automated circulation system using clippernopr.niscair.res.in/bitstream/123456789/27506/1/alis 45(2)...

Annals of Library Science and Documentation 45, 1; 1998; 57-75.

AUTOMATED CIRCULATION SYSTEM USING CLIPPER

The paper discusses the salient features of anautomated circulation system, designed and de-veloped to suit the requirements of a medium sizedacademic library using the software CLIPPER, aDBMS compiler. All the procedures designed toperform various functions are menu-driven andhave the provision of on-line help.

In this package documents are broadly classifiedunder books and serials. And membership is cat-egorized into four types each having a distinctborrowing capacity, as shown below:

User Type Book SerialCapacity Capacity

'T' (Teachers) 15 10'R' (Research Scholars) 10 03's' (Students) 04 01'N' (Non-Teaching) 02 01

As far as fines are concerned, it is uniform to allfour types of users.

SOFTWARE

Clipper is a DBMS compiler and is published byNantucket Inc. This developed package is basedon summer '87 version. The features of clipperare:

• CLIPPER development environments areself-contained.

• The provision of Arrays which are memorybased data tables that can be created andused to speed up programs.

Dr. C. Sasikala"Ms. K. Rama PatnaikU

Dr. K. Somasekhara Rao •.•.•.Department of Library & Information ScienceAndhra UniversityVisakhapatnam

• The facility of providing context sensitivehelps.

• The user-defined functions which can becalled as if they are built in.

• The facility to open 255 files.

MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS

The following are required to operate the package:

a) An IBM PC or a true compatible.b) MS-DOS version 2.0 or higherc) At least 640 KB of RAMd) dBASE III Plus (optional)

OBJECTIVES

A computerised circulation system requires a da-tabase comprising of the documents, membersand daily transactions record. The informationgenerated is basically of three types.

1. Information about the members who borrowthe collection which includes member's name,identification number, department,occupation, address for communication, dateof registeration, capacity to borrow books andserials etc.

2. Bibliographic information about collection tobe borrowed includes Acc. No., Call No., Au-thor, Title, Place, Publisher, Year etc.

3. Information about document transaction whichincludes date of issue, due date, membershipno, member name; etc.

*Associate Professor & Head * *Senior Research Fellow * * * Associate Professor

Vol 45 No 2 June 1998 57

(C) SASIKALA, (K) RAMA PATNAIK and (K) SOMASEKHARA RAO

DIFFERENT TYPES OF FILES

In order to meet the above objectives, seven fileshave been created. They are:

01. Books. dbfbz. Serial. dbf03. Members. dbf04. Bootran. dbf05. Seritran. dbf06. Control. dbf07. Reserve. dbf

The database of books and serials are created tostore details of the above documents by inventorysystem. The member file stores all the details of

members. Bootran and Seritran databases, themost important files store records for all the trans-action details. Reservation details are stored inthe reserve file. The control file is created togenerate numbers for the numeric part ofmembership number automatically.

Circulation Process

The software can be loaded in the hard disk bytyping load which will create a directory namedclip on that drives and loads the package into it.The software can be executed by typing RAM.The main menu has four options (fig 1), whichare discussed below:

CIRCULATION MEMBERS=============================== ..."II

JIDOCUMENT STATISTICS QUIT

"'-=-==.~"'''='''================='============

TO RECORD ISSUE AND RETUEN OF BOOKS

~==~~~' DATE := 14/01/98 ============= [CSK/KSSR/KRPj ====='.1

Fig. 1 Main menu

1. Circulation

The circulation option is designed to perform thefollowing functions.

a) recording the issue and return of books andserials to members.

b) generation of reminders to borrowers withoverdue books and serials.

c) calculation of fines for overdue books and se-rials.

5X

d) issuing of no-dues certificate to non-members/members whose membership is cancelled.

e) acceptance of reservation for books/serials.

f) displaying the list of books and serials by theirtitles borrowed by a particular member andalong with their borrowing status.

On selecting this option, a sub-menu of fiveoptions appear on the screen (fig 1.1)

Ann Lib Sci Doc

1.1 Charge


The charge option again has a sub menu of booksand serials. If books is selected, the charging sheetis displayed on the screen prompting for memberno. When it is entered, the system will display the

member name and borrowing status. If borrowingcapacity is not exhausted, the accession numbercan be entered to record the issue of the item,otherwise a message will appear on the screen.

ISorry !!! your quota is overl

DOCUMENT STATISTICS======>1

II,IIii

IIIII'11

IfI~ CIRCULATION

I II CHARGING ==nlIl· DISCHARGING

\BROWSING Jl

REMINDERS

RESERVE

MEMBERS QUIT

IITO RECORD ISSUE OF BOOKS I:

l.!=:== DATE := 14/01/98 ============= [CSKlKSSR/KRP) --~

Fig. 1.1: Circulation menu

1.2Discharge

The screen output for discharging books is shownin fig.1.3 It has also two options viz. books andserials.

While recording the return of books, the proce-dure verifies the due date. If it is greater than

due date, the amount of fine to be paid by themembers is displayed and the print out of receiptcan be taken. The number of days for finecalculation excludes holidays and sundays as well.

During charging and discharging process, thereis little scope for manipulating the dates of issueand return.

CHARGING SHE E T 'IUSERNO . NAME II

'IACC. NO. CALL NO. II

IIAUTHOR

TITLE !III

DATE OF ISSUE IIBCARD DUE DATE IIDISCIPLINE II

IFig. 1.2: Charging sheet

Vol45 No 2 June 1998 59


1.3 Reserve

This option takes care of reservation of books andserials by members. The reservation form willseek the membership number and accessionnumber of the item. The other details viz.Membername, Call No., Title and date of

reservation ar.e automatically displayed on thescreen. Before making reservations for a book,the reserve file will be verified to know thereservations already made for the same item withthe help of serial number, to assign the order ofpriority. The reservation form is shown in fig. 1.4.

DISCHARGING SHEET

r NAME

CALL NO.

USERNO

ACC. NO.

AUTHOR

TITLE

DATE OF ISSUE

BCARD

DISCIPLINE

DUE DATE

o

Fig. 1.3: Discharging sheet

1.4. Remind

Selection ofthis option will generate and print re-minders for over-due books.

1.5. Browse

The Browse programme facilitates the browsingof books and serials issued to members by theirtitles and displays their borrowing status. When amember no. is entered, the displayed screen isas at fig 1.5. It has two options, books and seri-als.

o

RESERVATION SHEET

ACC. NO.

USERNO

MEMBER'S NAME

CALL NO

TITLE

DISCIPLINE

SERIAL NUMBER

60

Fig. 1.4: Reservation sheet

Ann Lib Sci Doc


2

II BROWSING PROGRAMME~------------------------------~I

II

USSER NO. T 00002

NAME K. SOMAASEKHARA RAO

SERIALS BORROWED 8

ELIGIBLE TO BORROW:

TITLES

ANNALS OF LIB SCIENCE

FOUNDATIONS OF PHILOSOPHY

BIOCHEMICAL JOURNAL

JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR BIOLOGY

JOURNAL OF ENDOCRINOLOGY

2. Members

Fig. 1.5: Browsing programme

The members menu (fig.2) is designed to grantmembership, cancel membership and issue no-dues certificate. In other words, it performs thefollowing functions:

a) Registration of membersb) Cancellation of membershipv) Issuing no-dues certificate

This menu has three options viz. Regist, Browse,Cancel.

2.1 Regist

Before adding a new member, the member data-base is checked to ensure if that person is alreadya member. Each member is prefixed with an al-phabet and a number which is automatically gen-erated by the control file. This automatic genera-tion of member number relieves the burden ofchecking the number assigned to the last mem-ber registered. The alphabatic part of membernumber is also for identifying the category. In or-der to prevent the unauthorized use of this optiona password has to be typed along with the person'sname who is authorized to use it.

CIRCULATION MEMBERS DOCUMENT STATISTICS QUIT

11REGIST

BROWSE

CANCEL I

lLDATE: = 24/01/98

TO RECORD REGISTRATION OF USERS

I[CSKlKSSR/KRP]

Fig.2: Membership menu

Vol45 No 2 June 1998 61


'e . D I S C H A R GIN G SHE E T IIIi USERNO T 00020

i,'1 USERNAME DATE II

. ADDRESS

II CITY !IIi

II ::~~:;:I~NNT II

~,===BO=O=K=C=A=P========~===SE=R=IA=L=CA=P=========_ ~

Fig. 2.1: Registration form

The alphabetic part of member number has to be. only of four types T - Teaching Staff, R - ResearchScholars, S - Students, N - Non-Teaching. Theprogram is designed not to accept any other al-phabet other than the above four.

2.2 Browse

The browse option is designed to browse variousdetails of the members. All the fields of the recordare displayed on the screen on entering the mem-ber number. '

2.3. Cancel

This option is designed to cancel membership. Thisprogramme requires a password and user's name

CIRCULATION MEMBERS

to operate. A hard copy of no-dues certificates canbe taken if required through this option.

3. Documents

The document option is designed to maintain thedatabase of books and serials by inventory sys-tem. The following functions are assigned to thisoption.

a) Addition of new arrivals of books and serialsdatabases.

b) Deletion of records of weeded out books.

c) Browsing of records by author, title and callnumber to answer queries on availability ofbooks and serials.

DOCUMENT STATISTICS-"---QU;T~-l------- . -~I

r;======] ii

I~'BOOKS I,

SERIALS IIilIIIIIIIIIi

IIiiIi:,

[CSKlKSSR/KRP]=--~~.=u

IIII

IIII

Ii~..= DATE:= 24/01/98 ============

TOMAINTAINDATABASEOFBOOKS

Fig. 3.1: Document menu

62 Ann Lib Sci Doc


d) Editing of records in case of change with re-gard to call no.

The document has a sub-menu of books and se-rials, each of these two have again been assignedfour options viz. Add, Browse, Edit and Delete.

3.1. Add

The Add program will add the new arrivals ofbooks and serials to these databases which areavailable for loan.

3.2. Browse

The browsing program is designed to answer que-ries on availability of books and serials. The pro-vision of arrays in CLIPPER facilitates the design-ing of on-line help with all three access points.When the access point author is selected, the in-voking of the function key (FI) displays the list ofauthors (alphabetically) on the screen along withthe title of the books, out of which, the desiredones can be selected by pressing the return key.The other details are automatically displayed onthe screen including its availability. The browsingprogram of serials has also three access pointsnamely serial no., title and subject.

==-=-"-~'-'=~-=~~-=~~~~~==-~===-===~'-==='~==="-i!ADD MENU FOR BOOKS !I

Ir--=-I;II

II ACC. NO.!j

\1 AUTHOR

IITITLE

IIPLACE

PUBLISHERII YEARII DISCIPLINE

IIFig. 3.2

3.3. Edit

The edit option allows the change of fields viz.call no. of the book, if there are any changes.

3.4. Delete

The delete option is also restricted to authorizedpersons who can operate it by typing and the re-quired password and their name. This program willdelete all such records of the books in the database,which the management decides to weed out. In caseof serials, the volume of issues which are sent forbinding are deleted in the serials database.

4. Statistics

Statistics of various operations are necessary for

Vol 45 No 2 June 1998

"Ii;[Iiq

._---=--=..~=-_ .=1J

Add menu

decision making. For instance, the data on thenumber of books available in all the disciplineswill reflect the strengths and weakness in the col-lection. The reservation statistics will help inknowing the demand for a particular item, so thatmore copies of such items can be procured tomeet the demand.

This menu has five options.

4.1. Books

This menu has again two options.

4. 1. 1. Bookstat

This option will show the total number of booksavailable in the library on a particular or givendate.

63

(C) SASIKJfLA, (K) RAMA PATNAIK and (K) SOMASEKHARA RAO

CIRCULATION MEMBERS DOCUMENT STATISTICS QUIT Jil====~====== I

BOOKS

I

II . STATISTICS OF 800KSDATE := 24/01/98 ============= [CSKlKSSR/KRP] -----

SERIALS

MEMBERS

CHARGING I

RESERVE

Fig. 4.1: Statistics menu

4. 1.2. Bookdstat

The number of books available in a particular dis-cipline on a given date will be displayed on se-lecting this option.

4.2. Serials

'This has two options.

4.2.1. Seristat

This option will show the total number of serialssubscribed by the library in all disciplines on agiven date.

4.2.2. Seridstat

The number of serials subscribed in a particulardiscipline on a given date will be shown by thisoption.

4.3. Current Status

It has two options.

4.3.1. Charstcit

The charstart option will reveal the total numberof books issued on a particular day.

64

4.3.2. Chadstat

This option will show the number of books issuedon a particular discipline on a given date. Similarlythe number of serials issued on a particular date,as well as the number of serials issued in a par-ticular discipline can also be displayed on thescreen by Charstat and Chadstat options.

4.4. Memstat

The memberstat option will display the numberof members in each category.

4.5. Resestat

The resestat displays the list of all such items onthe screen which are reserved by three or morethan three members on any item. Thesestatisticswill indicate the items which are in demand,

5. Quit

After the day's transaction, on selecting the quitoption the program allows to take backup, restore,reindex and copying of all database files on afloppy disk in event of any malfunction or system'sfailure.

Ann Lih Sci Doc


ADVANTAGES

This CLIPPER based circulation system has thefollowing advantages:

(i) Member's query on the availability of bookscan be answered quickly.

(ii) Browsing of books and serials by multipleaccess points through on-line helps facilitatethe members in identifying the books ontheir topic of interest available in the library.

(iii) Certain operations like, registration, cancel.lation of membership, weeding out of booksby deletion, charging and discharging haverestricted access in order to prevent anymalpractices.

(iv) The inventory system of maintaining the da-tabase of books and serials helps the mem-bers in identifying the documents availablein the collection of library on their topic ofinterest.

(v) The statistical data on issues can help inanalysing the adequacy of collectionsubjectwise.

(vi) The statistical data in reservation 01 booksand serials may help in procuring morecopies of such items.

(vii) The data on number of books available ineach discipline may facilitate in knowing theadequacy of collection in each disciplineand formulating a judicious acquisitionpolicy in the library.

Vol45 No 2 June 1998

(viii) Above all, effective utilization of staff ispossible by analysing the statistics of workload.

The output of almost all functions are given in theappendix in order to understand the package prop-erly.

REFERENCES

1. SPENCE (Rick): Clipper programming Guide.New Delhi: BPB Publications, 1989.

2. PALANIYANDY (M V) and RAVICHANDRARAO (I K): Automated circulation conteolsystem. Library Science with a slant toDocumentation. 29, 4; 1992.

3. ALABI (C A): Some technical factors for thedesign of a computer-based circulation sys-tem for Nigerian University Libraries. Journalof Library & Information Sciences. 8, 2; 1983.

4. WAHID (A): Library information system (LIS):Use of Computers in' circulation control. Li-brary Herald. 25, 23; 1986.

5. GOWRI (R) and YADUMANI: Automation ofLibrary circulation in computer application tolibraries, IR & Networking. Ed. by S.Parthasarathy.

6. BAJAJ (Rajinder Prasad) and BHOOSHANLAL: Computerized circulation control: An1.1. T. Delhi experiment. In ComputerApplication to Libraries, IR & Networking. Ed.by S. Parthasarathy.

65

;l>::3::3l"0:UlG.tlcr.

0.0.

I AUTOMATED CIRCULATION SYSTEM I

CIRCULATION MEMBERSHIP DOCUMENT STATISTICS SYSTEMMANAGE.MENT MANAGEMENT MAINTENANCE MAINTENANCE

CHARGING REGIST BOOKS BOOKS BACKUP

DISCHARGING BROWSING SERIALS SERIALS RESTORE

BROWSING CANCEL I I MEMBERS COpy

REMINDERS ADD ADD CHARGE REMINDER

RESERVATION BROWSE BROWSE DISCHARGE

EDIT DELETEBOOKS

DELETESERIALS

PROGRAM STRUCTURE

l>

""CD::J9:><

-.n~2!~r-?-:8~~

~~:b~II).:::JQ.

~'-'(I)o~m~:b~

~o


YES

YESERRORS

?

ERRORS?

YES

FLOW CHART SHOWING DEVELOPMENT CYCLE IN CLIPPER

Vo145 No 2 June 1998 67

(e) SASIKALA, (K) RAMA PATNAIK a.nd (K) SOM,ASEKHARA RAO

MENU 1

68

CH =2

CH =3

MENU 2

MENU 3

STOP

Fl:.OW CHART OF MAIN MENU

MENU 4

Ann Lib Sci Doc

START

READCH

CH = 1

CHARGE DISCHARGE

AUTOMATED CIRCULATION SYSTEM USING CLIPPER-

BROWSE RESERVEREMINDERS

EXIT

FLOW CHART qF CIRCULATION MENU

Vol45 No 2 June 1998 69

(Cj.SA$IKALA, (K) RAMA PATNAIK and (K) SOMASEKHARA RAO

START

READCH

CH = 1

ADD

CH =3 CH =4

DELETE

EXIT

70

VIEW EDIT

FLOW CHART OF SUBMENU OF (BOOKS)DOCUMENT MENU

Ann Lib Sci Doc

START

READCH

CH = 1


CH =2 CH =3

ADD

EXIT

Vo145 No 2 June 1998

VIEW DELETE

FLOW CHART OF SUBMENU OF (SERIALS)DOCUMENT MENU

71


START

READCH

BOOKS SERIALS

CH =2 . CH =3

RESERVE

EXIT

72

MEMBERS CHARGE

FLOW CHART OF STATIATICS MENU

Ann Lib Sci Doc

Vol45 No 2 June 1998


READ 'DETAILS'FROM

MEMBER FILE

CHECKBROWSING

STATUS

FALSE

DISPLAY DETAILSFROM

BOOK DATABASE

PRINT CURRENTDATE &

DUE DATE

TRUE DELETERECORD

CHECKACC NO.

FLOW CHART OF CHARGING PROGRAM

73

(e) SASIKALA, (K) RAMA PATNAIK and (K) SOMASEKHARA RAO

DISCHARGE

READ 'DETAILS'FROM

TRANFILE

CURRENTDATE

>DUE

DATE·

NO

/

YES

CALCULATEFINE ®

DELETE FROMTRAN FILE

sxrr

CHART OF DISCHARGING PROGRAM

74

FINES

DAYS =CURRENT - DUE

DATE DATE

DATE NO>60

YES

FINE =.COST OFBOOK

NODAYS

>30

EXIT

FLOW CHART SHOWING CALCULATIONOF FINES

Ann Lib Sci Doc


READ RESERVEFILE

YES CHECKMEM NO. IS

SAME

NO

READTRAN FILE

. READ RESERVEFILE

NO

SERIAL NO = SERIAL NO.+ 1

FLOW CHART OF RESERVATION PROGRAM

Vol45 No 2 June 1998 75