Design And Implementation Of An Electronic Library System

Introduction

1.1 Background of the Study

A library is an organized collection of information sources which is made accessible to the people. The library usually contains the information physically or in a digitized format. In the olden period the access was usually in the library room as the technology grew up the access that was made online (Dinesh et al.,2015). Library is a fast growing organism. The ancient methods to maintain it are no longer dynamic and efficient. For expeditious retrieval and dissemination of information and better service for the clientele, application of modern techniques has become absolutely indispensable (Neelakandan et al., 2010). Libraries can be divided into categories by several types, which are: Academic libraries, Corporate libraries, Government libraries such as national libraries, Historical society libraries, Private libraries, Public libraries, School libraries, Special libraries,Digital libraries, Picture (photograph) libraries, Slide libraries, Tool libraries, Architecture libraries, Fine arts libraries, Medical libraries, Theological libraries etc.

A library is comprised of the following sections, based on the services rendered.

i. Acquisition Section:

The books demanded by different departments are done by the Acquisition section. University book centre is also working in this section for supply of books to the libraries in this university.

ii. Technical Section:

To classify, catalogue, OPAC, Barcode etc. the documents of the University Library this section is working.

iii. Circulation Section:

This section provides documents to the members and users of library for home reading as well as reading in the library. The documents are arranged on the racks in stacks as per the Dewey Decimal Classification Scheme.

iv. Periodical Section:

To procure, maintain and arrange periodicals services to library members. Periodical section provides reference service with respect to the requirement of the reader. Reference section is attached to periodical section for convenience of the Library users.

v. Databases:

Databases like OPAC, CAB-CD ROM abstracting databases, DELNET online Network Service etc. are available for the library members.

vi. Reprographic Section:

This Section has two automatic plain paper copiers and a duplicating machine through which the services of photocopy are provided to the readers

vii. Binding Section:

This section is working for binding work of the damaged books.

Back Volumes and other documents of this Library. The required binding machinery is available in this section. Library management is a sub-discipline of institutional management that focuses on specific issues faced by libraries and library management professionals. Library management encompasses normal management tasks as well as intellectual freedom, anti-censorship, and fundraising tasks. Issues faced in library management frequently overlap those faced in management of non-profit organizations(Sharma et al.,2005).Library Management System is an application that portraits library system which could be generally small or medium in size. It is used by the librarian to categorically manage the library by the virtue of using a computerized system where he/she can record various transactions like issue of books, return of books, addition of new books, addition of new students etc. (Ashutosh and Ashish., 2011)

Books and user maintenance modules are also included in this system which would keep track of the users using the library and also a detailed description about the books a library contains. With this computerized system there will be no loss of book record or member record which generally happens when a non-computerized system is used. In addition, report module is also included in Library Management System. If user’s position is admin, the user is able to generate different kinds of reports like lists of users registered, list of books, issue and return reports. All these modules are able to help librarian to manage the library with more convenience and in a more efficient way as compared to library systems which are not computerized.

This system will be developed and designed to help librarian record every book transaction so as to reduce and eradicate problem of loss of books and files in the library.

1.2 Statement of the Problem

Presently, transaction of books in the institutional libraries have been done manually in most cases, thereby taking more time for transaction like borrowing of books or return of books and also searching of member and books. Series of problems occur as a result of this thereby resulting to inefficient library management. In most cases as a result of human error there maybe loss and damages of records due to not using a computerized system in the library.

Nevertheless, the difficulty in the searching of books which could be termed to be inadequacy in book Management is a problem in the manual library thereby causing inefficiency and time consuming in the library. Also the problem of space consuming erupts after the number of records become large the space for physical storage of file and records also increases if no computerized system is implemented as well as the issue of cost and problem of lack of prompt information retrieval and time wastage in using the library. In addition due to the cumbersome, in this project computer approach will be used to solve these problems. Each of the manual procedure will be analyzed.

1.3 Aim and Objectives

The aim of this project is to develop a system that can handle and manage the activities involved in a library in an efficient and reliable way. To achieve the intended aim, the following specific objectives were laid out:

Designing a computerized library management system which would help evacuate the problem faced in manual library.

Implementing the system using online technologies as to be available to users irrespective of the system.

Make the system secured, giving access to only authorized users.

1.4 Significance of the Project

The main purpose of this project is to develop a computerized system that will manage the activities in the library thereby providing easy access of library usage for librarian and users of the library; it will also help librarians keep track of library information etc. This system will also provide electronic means of storage and help librarians keep track of library information.

1.5 Scope of the Project

The project product to be produced is a Library Management System which will automate the major library operations. The first subsystem is the registration of the users to the system to keep track of authorized users to the system. The second subsystem is the registration of new books into the library management system to know when new books are brought into the library. The third subsystem is a borrower and return of books which is the major area needed by the user. There are three end users for the Library Management System. The end users are the admin, users and members.

1.6 Project Methodology

The development methods that intend to use for the library management system is the V- model which may be considered as an extension of the waterfall model, it offers a mean of making the development process more visible. A system prototype can be developed to give end-user a concrete impression on the system capabilities. System life cycle is an organizational process of developing and maintaining systems, its helps in establishing a system project plans because it gives overall list of process and sub processes required developing a system.

1.7 Organization of the Project

This study is developed under five chapters. The first chapter introduces the research topic, stating the background of the intended project, statement of the problems, project objectives, its significance to the society and overall scope. The second chapter reviews related literature on library management. It analyses previous research works, their limitations and need for the development of better detection and prevention system. The third chapter discusses the methodology used for the project development, the limitations of the manual system and reasons the intended system should be chosen over the current system. It also showcases the design processes of the new system. Chapter four showcases the actual running of the developed system. Here proper tests are done to check the strength of the developed system. The developed system is analyzed to determine its conformation with the stated objectives. Chapter five gives the summary of the project, gives the conclusion and recommends approaches for better system.

1.8 Definition of Terms

Bibliography:

A list of books and articles to be found at the back of many non-fiction books, or at the end of articles in encyclopedia on the same subject.

Accession Register:

A book in which the following information about the book is listed when it is obtained: accession number, title, price and source of supply, date of withdrawal and reason for withdrawal.

Book Card:

A card kept in the pocket of a book when the book is on the shelf.

Blurb:

Blurb tells what the book is about. It is found either in the front, inside flap of the jacket, or on one of the first few pages of the book or on the back cover.

Catalogue:

Contain cards with information about each book in the library.

Contents:

A list in the front of most books (after the title page) which gives the chapter heading or story titles and their page numbers.

Cataloguing:

The description of each book on to cards as it comes into the library.

OPAC:

An online public access catalogue is an online database of materials held by a library or group of libraries. Users search a library catalogue principally to locate books and other material available at a library

DELNET:

Developing library network, is an organisation promoting resource sharing among libraries through the development of a network of libraries