Page 178 - DLIS007_LIBRARY AUTOMATION

Unit 9: Library Automation in Circulation Section

14. …………………… subsystems generally perform a group of functions utilising three basic Notes
categories of information as a base.

9.5 Framework of Computerised Circulation Subsystem

Library materials should be made available to users readily or as soon after the demand arises
as feasible. Circulation systems are designed to support this primary activity of a library i.e.
document availability. A circulation system records loan transactions to specify:

What material is in the library stock or readily accessible on ILL;
Which material is on loan, and from whom or where it can be retrieved; and
When materials on loan will next be available in library for other users.
A computer based circulation system supports all these primary activities of circulation section
and is quite simple in its basic concept. The transaction or loan database is the core of circulation
system. This database comprises a series of records, one for each transaction. Each record includes
a brief dataset that specifies details of the document (through document number), details of the
user (through membership code) and transaction details.

Example: Date of issue and date of return are extracted from the system date and due
date is calculated automatically.

In an integrated setup, the bibliographical details (e.g. author, title, edition, place and year of
publication) of documents on loan are extracted from the catalogue database and the membership
database is utilised for collecting user information. Accession numbers of documents are used as
the key data elements in first case, whereas membership codes act as pointer to the member
database in the second instance. Therefore, accession numbers and member codes must be
assigned in such a way that they identify the documents and the borrowers uniquely. Error free
capturing of these two important data elements is another essential requirement in computer
based circulation subsystem.
Data-capture is generally based on barcodes, which are used to encode both accession numbers
and member codes. These bar-coded data elements can be read through a portable light-scanning
device (e.g. barcode reader).

Did u know? Some automation packages have also started utilising modern data capturing
equipment’s like RFID (Radio Frequency Identification), smart card etc.

Self Assessment

Fill in the blanks:
15. The transaction or loan database is the …………………… system.
16. …………………… is generally based on barcodes, which are used to encode both accession
numbers and member codes.

9.6 Computerised Circulation Operations

Automated circulation management has been very successful since the beginning of library
automation. There are obvious reasons for this:

The operations to be performed are repetitive;

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