THESIS

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

Background of the Study
The rapid increase and uses of emerging technologies has changed the traditional library into automated, electronic, virtual and digital library. Automation is a technological change that replaces people with machines. Automation of library functions has revolutionized library activities. It enables libraries to provide an effective service while saving the employee time by transferring low-level, repetitive operations to a machine. Library automation may be defined as the application of computers to perform conventional library housekeeping activities such as acquisition, circulation, cataloguing. While shifting automated library services from conventional library services, new equipments and processes are introduced changing the work process in the library (Arachchi, et al, 2007).
The services offered by libraries have also undergone a great change. With the advent of new technologies in the field of computers and telecommunications, revolutionary changes have taken place in the field of Library and Information Science. The shape of traditional libraries containing a large number of printed documents is in the process of being transformed to paper less libraries containing a large number of digitized documents.
According to Jones, the library is the resource centre that supports and enhances the curriculum for the school. Students can expand their horizons more effectively with an automated library.
Automation of the school library is a good investment and benefits the entire school population. In addition, an automated library is an educational tool that provides time for inquiry and instruction, an environment for students to acquire information seeking skills, intellectual access to the library’s collection, a system to manage materials, patrons and reports (Library Automation, 2012).
At present, the college library of Divine Word College of Laoag is not yet fully automated in the circulation of book which include the borrowing and returning of books. As observed, the library uses the ATHENA system to facilitate book cataloguing. Since tasks are not yet fully automated, the following problems are encountered in the operation:
1. borrowing or returning of books is time consuming;
2. over dues and fines are not accurately computed and are not properly monitored;
3. preparation or generation of reports is very tedious due to the manual process.
Thus, the researchers are encouraged to conduct a study on the development of a web-based library system for Divine Word College of Laoag to provide better service to the library users of the school.

Objectives of the Study The study aims to develop a web-based library system for Divine Word College of Laoag. Specifically, the study aims to accomplish the following:
1. to study the present status of the library system of divine word college of laoag;
2. to determine the major problems encountered in the operation of the present library system;
3. to identify solutions to the problems encountered with the existing library system; and
4. to determine the validity of the web-based library system for Divine Word College of Laoag with the it experts.

Scope and Limitation of the Study Primarily, the study focuses on the development of a web-based library system for Divine Word College of Laoag. The proposed system will cover the housekeeping activities like book acquisition, book cataloguing, book circulation including billing of due books, and the library users’ attendance tracers. The proposed system will run in the Intranet system of the school. The study is limited on the collection of books. Periodicals and journals will not be covered in the study.

Significance of the Study This study shall be beneficial to the following entities: The Administrators. Through the proposed system, the administrators will be able to satisfy the accreditation requirements for the institution. The Library Staff. The proposed system minimizes their efforts in processing housekeeping activities. The MIS Office. The proposed system will be included as part of the DWCL Integrated Information System, thus, it will help the MIS coordinate to the employees the availability of books in the library. The Employees. The proposed system reduces the time and effort of the employees to search for books because the system will made accessible through the Intranet system of the school. The Students. The proposed system will help the students browse the books they need faster in a more reliable and accurate manner. The Researchers. This study will provide an avenue for them to apply the concepts they have learned, particularly in software developments, and to discover new skills and concepts.

Definition of Terms For better understanding of this research, the following terms used are operationally defined: Acquisition. This refers to the management and control of expenditure of funds for materials that meet the collection development criteria of the DWCL college library. Automation. This refers to the process of using the machineries or system for easily working and replaces the human effort and time.
Cataloguing. This refers to process of creating entries of books and storing in the database. Circulation. This refers to management of books which includes the borrowing, returning and reservation of books.
Experts Evaluators. This refers to IT professionals who will be evaluating the technicality of the proposed system.
Housekeeping activities. This refers to the daily transactions inside the DWCL college library such as book acquisition, book circulation, book cataloguing.