Re: [IUG] Crystal reports

["Andrew Sather" <asather at jenkinslaw dot org>]

I am uncertain what data you specifically want to gather, however I
spent a great deal of time last month running an analysis of our Web
Access Manager's statistics. My advice would change depending on what
information you want and the quantity of data (log files, stored
statistics, etc.) you'll need to process in order to acquire that
information.

 

While the following suggestion will be controversial in the DBA world,
don't rule-out using MS Access. I've just completed developing reports
for an in-depth WAM analysis using MS Access. The final reports provide
usage (in time spent on our system, number of documents downloaded, and
number of logons) information broken down by patrons, database,
geographic location, and much more, all over a two-year time span. I say
that the advice will be controversial because Access has developed a
negative reputation in the IT community for a multitude of reasons.
Though this venue is not appropriate for listing those reasons, I tend
to disagree with most of them.

 

I don't mean to disparage Crystal Reports. CR has been my first choice
for other projects. It is more powerful and is an industry standard. I
considered using the software for this project but decided the
information we needed could have been derived with MS Access with less
time and effort. As I mention in my first paragraph, your results may
vary.

 

It's also likely you already own a version of MS Access (If you don't it
will be less expensive to buy.) and it may be easier to find staff with
required expertise, as the software is now part of the required tech.
curriculum in many high schools (I first used the software my sophomore
year.) and is virtually a mainstay in 200/300-level undergraduate
Computer Science, Business, and Information Systems programs, as well as
included in most 100-level "Introduction To Computers" courses, required
of many undergraduates regardless of major.

 

Feel free to email me off-list. I'm happy to expound upon anything I've
written.

 

Andrew J. Sather
Assistant Network Administrator
Jenkins Law Library
833 Chestnut East, Suite 1220
Philadelphia, PA 19107-4429
215-574-7900, Ext. 7923
Fax: 215-574-7920
asather at jenkinslaw dot org
www.jenkinslaw.org

 

 

-----Original Message-----

From: eLGAR Consortium [mailto:elgarweb at gmail dot com]

Sent: Wednesday, August 20, 2008 9:01 PM

To: innopac at innopacusers dot org

Subject: [IUG] Crystal reports

 

Hi,

Just wanted to inquire if any library is currently using Crystal Reports
with Millennium software for reporting and analysis. We are currently
evaluating the possiblity of doing this and would love to hear library
experiences with Crystal Reports.

 

Regards

Prateek Vasisht

eLGAR Consortium

 



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