You wear a lot of hats. You make sure the hardware works. You patch the software and install upgrades. You customize interfaces based on local library staff and patron needs. You do what it takes to make it all come together. And you have a bit of cynicism about the promises of vendors.

In the end, you need your own support systems. How good is the vendor? Are there other users who know the tips and tricks to make things work better?

With an installed base of over 2000 customers - and 40 new implementations in 2005 alone - you can draw upon a lot of experience after the Endeavor installation team leaves.

• Endeavor's customers have independently organized 22 regional user's group meetings, with over 1500 attendees.
• The annual User Group meeting draws over 900 library professionals.
• The Voyager-L listserv, maintained by Shippensburg University, provides independent information about user experiences with Endeavor products and services. Endeavor monitors the listserv to address customer issues.

Of course, you also have the resources of Endeavor Information Systems. Endeavor has been providing systems since 1994. With 170 employees, headquarters in Des Plaines, Illinois, and European offices in Amsterdam and London, you can be assured of solid support.

Endeavor is part of Reed-Elsevier, a US $7 billion organization with 36,000 employees in 200 countries. Across Reed-Elsevier, there is extensive expertise in scholarly publishing, business publishing, and large electronic databases and portals. For example, Endeavor and Elsevier have drawn upon each other in the area of Customer Usability to improve interfaces and enhance searching capabilities.

In short, you can have confidence in Endeavor products.