Criteria

Cost-

• Is the cost a one time expenditure or ongoing?

• Does the initial expense cover upgrades in the future?

• What is included in the cost? support? training? Installation? Migration to new product?

Support-

• What is the granularity of support? i.e. Will support services cover only major support issues or daily smaller questions? 

• What is the duration of support?  Will it be only during installation and training?  Or will it remain for the life of the partnership?

• Where are the technicians located?  Will there be someone locally available if there are any issues that require in-person service?  Hours available?

• When there are upgrades in the product will there be sufficient training provided?

• Will they support migration, etc. (all aspects of software) if there are changes?

• Will they support current formats, i.e. the existing software in use at the library?

• What happens if company goes out of business?

Usability-

• Learnability: The ease of accomplishing basic tasks when first introduced to the software.

• Effectiveness: accuracy and completeness with which users achieve specific goals.

• Efficiency: The speed in which tasks can be completed once users are familiar with the software design.

• Errors: The amount of errors, their severity and the ability of users to recover from these errors.

• Satisfaction: How users feel and the freedom of discomfort and positive attributes towards the use of the software.
  

• Memorability: The proficiency of using the software after not using it for a period of time.

Features -

• What are the staff function features?

• What are the cataloging features?
  
• What are the circulation features?
  
• What are the acquisitions features?
  
• What are the serials features?
  
• What are the OPAC features?
  
• What are the collection management features?
  

• What are the patron service features?
• What are the patron self-service features?

• Does the software have features unique to the product?  If so, what are they?

• Are the features relevant to the library’s needs?

• Do the features require extra training and support?

• Is there a fee associated with any of the features?

• How customizable is the software?

• Do the features make librarians’ work more efficient?

• Do the features make the system more reliable?

• Is the system fully integrated?

• Are the staff and patron interfaces attractive/user-friendly?