Rosemary,

I began using the PPMS system this summer and so far it has worked  
well and has been well recieved by our users. It is web based so users  
can access it anywhere. It resides on one of our institutional servers  
and was installed by a talented summer student. We have gotten  
excellent support from the developers and they continue to provide  
additional functionality. It may not do everything you want but it  
seemed to be the best fit for us from the systems we investigated.

Louie


On Nov 19, 2008, at 10:30 AM, Mathieu Marchand wrote:

> Rosemary,
> The PPMS online management system has most of the capacities you are
> looking for (and probably more):
> All booking parameters can be different for each instrument and it has
> 3 levels of user access. You can review user experience and generate
> mailing lists and detailed usage reports. Users can request an account
> and a training online. Users can report incidents and administrators
> can update incidents and organize/log maintenance operations. You can
> also add price rules and generate invoices. Many functionalities can
> be enabled/disabled in the online administration interface so the
> pages are kept simple.
> The software is a collaboration between Institut Pasteur and
> Rockefeller University, and is available free of charge for academics
> and non-profits (a license agreement is needed). More at
> http://www.pfid.org/html/ppms_agree
> Regards,
> Mat
>
>
> -- 
> Mathieu Marchand
> --
> Bio-Imaging Resource Center, The Rockefeller University
> 1230 York Avenue, box 209, New York, NY 10021
> http://www.rockefeller.edu/bioimaging .
> +1-212-327-7487 (7489 for fax)
>
>
> On Wed, Nov 19, 2008 at 2:38 AM, Rosemary White <[log in to unmask] 
> > wrote:
>> Dear all,
>> We've been using a good online booking system for our instruments,  
>> but this
>> is coming to an end, sadly, a proprietry system written, and owned  
>> by, a
>> student who has now left.  We have about 12 instruments on this  
>> now, with
>> different minimum/maximum timeslots, hours allowed per week, time  
>> allowed to
>> book in advance, etc.  We can set different levels of user access,  
>> whether
>> they need training or assistance, and can generate email lists for  
>> each
>> instrument or for each research group.  Lots of options, simply  
>> laid out.
>>
>> So we've been trialling Calcium – any other/better options out  
>> there?  The
>> current system is much easier and simpler than Calcium, but we're  
>> going to
>> have to bite the bullet and use something else.  Our admin said we  
>> should
>> use Outlook calendars, but I'm not very keen on that, it doesn't  
>> seem as
>> flexible and not everyone uses outlook.
>>
>> thanks,
>> Rosemary
>>
>> Rosemary White
>> CSIRO Plant Industry
>> GPO Box 1600
>> Canberra, ACT 2601
>> Australia
>>
>> ph 61 2 6246 5475
>> fx 61 2 6246 5334
>>

Louis Kerr
[log in to unmask]

Research and Education Support Coordinator
Marine Biological Laboratory
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