Building a Better Future: An Insider's Look at Millennium

I had an afternoon chat with our fearless leader and former Millennium user, Director Dan Armstrong. Want to know what was said? Read on.

Me: I know Palatine uses the Millennium Integrated Library System. From your experience, what did you like about the system?

Dan: It was very flexible, especially the reporting functions. I remember one Board wanted to know particular reciprocal borrowing statistics from one of our branches. Within minutes, we had a block by block analysis detailed report on reciprocal borrowing—and it wasn’t very hard to do.

Me: Beyond reports, what’s it like to use when dealing with the public?

Dan: I’m someone that only occasionally worked the Reference Desk at Palatine, and as a result, I only occasionally used Millennium. When I did work the desk, I thought Millennium was very easy to use and very intuitive. If I got stuck, and a patron was there, a box would appear and guide me through the process. I didn’t need to know function keys or special commands.

Me: Well, that's great news. Speaking of changes, how do you think Millennium will change staff member’s day to day activities?

Dan: The system will definitely change how we do our job. Some things may look different, and different procedures might be used, but there will still be work to be done. Nobody's losing a job--but the look and feel of your job might change.

Me: Based on your experience, do you have any Millennium migration advice?

Dan: There’s a lot of work involved, and that work will fall to a small group of people. Those people will have to work really hard, and they deserve all our thanks and understanding. We have to remember to be patient, and learn to master the system’s basics before we start to take advantage of all the advanced features Millennium has to offer. I think you will find that the basics are easy to learn, but that some of our procedures will shift. Not everything will translate from Geac to Millennium—and that’s OK.

Me: One last question, will you be attending the Millennium training sessions?

Dan: Of course, and I’ll be much more comfortable this time around!

There you have it, ladies and gentlemen. An "insider" look at the Millennium system. If you want to look at Palatine's catalog, powered by Millennium, click here. As always, leave questions or comments below.