M O N A S H U N I V E R S I T Y
IMS9300 IS/IM FUNDAMENTALS
SEMESTER 1, 2004
Assignment 2 - Case Study Description
SALTWATER LIBRARY
Introduction
Saltwater Library has been established for 30 years. It is the local library for the municipality of Saltwater and surrounding district in the Shire of Boorabool. Saltwater Library is located deep in the SaltwaterValley. Television reception is poor due to the amount of magnetite (an iron ore) in the surrounding mountains. The town has a cinema and modest video library but no bookshops. The result of all this is that the demand for the library's services has always been heavy. For many years the library has been operated by the chief librarian Agnes Stack and her assistant Robert Accession. They served approximately 800 members year in and year out. The aim of the library was to provide a wide range of borrowing titles and reference texts (Books and magazines only) to its members. Quality of service remains their guiding principle.
About two years ago the titanium ore ilmenite was discovered in the nearby SaltwaterMountains. Consequently several thousand people have moved to Saltwater in the hope of finding their fortune, working at the titanium mine. A few merchants have come too, including a bookseller.
The Problems Observed
Over the past 12 months membership at Saltwater Library has grown to approximately 3500 members. Staff are working long hours to cope with the increased paperwork. In order to continue the high level of service to its members, two new part-time staff, Molly Bloom and Jane Marble, have been hired to cope with the increasing demands. Library hours have been shortened (Monday-Thursday 10:00am to 3:00pm; Friday 10:00am to 7:00pm; Saturday 10:00am to 12:00noon).
There are other problems. Member Cards and Book Cards for books on loan are often misfiled during rush hour and staff have been unable to keep up-to-date with sending out Overdue Notices. This has led to a substantial increase in the number of reservation requests for books which are out on loan.
Overdue loan penalties help ensure members return loans promptly, so that the Library’s popular holdings are available to other borrowers. Overdue loan fines are also a source of income for purchasing new titles. The chief librarian, who purchases new books, has had to spend too much of the purchasing allowance and the loan fine income on buying more copies of existing books requested on the Reservation Cards instead of on new titles. This is eating into funds normally used to increase the range of books available.
Agnes Stack has decided that in order to cope with the increased demand on library services, Molly and Jane must become full-time staff. The Council, however, feel that this solution will be too expensive and that the administrative and purchasing area of the library needs to be reviewed and re-developed with a view to making it more efficient.
You are an Information Systems Consultant who has been hired by Saltwater Municipal Council to conduct an analysis of the library's situation. Your brief is to describe the current operations of the library and to make recommendations for change.
The Current Operation
There are two part time staff and Agnes wants to increase their hours to better cope with the work load. The council is reluctant to increase the staffing budget to allow this. The Shire Manager believes the problems may be solved by computerizing some of the Libraries operation.
Administrative systems for the Library (staff payroll, utilities, building maintenance etc.) are handled by the Shire council’s administrative service.
The Shire accounts department handles all payments to suppliers, and the banking of all cash receipts, although the library must keep records of all its accounts receivable and accounts payable.
Member borrowing cards (Member Cards) and loans are stored alphabetically by member name in a single file which is called the member file. The Member Card is in the form of an envelope. There are four Member Cards for each member. Therefore each member can borrow up to a maximum of four books at a time. This system takes up a lot of space. Each book in the collection has an envelope pasted into the inside back cover. This envelope contains the Book Card which is the unique identifier of that book.
Books can be borrowed only if the member has less than four loans and does not have any overdue notices. When a book is borrowed the Book Card is removed from the back of the book and placed in the particular member's Member Card. All books must be returned 21 days after borrowing. The loan date is stamped on both the Book Card and on a slip of paper pasted to the back flyleaf of the book. Lost or damaged books are to be replaced at the members expense. Fines for overdue books are levied. If fines are not paid or if the replacement cost of damaged or lost books is not paid then membership is cancelled. The overdue notice copy is removed from its file immediately a member pays their fine.
When books are returned the member file is searched until the envelope containing the Books Card for the return is found. It is replaced in the flyleaf envelope. If the due date has been exceeded the overdue notices are checked to determine if a fine had been imposed on this book. If a notice is found the counter staff are advised to disallow loans for that member. This is very hard to enforce, particularly at busy times.
Currently, overdue loans are identified by searching through the member file alphabetically. Every Member Card must be checked to locate an overdue entry. The poor librarian has to look at each Book Card’s loan date, add 21 days, and determine if the book is overdue. If it is overdue the overdue fine is calculated and an Overdue Notice is written. These Overdue Notices are then posted to members and a copy stored in a file until the member returns the book.
When a member places a book on reserve, the Reservation Card is filled out and filed in the first Member Card found which contains the Book Card that the member wants to reserve.