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Unit 9: Library Automation in Circulation Section

intensive nature of the operations. It set the stage for associating patron information to Notes
items through the loan transaction and the eventual use of transaction numbers.

Semi-mechanical Systems

The next stage saw the replacement of human labour by machines when mechanical charging
systems were developed, essentially most subsequent systems, involved the use of cards with
pre-punched holes around the edges, one of which could be cut to indicate the date on which an
item is due. The cards are arranged by call number in a single sequence. The insertion of a
knitting needle through a given hole will allow all the books overdue for a given date to fall
free of the bunch of punched cards. This system is characterised by inventory and date access but
placed a greater burden on the borrower. A borrower had to write the borrower’s name and
address and the call number, author and title of a book borrowed.

The next system to be developed was the photocharge system. In this system microphotos were
taken of the borrower’s card, the book card and a sequentially numbered date of issue or date
due slip. This due date slip contained all the necessary information about the book as well as the
borrower. Nevertheless this also had many drawbacks as the availability entire information on
loan transactions was limited to a roll microfilm which introduced major operations difficulties.
Automated Circulation System

For several decades now, ingenious librarians and library equipment manufacturers in western
countries have designed circulation systems using the latest technology. The advent of the
computer in the 1960s and microcomputers in the 70s and 80s radically altered ground rules.
Now all sequences of encoded elements are possible and information on any management data
can be derived. Important statistical data pertaining to collection use and library users can be
obtained by manipulating the data accumulated in the circulation process. However library
automation extends beyond circulation functions into the more integrated systems of cataloguing,
acquisitions, decision support systems and virtually all other library operations.
Advantages of speed, the ability to manage large amounts of data, and the long term trends of
increasing computer power and decreasing cost have attracted libraries to automated circulation.
In the developed countries of the world, it is now possible for all but the smallest libraries to
have access to and control their material through the current range of computers. The situation
in India may not be as promising; however a slow process of change is taking place in at least the
special libraries towards computerisation. The computers were expected to enter other types of
libraries too by the next decade or so. An increasing number of university and college libraries
already are to be moving towards automated circulation systems. The situation now seems to be
quite encouraging.

Self Assessment

Fill in the blanks:
4. A …………………… helps a library user in the use of books and other library material that
have been sent by the technical processing division of the library to the maintenance
division most effectively.
5. From a simple register system of recording loan transactions, circulation systems have
now evolved into sophisticated …………………….
6. A……………… was a register that recorded all daily transactions sequentially in a register.
7. The disadvantage of both the ‘Day Book’ and ‘Ledger’ systems was the absence of a
mechanism to locate the …………………… of the books.

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