SIMS. SCOMIS AND ALICE
Hi Regarding killer school apps, what are the following SIMS and scomis, I know that ALICE is a library management application, I am not sure about the other two, it seems that if we had open source versions of the above, then we could really move forward in terms of getting open source into schools. However not being sure of what these are or what they do makes looking for or helping to develop alternatives difficult.. Paul
Hi there Paul,
Sims is a modular school management system developed by Capita Systems. It
contains all the pupil information, including their pictures and timetable.
When I sya modular, I mean that there are several bolt-ons to the main
program. The module used for pupil information is called Midas (I think).
There are also modules for staff cover, attendance, finance, and
timetabling. Our SIMS manager has a lot more icons on his screen as well.
Not sure what they are.
I have not heard of Scomis.
Alice is a library system as you correctly put it. I originally set it up in
our school before passing complete control to our librarian. It is developed
by Softlink - www.softlink.co.uk. It isn't a bad piece of software once you
get used the way it does things. We find that half of the menu options do
not get used. It does need an interface re-design, but I cannot see Softlink
changing something with works okay. I would prefer a web interface - and
that reminds we, you can run an Alice Network Server which allows the query
of books online.
Hope some of this helps, I am at home now so access to information is
none,...
Regards
Gareth Edmondson
----- Original Message -----
From: "psutton"
Hi
Regarding killer school apps, what are the following
SIMS and scomis,
I know that ALICE is a library management application, I am not sure about the other two, it seems that if we had open source versions of the above, then we could really move forward in terms of getting open source into schools. However not being sure of what these are or what they do makes looking for or helping to develop alternatives difficult..
Paul
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Hi there Paul,
Sims is a modular school management system developed by Capita Systems. It contains all the pupil information, including their pictures and timetable. When I sya modular, I mean that there are several bolt-ons to the main program. The module used for pupil information is called Midas (I think).
The module holding this information is called STAR, MIDAS is more for displaying summaries of data. Originally CES were going to replace STAR with a new program called Nova (New Star). Which took over the functions of the previous COVER package. Somewhat duplicates MIDAS and was ment to replace EXAMS, but never happened. Nova uses a different file database from the rest of SIMS, theoretically handling data interchange transparently. Now CES want to move to "Super Star", which is based around MS SQL server and .NET. Requires a rather frightening client spec (we only retired the last 486 a few months back) and shows all the signs of becoming "black hole Star" so far as paying for the thing is concerned.
There are also modules for staff cover, attendance, finance, and
The latest version of the finance module is FMS6, which uses SQL Anywhere. Unlike all the other SIMS modules it has no ability to restrict access to specific workstations...
timetabling. Our SIMS manager has a lot more icons on his screen as well. Not sure what they are.
Depending how you configure it you can set SIMS launcher to display modules which are not actually installed.
I have not heard of Scomis.
Lucky you :)
Alice is a library system as you correctly put it. I originally set it up in our school before passing complete control to our librarian. It is developed by Softlink - www.softlink.co.uk. It isn't a bad piece of software once you get used the way it does things. We find that half of the menu options do not get used. It does need an interface re-design, but I cannot see Softlink
It has a few subtle bugs, like scrollbars not working correctly in some dialogues but working in others...
changing something with works okay. I would prefer a web interface - and that reminds we, you can run an Alice Network Server which allows the query of books online.
So long as you have IIS, no thankyou. -- Mark Evans St. Peter's CofE High School Phone: +44 1392 204764 X109 Fax: +44 1392 204763
Hi
Regarding killer school apps, what are the following
SIMS and scomis,
SIMS is a schools management package produces by Capita Education Systems. http://www.capitaes.co.uk They want to move everything over to MS SQL server and .net. ScoMIS is Devon (plus Torbay and Plymouth) County Council educational "support". http://www.devon.sch.uk/eal/scomis (N.B. this has a tendency to crash Netscape 4; the links don't work in Lynx; Netscape 6/7, Galeon & Konqueror appear to manage reasonably well.)
I know that ALICE is a library management application, I am not sure about
Alice is produced by Softlink, http://www.softlink.co.uk, their head office is http://www.softlink.com.au
the other two, it seems that if we had open source versions of the above, then we could really move forward in terms of getting open source into schools. However not being sure of what these are or what they do makes looking for or helping to develop alternatives difficult..
Chris Puttick has a system called "Hobart" running, in Manchester. He's also looking into SQL ledger (http://www.sql-ledger.org) as a replacement for the SIMS FMS6 module. There is an open source library system called Koha, http://www.koha.org. Obvious difficulties include the ability to extract catalogue and borrower data from existing systems. One feature which would definitly qualify as a "killer app" would be the ability to look up details directly from an ISBN/ISSN. In either the 10 digit or the 13 digit EAN format. -- Mark Evans St. Peter's CofE High School Phone: +44 1392 204764 X109 Fax: +44 1392 204763
I went to a Welsh Assembly Confererance in Llandrind not so long ago - spoke there to one Jim Heywood, developer with capita E.S. who was unaware of the general bad feeling regarding CES's change to .net and m$ sql - interested in hearing from people like us. However, I've mislaid his business card - I think his e-mail was jim.heywood@capitaes.co.uk but i'm not sure - maybe we should let him know what we think? Alan psutton wrote:
Hi
Regarding killer school apps, what are the following
SIMS and scomis,
I know that ALICE is a library management application, I am not sure about the other two, it seems that if we had open source versions of the above, then we could really move forward in terms of getting open source into schools. However not being sure of what these are or what they do makes looking for or helping to develop alternatives difficult..
Paul
I went to a Welsh Assembly Confererance in Llandrind not so long ago - spoke there to one Jim Heywood, developer with capita E.S. who was
Is this someone a bit higher up than the kind of people CES usually put on the BETT stand?
unaware of the general bad feeling regarding CES's change to .net and m$ sql - interested in hearing from people like us. However, I've mislaid
Maybe there isn't a way to send any feedback or negative feedback tends to get ignored. Including being brushed off with a "no one else is complaining", even when it's the case true.
his business card - I think his e-mail was jim.heywood@capitaes.co.uk but i'm not sure - maybe we should let him know what we think?
-- Mark Evans St. Peter's CofE High School Phone: +44 1392 204764 X109 Fax: +44 1392 204763
On Thu, 2002-12-05 at 15:54, Alan Harris wrote:
I went to a Welsh Assembly Confererance in Llandrind not so long ago - spoke there to one Jim Heywood, developer with capita E.S. who was unaware of the general bad feeling regarding CES's change to .net and m$ sql - interested in hearing from people like us. However, I've mislaid his business card - I think his e-mail was jim.heywood@capitaes.co.uk but i'm not sure - maybe we should let him know what we think?
Alan
I was at Capita a while back and I was told the reason they are in bed with MS is that the turn over in programmers means they have to go for the lowest common denominator in terms of expertise. I pointed out that if they used open source they could use the money saved in software licenses to pay better programmers to stay! When it comes down to it the decision makers just don't understand the options. Regards, -- Ian
On Thu, 2002-12-05 at 15:54, Alan Harris wrote:
I went to a Welsh Assembly Confererance in Llandrind not so long ago - spoke there to one Jim Heywood, developer with capita E.S. who was unaware of the general bad feeling regarding CES's change to .net and m$ sql - interested in hearing from people like us. However, I've mislaid his business card - I think his e-mail was jim.heywood@capitaes.co.uk but i'm not sure - maybe we should let him know what we think?
Alan
I was at Capita a while back and I was told the reason they are in bed with MS is that the turn over in programmers means they have to go for
Might explain why they never appear to finish anything....
the lowest common denominator in terms of expertise. I pointed out that
Thus not even they know how the thing actually works, a conclusion I came to a couple of years back :)
if they used open source they could use the money saved in software licenses to pay better programmers to stay! When it comes down to it the
Thing is that they probably see software licencing as being a source of revenue, rather than a cost.
decision makers just don't understand the options.
What they don't understand is that software makes more sense as a tertiary than a secondary industry. -- Mark Evans St. Peter's CofE High School Phone: +44 1392 204764 X109 Fax: +44 1392 204763
participants (5)
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Alan Harris -
Gareth Edmondson -
ian -
Mark Evans -
psutton