Manon Dufresne, Documentation Technician at the City of La Malbaie, has worked in several libraries in different fields. Since 2020, it has been developing for the first time in a municipal environment. However, the journey through various organizations has been marked by a few migrations, including one to Koha, a free library management software powered by InLibro. This means the same transition when it took place at La Malbaie was on familiar ground.
“We had Regard, that worked. When I arrived three years ago there was still support from GRICS. A year later, the ability to respond to requests began to decline, says Manon Dufresne. I was told that management was already leaning towards Koha. It was good because I could see what a data migration entails. »
By switching to Koha, the City of La Malbaie wanted a more contemporary, user-friendly service with more features. In addition, the municipality’s team relied on the long-term further development of these functionalities as well as on a good support service, an essential factor, emphasizes the documentation technician. “It’s a solid team. And it’s not an impression, it’s an observation,” emphasizes the employee, who has switched to the InLibro software for the third time.
This migration was very well supported by the supplier. The InLibro team listened to improve the situation at no additional cost. The technical support was also flexible.
Regarding the application, Manon Dufresne recalls the contemporaneity of the user interface in the sense that facets have been integrated and almost the entire data set can be searched, even the notes. “For magazines, I think it’s important to describe the topic of each issue. Koha has externally visible fields that can be searched. And as soon as the results appear, the ratings appear. If I run the listing for this title and do a full text search on my site I can see what number it is and there is a way to reserve it [pour l’utilisateur]. “For me it is my complete satisfaction”, gives the example of the documentation technician.
Users can also submit suggestions online in their user profile. These recommendations can easily be added to the library’s shopping list. Users will then be informed by email that these proposals have been accepted. In the event of a refusal, the reason can be communicated. “It allows for good tracking,” says Manon Dufresne. When borrowing between libraries, there is the possibility of supporting users in the same way.
Laure Conan La Malbaie Library. Photo: Stphane Groleau for ACDF Architecture
In addition, Koha enables the possibility of self-lending. The city of La Malbaie implemented its own project last year. “People who don’t want to stand in line can manage when there’s a big rush,” says the documentation technician.
When his team asks questions, they can be submitted to Camelot, InLibro’s communication tool. The return is quick, says Manon Dufresne. “For non-urgent requests, I get replies in less than 24 hours. If I’m in the East, I’ll have feedback in the morning if it’s submitted in the morning,” she applauds. This exchange with the support department ensures constant support for the software and the updates required for further work.
“The advantage of an online solution is that I can work on the catalog from home. “25 of my colleagues could work on it at the same time and the solution works,” states the documentation technician.
Laure Conan La Malbaie Library. Photo: Stphane Groleau for ACDF Architecture
Comments from Manon Dufresne:
- “With Koha we can go faster and further as a team. »
- “Because it’s not proprietary software and the query language (SQL) is universal, we have the ability to pull through and have autonomy. »
- “The great advantage of Koha is that the interface serves multiple institutional users. It’s like spreading the development costs across these different users around the world. In the end we have a Tesla and are more than satisfied. »