Chapter 1 IntroductionThe Advent Of The

Chapter 1 Introduction
The advent of the computer technology makes the world a small place to live in. Every country in the world uses an upgraded technology and has improved its standard of living due to the invention of computer. Now, with such modernization in education, one way to globalize the process of research is to realize that technology is advancing at an incredibly fast pace. Computers are not only restricted to use for entertainment but its role in education is also vast.
Libraries are the store houses of knowledge. They play a very important role in promoting the progress of knowledge. School libraries serve students by providing materials to meet their various needs and encouraging reading. Libraries continue to face enormous challenges as they continue to deal with woefully inadequate budgets at the same time that almost every aspect of their work has become more complex. In these times, when search engines, social networks, and ecommerce sites set an almost unreachable bar for user experience and breadth of content, libraries have to make extraordinary efforts to impress their patrons with the information resources and services that they offer while remaining true to core library values.
A Computerized Library System is a software used to catalogue, track (where appropriate) and inventory the library's assets. A computer-based system will allow you to check if books are checked out and when it will be returned before being overdue by the borrower. It is probably faster than hand searching. It would also be simpler to check-in/check-out books as well. You could create a program that also prints out reports.
Sta. Lucia High School has been using a manual process in their library. Due to increased students in the school, Ms. Glenda B. Mira, the school librarian and at the same time a teacher, is having difficulty in organizing the library transaction such as recording of library holdings and readers registration. The developers decided to create a Computerized Library System with Barcode Technology for Sta. Lucia High School that will lessen the problem and the work load of the librarian. With this Computerized Library System the information of each books, students, and instructors stores into database. With the help of the proposed system, it will speed up the process of transaction in returning and borrowing of books, searching and updating of files and having an accurate monitoring of books.

1.1 Statement of the Problem
1.1.1 General Problem
How to enhance the accuracy and effectiveness of handling and managing records and book transactions of Sta. Lucia High School?
Sta. Lucia High School is using a manual process for the transactions done in the library. The librarian encountered problems such as acquisitioning of books, borrowing and returning books, monitoring, record keeping, and generation of reports. Since transactions are recorded in a log book, data is not always reliable as it is hand written and some human errors might have occurred. It causes slow retrieval of records and is time consuming to manage data.

1.1.2 Specific Problems
How to improve searching of books in the library?
Even though books are classified, it is very hard for the librarian and for the borrowers to find the books. It takes a lot of time and effort to check accession number or the card catalog. The librarian will have to check the log book to determine if it is checked out, lost or available.

How to handle registration of books?
Libraries need to maintain records of the books acquired in the library and accession number is used to record new item in the library. It is time consuming for the librarian to look for the number that reflects the order with which it was received in relation to other items during that year.

How to handle registration of borrowers?
Registration is done by writing the borrower’s name, year and section (for students) in the log book whenever the borrower will have a transaction in the library. The librarian is having difficulty in retrieving borrowers’ information and monitoring the books borrowed since it has to be checked on different log books.

How to improve the process of reservation of books for teachers?
The librarian has to check in the shelf and in the log book the availability of the book. If the book is available the librarian will just place the book in her table and will not record the transaction. Because there is no record in the log book, there are instances that the librarian fails to recall the transactions made and to monitor the books.

How to provide an accurate process in borrowing and returning of books?
The librarian experiences difficulty in keeping track of the available books. Entertaining number of borrowers will be hard for the librarian especially if the borrowers borrow more than one book. In the process of returning books, it takes so much time for the librarian to check all the record and to update the log book for the availability of the book.

How to easily notify borrowers with unreturned books and lost books?
The librarian personally goes to the borrowers to notify them with overdue and lost books. It is tedious for the librarian to check the log book to have the borrowers’ information and to remind borrowers of unreturned books and lost books that need to be replaced.

How to monitor the unreturned, lost and damaged books? Retrievals of data are very slow as it has to be searched on the log book. Oftentimes, the librarian is not aware when a book is not returned because of bundles of records stored in the log book. The librarian is also having a hard time in keeping track of borrowers who have lost and damaged books. The librarian has to check information from the logbook for the transactions made by the borrowers. It is time consuming and there are no proper records for the students and book transactions.

How to improve report generation? Report is done by the librarian twice a year: This is the summary of the number of books borrowed, returned, lost, damage and mostly statistic of the library. Collecting all the information from different log books is time consuming and vulnerable to error due to inconsistency of records.

1.2 Current State of Technology Sta. Lucia High School is a state-funded secondary education institution in #30 Tramo St. Rosario Village Sta. Lucia, Pasig City. It was September 10, 1990 when Hon. Rufino S. Javier the congressman of Pasig worked for the establishment of a high school on Baranggay Sta. Lucia. On June 19, 1994 Sta. Lucia High School was legislated by Republic Act 7767. A 24 room buildings was constructed and this building was formally inaugurated on March 10, 1998. Basic Education was made accessible to all Sta. Lucia residents when the school opened on June 1, 1998, the first day of school year 1998-1999. Eventually the school librarywas established four years after it was opened. At present, the school has a total of 3,989 student enrollees with an average of 55 students per section, a teaching force of 115 teachers and 19 non-teaching support staff with total of 4 buildings.

The school library has two personnel, the school librarian Ms. Glenda B. Mira and one assistant librarian. It is open from 7:00 am – 5:00 pm and open to all Sta. Lucia High School students and faculty. All the transactions in the school library are done manually. There are an estimated 20- 30 borrowers and borrowed books each day.

The library has over 2000 books including Fiction, Reference, Textbook and Encyclopedia. The books are classified and arranged according to the Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC) that helps organize the books in the library shelves. The library was using Card Catalog before it is used in searching books however it is not updated and seldomly use. The school does not purchase books but only acquire books through donation from different donors. The books that are donated by the City Hall, Local and National DepEd (Department of Education) will be brought to the Division Office and distributed to different schools. The Municipal Government, DepEd both National and Local continuously gives support for the advancement of the library

For borrowing procedures, the borrower will first inquire for the availability of the book and will start searching for it. The school library is implementing an open shelf system, meaning the borrowers can freely go to the shelves to search and get books. The borrowers will fill up the date, name, book needed, year and section in the log book. Identification card and books to be borrowed must be presented and the librarian to verify the written information. The library allows maximum of three books to be borrowed and books to be taken out is allowed 1 week for fiction and 2 days for reference books.

Upon returning of books there will be no penalty collected for overdue books the librarian will just update the record in the log book. Damaged and lost books must be replaced with same or another book with a different title.

Reservation is only applicable for teachers. The faculty can reserve any number of books depending on their availability. Reservation will be cancelled if the books were not borrowed the day after the said reservations.

Physical counting is done by the personnel in the Division Office of the Municipal Government and DepEd Office. Every 5 years, obsolete books will be returned to the Division Office. Reports and newly acquired books are recorded in a log book.

Because of the current situation of the school, the developers came up with an idea of implementing a Computerized Library System, to be donated, to improve the existing system inside their library.

1.3 Objectives
1.3.1 General Objectives
To enhance the accuracy and effectiveness of handling and managing records and book transactions of Sta. Lucia High School
The main objective of the study is to develop and implement a Computerized Library System that will enhance the current system, reduce the difficulties and problems faced by the librarian and to speed up the process of all the transaction in the library.

1.3.2 Specific Objectives
To improve the searching of books in the library The developers will improve and ease the searching of books. With the use of computerized card catalog it will lessen the time consumed in locating books in the library.

To handle registration of books
The developers will improve the registration of books by creating a module that will generate an accession number with barcode id for each book. It will be easier for the librarian to record newly acquired book and to assign accession number for each new items in the library.

To handle registration of borrowers
The developers will create a module that will register borrowers and will hold the borrowers information. It will generate a library card with barcode id which will make it easier to retrieve the borrowers’ information and the list of books they borrowed.

To improve the process of reservation of books for teachers The developers will create a module that will handle the reservation of books. This will make it easier for the faculty to reserve books and will help the librarian in holding the availability of that book.

To provide an accurate process in borrowing and returning of books
The developers will create a module for the transaction of borrowing and returning of books that will make the borrowing and returning of books faster. This will help the librarian to manage the transaction in an easier way and to update the records of the available books.

To easily notify borrowers with unreturned books and lost books
The developers will develop a module that will send notice through SMS to inform the borrowers with books that are due, overdue or lost. It will be easier for the librarian to notify borrowers who failed to return or replace the books.

To monitor the unreturned books, lost and damaged books The developers will create a module that will monitor books for the due, overdue books, lost and damaged books. This module will provide the information of the books regarding its status if the books are unreturned, lost or damaged.

To improve report generation The developers will create a module that will generate a report needed by the librarian. This includes master list of books, borrower’s info, borrowed and returned books, newly acquired books, lost and damage books.

1.3.3 Scope and Limitations
SCOPES
Book Acquisition
This module is created to generate the accession number and barcode for the book. It also provides adding of newly acquired book, updating and deleting information of the books.

Borrower’s Registration
This module is created to register, update and delete borrowers in the system. This module will get the borrower’s basic information such as Last name, First name, Middle name, Year and Section (for students), Address, Contact Number. After the registration, the system will have a print out of the library card including the barcode ID that borrowers will use to transact in the library.

Transaction
This module handles all transaction in the library of the following:

Reservation
This module enables a borrower to reserve a book so that no one else could borrow the book until the borrower borrows it from the library.

Borrowing
This module enables a registered borrower to borrow books in the library and notifies the system so that the system may update the books availability as long as the borrower haven't reach the limit of number of book they can borrow. And it also stores information of the borrowed books and the borrower so that the librarian/users of the system can keep track of the borrowed books and borrowers.

Returning
This module removes borrowed books status and notifies the system so that the system can update books' availability and it also removes the borrower in the database' list of borrowers with borrowed books if there are no more books borrowed in their possession.
It also enables the computation of the total penalty of a borrower acquired for each overdue book they are returning if they have at least one.

Monitoring
This module monitors the status of each book recorded in the book inventory and registered borrowers by checking the books availability and every borrowed books due date so that it can inform the librarian/users the available, borrowed, and overdue books and it also checks borrowers status if they have in their possession a borrowed book or borrowed book that is overdue.

This module handles the following:
Books Masterlist This module provides the list of information about a particular book. It also monitors the total copies of books, and the number of books that are borrowed and reserved.

Books Classification
This module will help the librarian in classifying the books in the library. All books will be classified according to the category assigned to it based on Dewey Decimal Classification.

Book Card
This module shows the list of borrowers who borrow a particular copy of book. It provides the name of the borrower and the date issue.

Borrowers Info
This module provides the information about the borrowers. It also shows the list of books he borrowed including the title and accession number of books, issue and return date and penalty paid if any.

Borrowed and Returned Books
This module monitors all the books that are unreturned. It also provides the history of borrowed and returned book.

Reserved Books
This module provides the list of all the reserved books. It shows the information about the borrower, book, and the date it will be borrowed.
Lost and Damaged Books
This module monitors all the books that were lost. It includes the name of borrower, date reported lost, and the title and accession number of book.

Newly Acquired Books
This module provides the list of all newly acquired books. It shows the information about the book, the date it was received in the library and the name of the donor

Reports
This module handles the following:
▪ Books Master list
▪ Borrowers Info
▪ Library Card
▪ Book Card
▪ Borrowed Books
▪ Returned Books
▪ Lost and Damaged Books
▪ Newly Acquired Books
▪ Audit Trail Report

Borrower Book Searcher
Card catalogs are very useful especially in big libraries. With these, you can locate books easily and faster. This module will serve as a computerized card catalog where a borrower can search the information of the book they want to borrow. The main computer is for the librarian and assistant teacher and the other is for the borrowers to be used for searching book information.

Database Back-up and Recovery
The developers need to implement a data backup and recovery plan. The system is capable of recovering files in case of system failure. Backing-up of files can protect against accidental loss of user data, database corruption, hardware failures, and even natural disasters.

Audit Trail
Audit trails are useful both for maintaining security and for recovering lost transactions. It shows who has accessed a computer system and what operations the user has performed during a given period.

Archiving and Restoration
The administrator and authorized user can archive the files easily and retrieve it whenever a record is needed again.

Other Features
SMS Notification
The system will use SMS Notification in order to send reminders to borrowers when the borrowed books are due and overdue. It also sends SMS Notification to the borrower with lost books and unsettled penalty.

Barcode Generation
This module will generate barcodes to be labeled on the books and another barcode that will be placed on library card. This is to ensure authenticity of the books and so that students and faculties of Sta. Lucia high School could be easily identified.

Penalty Collection
Since the library does not implement penalty for overdue books, the librarian can disable the generation or collection of penalty. They can also enable it when they want to implement penalty in the future.

Obsolete Books
It provides the list of all the obsolete or phased out books. The system is capable of providing a list of all the books that need to be phased out, it will depend on the librarian if she wants to set the book as obsolete or retain in the shelf for borrowing or book reading.

LIMITATIONS
Monitoring of Library Holdings like Newspaper is not part of the system.