DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION OF A MOBILE AND WEB APPLICATION FOR THE AUTOMATION OF LIBRARY TASK
ABSTRACT
Library is a very important department in schools. The ancient methods of maintaining it are no longer dynamic and efficient. For expeditious access, retrieval and dissemination of information and better service for the clientele, application of modern techniques has become absolutely indispensable. A properly automated library will help its users with quick and prompt services. Library task automation refers to mechanization of library housekeeping operations predominantly by computerization. The aim of this study was to develop updated database of books in the library and Software to carryout library tasks like discharging functions of the circulation section more effectively to provide various search options to know the availability of books in the library and also to generate the list of books due by a particular member and also the overdue charges. This is an integrated software system with all the required models for small to very large libraries. It is found that this automation projects will serve as a model for any library. Being an open source, any library wanted to go for automation for their library housekeeping operations can make use of this software.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY
A library can be defined as a room or building where books are kept and referenced. It is an area of multifarious activity on book management. A library is a repository of knowledge, houses collections of books, both reference and general, technical reports, periodicals, journals, conference proceedings and the likes. Consequently, truth and knowledge can be found and acquired from the library through the aforementioned sources. The information contents of any of the collections can be recorded on microfilms, audiotapes, microchips and other materials traditionally kept in the library, which is charged with the responsibility of acquiring, organizing, maintaining, and judicial circulation of the books and other library materials through the various sections of the library, for efficient use of the library by the users.
The acquisition, cataloguing, bindery and circulation sections of the library undertake the acquiring, organizing, maintaining and circulation of the books/library materials respectively. When the library through the acquisition section of the library acquires a book, its record is taken and accession number is given to the book after which the book will be sent to cataloguing section of the library. Under this section, the book will be carefully studied and given catalogue number before it will be sent to circulation section of the library as the case may be. The circulation section is responsible for circulation or distribution of books.
This section also arranges the consulted books in the shelves. There are other sections like reference section, which provides reference questions and bibliographic service, and serial section where periodical, journals and related materials are kept. The library also houses special collections and also operates circulation control in which books are lent to users. In fact it is indeed a place of multifarious activities on book management.
1.2 STATEMENT OF PROBLEM
In human endeavors, there are a lot of developments, researches, and discoveries, which result in multifarious production of publications and library materials. These have brought increase in complexity of library management system and its operations.
Based on these, a number of problems are facing the management of library task, which include:
(i) Unnecessary delay in library processes.
(ii) High cost of staff recruitment and maintenance.
1.3 AIM OF THE STUDY
This project aims at creating and developing a mobile and web application for the automation of library task. In developing a web application for the school library attempts will be made to achieve absolute confidence in the accuracy, completeness, robustness and consistency overtime of these identifiers, because any error in identifier will result in wrongly matched records in the library system.
1.4 OBJECTIVE OF RESEARCH
1. Common entity identifier will be used in the database to be matched and in order to achieve these attributes that contain partially identified information, such as name of publisher, location of publication and dates of publication will be used. The name and brief details of the writer could also be used Winkler (1986, 1987).
2. Rather than develop a special survey to collect data for policy decisions, data from available books sources will be matched which have potential advantages because it contains greater amount of data and their data might be more accurate due to improvement over some period of years Swain et al (1992).
3. To develop a system that would ensure anybody from anywhere can access books in the library.
1.5 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
The significance of the study would justify the need to conduct the study. It specifies the group of people who will benefit from the study. They are:
i. Students: The study will help students to be knowledgeable enough on entering the information technology fields as applying the lectures to actual performances and to inform them of an easy way of accessing library contents.
ii. Faculty: this proposed system will help them to lessen their work and less time consumed in handling library processes. It helps them to minimize the effort and time exert in terms of gathering the information of books.
iii. Administrators: The result of this investigation would serve as a benchmark for them to make an easy on handling the books records. It will help to lessen their work, also to have a fast way of arrangement and matching of books.
iv. Future Researchers: This study would serve as a handy reference for the other researchers who would embark on a similar study in the future especially on certain aspects not derived into by the present study.
1.6 SCOPE OF STUDY
The research sets out on how a mobile system can be developed to carryout library tasks which in turn would make it possible for people far and near to have access to books in the library as it is going to be web application.
1.7 ORGANIZATION OF THE STUDY
The project is organized as follows;-
Chapter one introduces the project; the background of the project is also discussed. Statement of the problem, objectives of the project, its significance, scope are pointed out.
A brief review of literature on library task is subject matter of Chapter two.
Chapter three discusses system analysis and design. It deals with detailed investigation and analysis of the existing system and problem identification.
Chapter four covers the system implementation, testing and integration.
Chapter five is the summary of findings, constraints of the project, summary, conclusion, recommendations of the project. References, appendix A and Appendix B are also included after chapter five.
1.8 DEFINITION OF TERMS
Automation: Automation is the technology by which a process or procedure is performed with minimum human assistance. Automation or automatic control is the use of various control systems for operating equipment such as machinery, processes in factories, boilers and heat treating ovens, switching on telephone networks, steering and stabilization of ships, aircraft and other applications and vehicles with minimal or reduced human intervention.
Library: A library is a collection of sources of information and similar resources, made accessible to a defined community for reference or borrowing. It provides physical or digital access to material, and may be a physical building or room, or a virtual space, or both. A library’s collection can include books, periodicals, newspapers, manuscripts, films, maps, prints, documents, microform, CDs, cassettes, videotapes, DVDs, Blu-ray Discs, e-books, audiobooks, databases, and other formats.
World Wide Web: The World Wide Web, also known as the WWW and the Web, is an information space where documents and other web resources are identified by Uniform Resource Locators, interlinked by hypertext links, and accessible via the Internet.
System: – This is a collection of interacting and interdependent components that work together to achieve a goal.
Matched Records: Two or more records brought together as a match.
Name Tokens : A component of the full or raw name such as family name, first given name or title.
Application: The final combination of software and hardware which performs the data matching.