City Council drops SIM computer library plan

Press, 11 January 1986, Page 7

City Council drops SIM computer library plan

By

KAY FORRESTER

The Christchurch City Council has dropped its planned computerised $1 million library system because it says the Christchurch firm supplying software "has not delivered the goods.” Last February the council signed a contract with Adata Software, Ltd, to supply an expert system, EXSYS, which would eventually have allowed the public on-line access to the library’s catalogue through terminals.

After several delays the council has finally cancelled that contract and is looking at alternatives.

It is now selling the hardware it bought only a few months ago. The Town Clerk, Mr John Gray, confirmed yesterday that the council had ended its contract with Adata and was considering other options.

“Essentially what has happened is that Adata has not delivered the goods. They have not produced a

system that will work,” Mr Gray said.

Adata’s Christchurch director, Mr Peter Roselli, denies any problems with the new system. He does not accept that the firm’s contract with the council has ended.

“We have produced a pretty good circulation system and we are waiting on instructions from the council to install it,” he said yesterday. His firm had done a lot of work on developing the new system, he said. Adata had several customers using EXSYS and they had had no problems, Mr Roselli said. Adata was one of three firms that signed the contract with the council last February. It was to supply the software, Data General, the hardware, and ComaintADE, 16 new book readers. Yesterday Data General’s South Island sales manager, Mr David Haysom, praised the Christchurch firm’s product. “EXSYS is an excellent

system. They have 12 customers for it, some using it for far more complex things than what the library wanted. We are 100 per cent behind Adata with EXSYS,” he said.

Mr Haysom said he believed EXSYS was capable of performing the functions the library required.

When the contract was let last year some library staff and others doubted the wisdom of leaving the existing system of computer bureau services from Datacom Systems, Ltd, and opting for the still-to-be-developed EXSYS. The council insisted then that Adata gained the contract on its merits, although it admitted a “fair amount of sympathy” for a local company. The 51 million contract was made watertight from the council’s point of view so that if the then-unproven system did not work all the council would lose was time.

Mr Gray confirmed yesterday that all the council

had lost was time. It had paid nothing to Adata. Although it had bought the Data General MVBOOO and 27 terminals and three printers as well as disc drives and a tape drive, it expected no trouble in selling these.

“Although it is nine months old it is virtually unused and state-of-the-art computer ware and we should sell without much bother,” he said.

Mr Haysom agreed. He said the price for the equipment had gone up since the council bought in mid-1985. The equipment was now worth about 5600,000. It is also believed that the contract contained a clause which required Adata to pay for the library’s continued use of the Datacom service — which has cost about 5100,000 a year — until EXSYS was developed.

There have been rumours in computer circles of legal action by either the council or Adata against the other party. Neither Mr Gray nor Mr Roselli would be drawn

on the possibility of legal action for breach of contract.

Both Mr Roselli and Mr Haysom said they were disappointed that what they had hoped would be a showcase for EXSYS in its “hometown” had “gone sour.”

Mr John Stringleman, the City Librarian, said he was also disappointed because the library was counting on the introduction of the system to ease its workload.

“Now we have to find a replacement as soon as we can. We have several options and have already done quite a bit of work on them,” he said. The library had hoped to have stage one of the computerised system working by April or May of last year, and the second stage three years later.

Stage one covered circulation, recording loans and periodicals and stage two, the control of buying newbooks and eventually access to the library’s catalogue.