[Michlib-l] Patron computer management software

Thu Mar 20 11:22:00 EDT 2025

Last week I had asked for recommendations for patron PC time management
software. I had a few people ask that I share responses. Thank you to
everyone who replied!

The libraries in my area that use and had originally recommended mConsole
all acknowledge that mConsole’s support is getting harder to get a hold of,
though they have better luck with phone calls than email, and once they do
get a hold of support, they do get it taken care of. They are all happy
enough to not change service, but a few suggested I go with another
company.

Comparing prices and inquiry response times, right now we are leaning
towards sticking with Librarica’s CASSIE and updating to the latest
version.

Here are the replies to my michlib post:

I would *NOT* recommend mConsole. They are impossible to work with. There's
been an update out for a while now and I can't get anyone there to
respond to my inquiries. I have asked my IT person (contracted) to see if
he can get a hold of them. I haven't heard a word from either of them
(which doesn't surprise me).

We dropped mConsole a few years ago, service being a large part of the
issue. We are using CASSIE now, it's very affordable, and so far, no issues
as long as upgrades are installed.

Support, to my knowledge, is very good. We outsource all our IT needs, so
no one on staff is directly managing the admin side of things. But I will
say that our IT vendor, who works with many libraries in our Cooperative,
recommended CASSIE and all their library clients use CASSIE as well.

We use Cybrarian but I think MConsole is a little easier to work with.

Cybrarian. It’s the default time/print management software at libraries in
our region. It’s licensed through our cooperative, but I know it’s
inexpensive for what it does. We’ve been using it since the late 1990s.
We’ve just never felt a need to change vendors.

Cybrarian is configurable and modular, has decent features, including
authentication against our patron database. Setting it up properly can be a
bit complicated, but documentation is good and so is the support. I have
not worked directly with support, my co-op does that, but they have been
able to solve any problems I’ve had (few). You don’t have to install the
print module, it’s a separate program you can leave off.
The time management works very well. We do not use the reservations module
either. It can be configured to shut down the computer at the end of the
night, though I am using DeepFreeze to manage that.  Cybrarian can lock
down the interface, which we take advantage of, in addition to group policy
objects on the domain.

We switched to *TBS (Today's Business Solutions)*. We use there *ePRINTit *for
mobile printing, *PaperCut MF* for Print Management and *Easy Booking
MYPC* for time management for
our public computers.

https://tbsit360.com

ePRINTit SaaS
<https://rzs.14c.myftpupload.com/products/mobile-print/eprintit/>

PaperCut MF Library Edition
<https://rzs.14c.myftpupload.com/products/print-management/papercut/>

Easy Booking MyPC
<https://rzs.14c.myftpupload.com/products/computer-booking/mypc/>

We also get a portal page for patrons to load documents or pictures to
print when they arrive at the computer lab.

https://ndl.eprintitsaas.com/public/upload

While I don't handle setup, implementation, or updating of any of this
type of software myself, my employer participates with our county
cooperative staff (Suburban Library Cooperative in Macomb County) in
that the Hardware Software Specialist of SLC helps with this in
conjunction with our Operations Manager who has the majority of IT
duties here.

Speaking in my own capacity and relatively limited role as a Technology
Services Lib. with ~12 years exp.,  I can tell you this from our
hardware setup:

-Envisionware LPTOne for print management (as you stated, IIRC, doesn't
apply here)

-PC Reservation Reservation Station (despite the reputation online -
e.g.
https://www.reddit.com/r/Libraries/comments/18gpbh5/does_anyone_use_envisionwares_pc_reservation/?rdt=57150
),
I rarely encountered problems working on the service desk and helping
patrons who are logged onto our public PCs.  99.9999% of the time, we
don't have to use the reservation feature.  PCR Control Panel, settings,
PC usage stats from what I've seen seem to work very smoothly and
consistently.
Also, to note, I am not precisely sure how Envisionware's LPTOne and
PCReservation work together, but I found an example of a PR release
explaining features from a library patrons perspective of sorts:
https://www.dscl.org/2022/02/14/envisionware-pc
-reservation-and-lpt-one-print-management

-Faronics' Deep Freeze Standard - it has largely proven consistent and
reliable over the same ~12 years I have worked with it on our Adult
Services public PCs!  Currently up to v9.something.
FWIW, you can also read about DF Standard's release notes and known
issues, too:
https://www.faronics.com/document-library/document/deep-freeze-standard-release-notes

Additional Info for our setup:
-Toshiba 2505 AC Multi-function Scanner/Copier/Printer
-20 Dell Optiplex AIO PCs (7410s?) for public usage- currently have
Windows 10 22H2 installed; we're most likely updating the PCs to Windows
11 24H2 by this October because of Win 10 EOL.
-Envisionware X11 self-service station for printing and copies - having
a supremely difficult time with it in those functions, even if
self-checkout of items on it works near-seamlessly.

*Laura Hauch*

Collection and IT Coordinator

Buchanan District Library

128 East Front Street

Buchanan, MI 49107

269-695-3681

269-695-0004 Fax

www.buchananlibrary.org

On Wed, Mar 12, 2025 at 5:20 PM Laura Hauch <l.hauch at buchananlibrary.org>
wrote:

> I know this question gets periodically asked (even by myself 4 years ago),
> but we are finally going to upgrade our patron computers this summer and
> are looking for recommendations for time management software.
>
> We don't need print management- our printer is set up for Papercut. We
> don't even need the option for reservations as computer usage is down from
> years ago and we rarely have anyone waiting. We're looking for a program
> that will lock PCs until a patron logs in with their library card or a
> guest pass, will block cardholders who don't have computer permissions,
> will automatically log a patron off when their time expires, will
> automatically shut down at the end of the night, and will give me usage
> reports. Being able to view a patron's screen would be a bonus.
>
> What does your library use, and how do you like it? What is support like-
> are they responsive? Easy to work with?
>
> Has anyone recently worked with Librarica's CASSIE? Our previous IT person
> worked with them a decade ago and had nothing good to say about the setup
> process or their support, but it's been quite a while and staff and
> technology change.
>
> I'm also interested in mConsole, but have been having trouble getting a
> hold of them, and that doesn't bode well.
>
> I appreciate any opinions! I can collect and share replies if anyone is
> interested.
>
>
> *Laura Hauch*
>
> Collection and IT Coordinator
>
> Buchanan District Library
>
> 128 East Front Street
>
> Buchanan, MI 49107
>
> 269-695-3681
>
> 269-695-0004 Fax
>
> www.buchananlibrary.org
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mail3.mcls.org/pipermail/michlib-l/attachments/20250320/a4e57c87/attachment.html>