries provide free printing after installing the software.

In the case of my library, they decided to charge an excessive fee, well beyond costs of a little over a penny. The software enables them to do this. The logic is the “people were printing too much”. Since when is it the governments role to pass judgement on peoples printing.

PC Reservation

I can barely stand to use this product. Typically, I have to log back in about every 7 minutes. The computer hangs, and I have to reboot. needless to say, I lose my place and my work.

Here are a few of the situations I encounter:

1. The software can’t do basic math correctly. There should be 15 minutes left in my session, and it says 23.

2. The cursor jerks, and has an hour glass with it. It takes about 5 tries, due to the jerking, to get it to line up on a slection to be able to click.

3. On occassion, everything that should be white on the screen turns purple, and you can’t read the screen.

4. The load on the system slows it down, and you spend your time waiting. I estimate that my productivity is reduced by 50%.

5. Almost every session, when I try to do something, such as lock it, I get the message “could not create socket”. Then you reboot, type in your library card all over again, and waste more time. This can also happen when you come back and are trying to unlock the computer.

6. When you unlock, sometimes you just get the blue screen, and have to reboot.

7. Half the time, you can’t print preview tifs, and even when you do, they don’t print property. They print real small, so they are unreadable. Of course, you have to pay for these worthless copies!

8. You can’t get off the screen their annoying bar that tells you how many minutes are left, so you have to keep moving it around, to read your screen, wasting more time.

9. There is repetitive annoying reminders that a session is due to end. They are excessive.

LPT:One
As a patron, the product is unacceptable, and wastes my time. In addition, the product wastes staff time. Here is how
it works:

1. The computer user clicks print. Then a confirmation screen comes up, and they must click ok. Then another screen comes up, telling them what the cost will be. You click OK. Then a third screen comes up, to tell you that the job is queing, and then tells you the job is in the queue.

This is excessive, and a waste of time. In addition, the cost screen shouldn’t be necessary after the first print job by a patron.

2. The next step is to go get your printout. First, you must lock the computer, because you are leaving it, and if you have to stand in line for a while, then the Envisionware software will terminate your job, and you will lose your place and work. You click lock, and then type in a password twice.

3. Walk to the reference desk where the printer is located. Often, there are no librarians there, so you stand and wait. On the otherhand, there could also be a line of people to get their printouts, so you stand and wait. Then you pay your 10 cents, the staff person walks across the room to deposit the dime, and then comes back to print your one page. You get your printout.

4. Then, you walk back to the room with the computer, and unlock the computer.

The above took 15 minutes for an item I printed last week, since I had to wait in line. On the second occassion I printed a page, it took 14 minutes. There was no line the second time, but there was also no staff present at the desk, so I had to go look for some one.

So to get two print outs, took a total of 29 minutes of my time. This doesn’t count the 18 minutes it took to make the second printout, because the system crashed once, and I had to wait on a reboot, and it asked for my library card 3 times, including when I clicked print !!!!

Imagine repeating the above process 5 times to get a quality print out.

I have ceased patronizing my local library after they installed PCReservation and LPT:One.

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Every time there is even a whisper of increasing the libraries budget, I intend to be at the meetings to verbalize how they are wasting tax payer dollars with paying maintenance for the Envisionware software and buying bar code readers for the Envisionware products.

Half the problem is that a county with 89,000 residents does not need a library card with 20 digits. At most a 6 digit library card would take care of the population for decades.

Until the library either reduces the price of printing or makes video and CD rental $10.00 each, they don’t need an increase in their budget. If anything,. the budget should be reduced. Their Envisionware product saved 90% of the staff time, so where is the staff reduction.