Message-Id: <199601302127.PAA28558@wugate.wustl.edu> Date: Tue, 30 Jan 1996 15:55:49 PST From: Jerry Kuntz <mailto:jkuntz@MHV.NET> Subject: WebPAC and ALS/Vmark licenses To: Multiple recipients of list WEBCAT-L <mailto:WEBCAT-L@WUVMD.WUSTL.EDU>
I was a skeptic of PAC for Windows, but have a very different reaction to the WebPAC product now under development (this after seeing Sirsi's Web product demo'd--which looks far more advanced than ALS, at this point.) But I do have some trouble imagining how ALS is going to price this product without some drastic change in their current ALS and VMark per port license fees. Our service area is over half a million in population, with a high percentage of computers in homes and--to date--12 local Internet providers. With WebPAC in place, it's easy to imagine simultaneous remote users numbered in the hundreds. At the same time, our in-house number of ports is now 260, and probably would top out at under 500. Each library now contributes a port fee for what they are using. How`could we afford to support all those remote users under the current per port licensing fees, and how could our libraries have a prayer of not only picking up that cost, but dividing it equitably?Jerry Kuntz Electronic Resources Consultant Ramapo Catskill Library System mailto:jkuntz@mhv.net This message is being cross-posted to the new webcat-l listserv.