Library Management System

Library Management System

Chapter 1
The Problem and its Settings

Introduction
What is Library? According to a website “www.wikipedia.com”, “Library is an organized collection of 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 is organized for use and maintained by a public body, an institution, a corporation, or a private individual”.
Library management system is a term for a computer based system that manages the catalogue of a library. It was designed to automate, manage, and look after overall processing of the libraries.
Library Management System provides two types of user, the regular user and the administrator user. Regular user (students) can only access the booklist and book searching commands. But users must enter first their user id and password in able to access the other functions like adding, deleting and updating the books borrowed in system database. Administrator user (librarians) is the only one allowed to access the restricted function such as creates user account, to view or edit data from the databases, the one who decide the number of days allowed for the borrowed books.
LMS support the general requirement of the library like storing all kinds of books and the member’s information consist book number, title of the book, and author names. The LMS provides a search command to help the students find the book using the number of book. Search function will search or find the book through database to look for the book and view where it is located.
This LMS allows librarians and library users to maximize time and efficiency. Library System gives the all detailed information about students, staff and books. It will track on the how many books available in library and books issued to the students. It will provide book lost in library. It keeps the record of the suppliers and book binders.

Background of the Locale Guagua National Colleges is the locale of this study. In 1918, Rev. Fr. Nicanor Banzali, founded a parochial school initially housed at the Catholic Convent in to town plaza of Guagua. Later, this was to become the Guagua National Institute (GNI) when it started to offer high school course in 1922 and in 1941 the institution offered college courses. However, on December 8, 1941, upon the outbreak of World War II, GNI had to temporarily close its doors. On February 16, 1942, its three school buildings were razed to the ground by a fire of incendiary origin. Hundreds of alumni served in WW II, and among them was Capt. Ruben Songco, one of the notable heroes of Pampanga. On June 1, 1948, GNI reopened its doors in spite of the uncertainty of a place to house the school. Classes were held under sampaloc trees and in makeshift tents. This same resolve and determination to move on in spite of the odds finds a parallel event in 1991, when Mt. Pinatubo erupted, GNI resumed regular classes. In 1949, GNI became Guagua National Colleges (GNC). GNC is non-sectarian, non-profit and a member in good standing of the Catholic Educational Association of the Philippines (CEAP). GNC has produced outstanding alumni who have distinguished the members locally and countrywide. GNC Library considers itself as one of the best in information resources centers in the region. Guided by the goals and objectives of this institution, it shall strive for excellence in the library delivery of relevant materials and research services for the community.

Statement of the Problem This study is to improve or research the problems of the users, operators and administrators to the Library Management System. Some problems that the GNC Library being faced in manual system are as follows: * Tracing a book is difficult * Number of hours that the librarian spend just to finish or manage all jobs like the arrangement and the maintenance of library materials\ * The average time in order to manage properly the book items with the details like the name of the author, etc. * A fast result of information about the desired book. * How fast the Library Management System in terms of: a. Borrowing and returning books issuing b. Storage * What are the problems encountered by the different users in the LMS?

Significance of the Study The main goal of this study is to have an efficient, effective and secure Library Management System in Guagua National Colleges. The system will benefit not only the students but also the administrator. Library Management System provided reading services to its members. Any person can become a member of the library by filling a prescribed form. Users do not have the right to enter information about books. For students, they will no longer to roam the whole library just to find or look the books they wanted to borrow. They will have an effortless but an efficient, fast LMS. They will enjoy this because they will never have a hard time in tracing the books, because in this system they will see the book and other library materials information or where its located. The process of researching books becomes easier.
For admins, this system will lessen your work in terms of organizing, acquisition and cataloguing it manually. It will reduce usage of papers. It will also lessen the days of organizing and managing because this system will help you to make your work fast. This research project hopes that with this study, the Library Management for users/ admins more efficient, effective and fast service to both users and for others who visits the library. The result of this system will give useful insights who wish to improve or create the similar study.

Scope and Delimitation
This study will focused on a LAN-BASED Library Management System using Visual FoxPro 9.0 and a MySQL Server at Guagua National Colleges. It will include all lists of books and other library materials. The proposed system will have a sever, user, and administrator client side user interface.
This study is not concern in any kind of connection outside the LMS, like brownouts and power interruption. The connection problems can make LMS slow. Viruses can cause inaccurate results to the system sometimes the system may crash because of these viruses. So this study may needs another study to improve.
Any education institute can make use of it for providing information about author, content of the available library materials. Admins, can read/write information about any member. And can also upgrade, create, delete the record of membership as per requirement.

Objective of the Study
The main objectives of Library Management System (LMI) are: * To give an opportunity to librarians to reduce the time spends and mistake that always happens during manual process. * To maintain security for storing the library items. * To implement a LAN-BASED Library Management System using FoxPro 9.0 and MySQL Server. * To build or develop a system that can monitor and manage all library operations efficiently. * To maintain records for the subscribed items. * To generate the list of books due by a particular member, and also the overdue charges. * To reduce the usage of papers.