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Athenaeum Library Software

by SumWare Consulting

https://librarysoftware.nz/

Welcome to Athenaeum

Athenaeum has been designed with librarians from around the world to be easy to start using and - when you are ready - have more features and configurability to do the things you are likely to want to do. It is focussed predominantly for schools though is used by community and private libraries around the world.

First introduced in 1996 and has been in continual development - driven largely by the user base. Commencing in 2013, and released officially in 2018, Athenaeum was completely rewritten with a view to creating a "lighter" solution, optimising performance over wide area networks, for FileMaker WebDirect (e.g. using Chrome/Edge/Safari), FileMaker Go (iPad/iPhone) and more integration with other library tools. The web portal and blog has also been redeveloped for new and modern features.

Since then, hundreds of tweaks and new features have been rolled out.

Multiple components

Athenaeum is a set of technologies that work together and are deployed according to requirements.

Server(s)

The server(s) run the main database and the web portals. These can be different machines. Users don't normally interact directly with the server, except the web pages that may be hosted.

The main app

The main app is a FileMaker Pro database that connects to the server and provides:

  • catalogue administration

  • circulation services (issuing, returning, extending, etc)

  • detailed reporting

  • borrower administration

screen snippets from the main app

The Web portal

The main entry point for most users providing:

  • the library "blog" (the landing page for library announcements, highlighted features, guided searches, internal and external curriculum information links)

  • catalogue search

  • when authenticated, borrower current issues, reserves and history along with optional reserve and review options

  • optional issuing, returning and stock taking for authenticated users

some typical web pages - each styled according to their library's preference

WebDirect

When configured, WebDirect allows access to many administration functions of the main app in a web page. Some options are not available when using WebDirect.

Inbuilt support resources

The Athenaeum support resources contain 100s (over 280 at the time of writing) of short silent and narrated videos showing how to perform many tasks in Athenaeum. Current support holders have access to all published resources. Expired support users can access a base "free to view" set.

Should you need to access support resources outside of Athenaeum, contact support@librarysoftware.co.nz and we can provide a login to a private web page where you can search and view resources.

Searchable database

Access the searchable list of support resources at the administrator main menu:

navigate to support resources

The resources are searchable by title, description or keyword. There are also sets of tutorial videos accessed from the tutorial menu.

tutorial menu

Recent videos

Access recent videos on the support tab of the main menu - these are shown in reverse chronological order.

support tab showing links to pop up windows for recent videos

Other resources