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In this week's assignment, we were to interview a librarian about their OPAC. My librarian buddy told me that she uses OPALS in her school library. Her school is a small parochial elementary school with a collection of more than 6,000 books and e-books, online databases, 20 Chromebooks and 20 iPads.

As is the case with many parish schools, the library has an extremely small budget. As such, OPALS is the best option, since it costs $500/annually. She said that it's very basic, and provides information only. It does have a z-import function, however, which the librarian frequently uses. In addition, it's web-based. She said it "does the job," which isn't exactly a ringing endorsment!

My Librarian Friend has used OPALS for the last five or six years. Before OPALS, she had Companion’s Alexandria. She liked that software, as she could do more reports.

When I asked what she dislikes about OPALS, her response was two-pronged: she dislikes that
it is not as aesthetically pleasing as other software. Also, quite importantly, it does not run as many reports as other software.

Her dream OPAC? Destiny.

It looks like I've found my proposal topic...
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