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The merger of Athena and Winnebago under the Sagebrush banner has left the two systems thriving separately.
In this release, Winnebago shows the trend towards increasing functionality and innovation amongst the schools aimed systems. Advance booking, icon driven subject searches, integration with Palm devices for away-from-library checkouts, are all things that some of the bigger systems could do well to emulate.
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MINNEAPOLIS, MN.
– November 17, 2000 – Sagebrush Corporation, a solutions provider for the library and education markets, announced Winnebago Spectrum 5, the latest update to the award-winning integrated library automation program. Highlights of the latest version include an enhanced user interface and an optional Visual Search feature. Spectrum 5 is the first major Spectrum update since the Sagebrush-Winnebago merger i
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The hierarchical Visual Search catalog screen |
n January of 2000.
"With this program update, Spectrum’s feature set is more impressive than ever," said Judy Levasseur, Vice President of
Marketing. "Spectrum is more powerful than ever, and we’ve enhanced its user-friendly interface too. The new Visual Search, for example, helps younger patrons find materials. Other capabilities,"
Levasseur said, "like the new HTML reports and new advance booking feature, continue Spectrum’s tradition of giving library professionals the powerful tools they need to manage their libraries efficiently."
Spectrum 5 features an updated user interface with a new navigation toolbar that makes Spectrum easier to use. Other updates include:
Circulation Seamless integration with the Spectrum-in-Hand palm computing unit (optional)
saves time with fast, easy, anywhere circulation and at-the-shelf inventory. Spectrum’s advance booking lets librarians and media center staff (and patrons, if given permission) reserve items for
a specified date, ensuring material availability exactly when necessary—especially helpful for planning lessons and special events. Librarians and media center staff can also book rooms and
A/V equipment ahead of time for special instructional needs. Spectrum lets librarians and media center staff view patron photos, helping them recognize and identify patrons and increasing
security. Librarians and media center staff can also load and link patron photos in a batch (including files from photo vendors such as Life Touch® systems and Herff Jones®), saving time
and extra steps. Plus, librarians and media center staff can update or delete patron photos in the patron edit window with one click.
Catalog Spectrum’s optional Visual Search module offers patrons customizable icon-based
searching, with hundreds of buttons pre-configured. Visual Search lets users click through a hierarchy of graphical buttons, each representing a single subject—a great search tool for young
patrons becoming familiar with the library.
Reports and notices Spectrum’s HTML-based reports let librarians and media center staff
convert or cut/paste report data created in either Windows or Macintosh to an HTML report format—providing a consistent report format, ensuring easy online viewing, editing, and
searching; saving paper, and enabling timely online posting of reports.
Global subject edit Librarians and media center staff can change subjects globally, a big timesaver.
Online Help Spectrum’s complete online Help system includes step-by-step instructions,
examples that show how to complete a process, and reference information.
Spectrum 5 is scheduled for general release in January, 2001, and will be shown at upcoming
trade shows. Spectrum customers with current customer support will automatically receive Spectrum 5. Sagebrush also sells the award-winning Athena library automation system, last
updated in March 2000 to version 8.1.
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