by Zahiruddin Khurshid and Saleh Al-Baridi, Ph.D.
The general perception
of libraries is that whileA t the end of 2007, SirsiDynix introduced the first version of
Symphony, its new flagship ILS. This article will begin with
a look at the evolution of Symphony, user reactions to Sym-
phony, and Symphony’s design and functionality.
In addition, the authors, along with a team of librarians from
Horizon will eventually various functional areas, have recently completed testing of four
Symphony 3.2.1 core modules and iBistro, the online catalog, at
be phased out, Symphony the King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals (KFUPM) Li-
brary in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, where author Khurshid serves
is going to stay in the as senior manager for the cataloging operations department and
acting senior manager for the systems department, and where au-
automation marketplace thor Al-Baridi serves as director-general of libraries. The results
and observations from this testing will provide an overview of
for a long time. Symphony’s strengths as well as its complexities and constraints.
6 | JULY/AUGUST 2009 » www.infotoday.com
COMPUTERS IN LIBRARIES
symphony: sirsidynix’s flagship integrated library system
Please note that the views expressed are our own and alliances. For example, Aleph Yissum Ltd. and Ex Lib-
do not necessarily reflect those of our institution. ris Ltd. merged to become Ex Libris in 1995; in 2000,
Elsevier purchased Endeavor and The Library Corp.
Symphony’s Evolution acquired CARL Corp.
The internet and web technology have had a huge In June 2005, the consolidation of Sirsi Corp. and
impact in shaping library systems. Fascinated by the Dynix created SirsiDynix, which emerged as the largest
new technology, users began to demand from the ven- company in the library automation marketplace (the Li-
dors innovative interfaces and tools for managing elec- brary Journal “Automation Marketplace 2009” report
tronic content and creating digital library collec- shows that SirsiDynix has a customer base of 3,488
tions. As the next-generation systems evolved, libraries libraries). Prior to the merger, both companies had de-
with legacy systems started to migrate to the new sys- veloped and marketed multiple legacy systems, such as
tems. Competition for ILS sales became fierce. Those Dynix Classic by Dynix and DRA Classic, MultiLIS, and
companies that could not stand the competition INLEX by Sirsi, in addition to their flagship systems—
started merging with other companies or formed new Unicorn (Sirsi) and Horizon (Dynix). Between Horizon
»
www.infotoday.com « JULY/AUGUST 2009 |7
COMPUTERS IN LIBRARIES
symphony: sirsidynix’s flagship integrated library system
and Unicorn there was tough compe- Digital Archiving are some of the prod-
tition, but Horizon outsold Unicorn be- ucts SirsiDynix offers as SaaS. Total
tween 2004 and 2007. SaaS costs over 3 years can save li-
SirsiDynix Chooses Unicorn: braries 39% or more over the costs of
Following the merger, SirsiDynix did owning software for the same period.
n