Junior Librarian Licence

[LeMarchand]

Had a message yesterday saying that MLS had called to inform us that as we hadn't paid them any money, we should stop using Junior Librarian. (Of course, the message could be garbled, but as I can't reach the caller today I don't know).

 

Does this sound right? We don't pay the support contract money - but we don't use it, and haven't updated the software since we stopped doing so. We do pay for the monthly catalogue updates (not that we've had one for a while). I was under the impression that we had paid for version xxx and were entitled to use it without stumping up an annual fee.

 

I did look at the site, but they seemed to be a bit coy about terms.

[Edu-IT]

I'd say that's rubbish. You initially buy the software and then its yours. You obviously won't get support or upgrades unless you pay for that, but, you should be able to use the version you purchased at.

[LeMarchand]

Cheers! That's what I thought.

[Edu-IT]

I'd double check it though. I don't have the terms to hand so they may have been crafty. :-D

[laserblazer]

Did you get any further with this. Our renewal came in today.

[LeMarchand]

Did you get any further with this. Our renewal came in today.

 

No - I rang the lady numerous times on Thursday and Friday, but she was never in. Will try again today and post here if I get a straight answer.

[laserblazer]

£307 + vat per annum for support!

[Edu-IT]

£307 + vat per annum for support!

Worth mentioning that this includes, if I remember, updates and also labels and the Discovery service etc?

[LeMarchand]

OK, got a reply.

 

You are entitled to carry on using the software version you were using at the time of your subscription, but not (obviously) to update it. Subscription benefits include: updates, support and the Discovery service (as stated by Edu-IT). I guess it depends on whether you think it's worth £300 for those things. Personally speaking, I'm unconvinced - though maybe paying for a year every so often just to upgrade might make sense.

[LeMarchand]

maybe paying for a year every so often just to upgrade might make sense.

 

Bearing in mind there's a £100 "rejoin fee"(!), maybe not...

 

*Wonders about Open Source library software*

[witch]

The library lady here blithely ticked the box and we paid for the lot - but I don't want to do the upgrade as it looks a bit problematic and it took me a long time to get the program working on the network as it is.

I am happy with it as it is so wont be paying again

[laserblazer]

I'm still running three updates ago (25) All the latest updates seemed only to address issues with stuff we don't use.

[LeMarchand]

The library lady here blithely ticked the box and we paid for the lot - but I don't want to do the upgrade as it looks a bit problematic and it took me a long time to get the program working on the network as it is.

I am happy with it as it is so wont be paying again

 

I've not had any upgrade problems at the schools I support that still subscribe, however they all run the program as "standalone" on a dedicated machine.

 

I'm still running three updates ago (25) All the latest updates seemed only to address issues with stuff we don't use.

 

Exactly! The school that isn't subscribing doesn't need any added functionality and isn't experiencing any problems with the version they are on. £400 is a lot for what amounts to a slightly improved interface!

[john]

Not talking MLS here but in general, our place made that mistake of going meh looks a lot of money we don't want that etc, then Bang Windows XP SP3, the Alice catalogue was weird and just not right and it was never right after then, thus now we are on Win 7 we've had it no support, no updates etc and now faced with around £4K for a new program. I'd say well worth the money myself but don't see why ICT should be paying, the Library should be paying for it.