What's New Copycat?

By Meg McCaffrey -- School Library Journal, 5/1/2004

Copycat's price may be too good to resist. Surpass's Copycat, a product that offers unlimited access to free MARC records, is now available to districts with centralized catalogs for a single flat rate. Plus, there's no annual subscription fees. A flexible pricing policy lets district or library-system users freely catalog an unlimited number of items for all of their libraries. For instance, for districts with 10 to 19 libraries, prices start at $1,195. (For a complete list of prices, visit www.surpasssoftware.com, and be sure to check out the free 30-day trial.)

Bloomington High School North in Indiana recently switched from Follett's cataloging product to Surpass's. "The best part of Copycat is its one-time purchase with no monthly or yearly fees," says Kathy Loser, the 1,400-student school's only librarian. Loser claims that she'd be lost without the product. "I can scan in multiple [ISBNs] and continue working with students while Copycat finds complete matches," she says. Another great feature? Copycat's "bookbag," which holds records temporarily before they're added to the automation system. "Because I am interrupted numerous times, Copycat allows me to save to a bookbag, so I can view and add MARC records later when I have time," Loser says. Copycat is compatible with any automation system.