Who: Sonja Henman

Role: Headteacher

Where: Interviewees house

When:13 September 2011 at 4pm

Following our phone conversation, I emailed Mrs Henman to confirm the details of the interview:

This is the reply she sent me:

I thanked her for her time:

This is the plan for the interview:

  • Process
  • Please describe the process if a student currently takes a book out the library
  • How are books taken out of the library?
  • Where is it recorded?
  • How long does it take to take a book out of the library?
  • How often do students take out a new book?
  • Can they take books out separately from their scheduled time?
  • How many books can one student take out at one time?
  • What are the different types of books you keep in the library?
  • What are ‘big books’?
  • What are the reading scheme books?
  • How are they organised?
  • How often are new books added to the library?
  • How many are added on average a year?
  • What is the current process when a new book is added?
  • Data
  • What information do you keep that is relevant (to put in the library database) about:
    a) the students?
    b) the books?
  • How many students are there?
  • How often does the list of students need to be updated?
  • How many new students are there each year on average?
  • Do you wish to keep each student/librarian’s data on the system after they have left the school?
  • If not, how long before it is deleted?
  • How many books are there in the library?
  • Do you have a list of all the books in the library?
  • How is this presented?
  • Is it easily edited?
  • Are the details on the books accurate?
  • How many students are there who have access to the library?
  • Do you have a list of their relevant details to put in the system?
  • What are the school term dates?
  • Users
  • How many teachers/librarians have the authorisation to loan a book out?
  • Do you have relevant details of all the staff that can be used in the database?
  • Who is the most IT competent/know the most about computers in the school?
  • Are the staff familiar with the software Microsoft Access or will they need training?
  • Do you have an up-to-date version of Microsoft Access on the school system?
  • Do you have a suitable computer to use in the library?
  • Does it have an installed operating system on it (i.e.Windows/Apple)?
  • Can it be attached to a printer?
  • Are all your computers networked (linked) together?
  • Can you file share through different computers?

This was the actual interview transcript:
(Her reply was written in red)

  • Process
  1. Please describe the process if a student currently takes a book out the library

They select the book that they want and then write their name, the book title, author and the date borrowed and returned in a monsters Inc exercise book which is left in the library. It is an a4 book with lined paper and rulered sections to enter each detail of the loan.

  1. How often do students take out a new book?
    They are allowed a book for a maximum of two weeks but have scheduled library time once a week. KS2 (classes 2 and 3) have library time fifteen minutes a week.
  2. Can they take books out separately from their scheduled time?
    Yes. They can take books out anytime between 8.30am when the library opens and 4.30pm regarding that they don’t go over the limit and have signed their previous books back in the exercise book.
  3. How many books can one student take out at one time?

2 but they can renew them if they haven’t finished yet. They are only allowed one ‘graded’ book at a time.

  1. What are ‘graded’ books?
    Books that are part of the reading scheme. The children are tested twice a year to get a reading age which corresponds to a level and colour. There are baskets containing books from 18 reading levels. Students need to read 10 books from each of basket to progress to the next level and eventually to become a ‘free reader’ whereby they can read any book from a separate set of baskets.
  2. What are the other types of books you keep in the library?
    There are fiction and non-fiction that are divided into sections (using the Dewey number). There are research books like encyclopaedias and dictionaries and big books which aren’t loaned out, just used as teacher resources.
  3. What is an example of a ‘big book’?
    There are big poetry books.
  4. How often are new books added to the library?
    New books are added fairly regularly. We are very strict to make sure that there are no books that are over ten years old.
  5. Why?
    Because books get old and tatty and also we want an up-to-date library so students have a variety.
  6. How many are added on average a year?
    We buy them straight from tree tops in boxes of 20/30 so I guess about 100 new books a year. Also, twice a year a mobile library from library resources come to the school and the students are allowed to swap 100 books from the free reader section or the general library so the list of books needs to be regularly updated.
  7. What is the current process when a new book is added?
    If the books aren’t already, they get coded and put into the appropriate section or basket.

Data

  1. What information do you keep that is relevant (to put in the library database) about:
    a) the students?
    Their names, reading scheme and class.
    b) the books?
    Title, author, ISBN, type, reading scheme or Dewey number (subject area), date of publication, publisher and the number of pages.
  2. How many students are there?
    There are about 34 students who are in class 2/3 so use the library. There are 61 in the whole school.
  3. How often does the list of students need to be updated?
    Every September there are students who move up to class 2 so will need access to the library. Rarely students join half way through the year.
  4. How many new students are there each year on average?

About 9 but the school is growing so potentially more in the future.

  1. Do you wish to keep each student/librarian’s data on the system after they have left the school?
    No. When the student leaves the school at the age of 11 in July their details can be deleted.
  2. What are the school term dates?
    They can be accessed on the website at
  3. Are they stored in the date format?
    No but they can be easily converted

Users

  1. How many teachers/librarians have the authorisation to loan a book out?
    There are 3 teachers, 2 teaching assistants, 1 head teacher, 1 bursar and a music teacher. Only their names need to be kept in the database.
  2. Who would be the teacher who knows the most about IT and so would update the system if a new book is added or a new student joins the school for example?
    The class 2 teacher is head of IT.
  3. Are the students familiar with the software Microsoft Access or will they need training?
    We do not use Microsoft Access so training would be needed. The system should be very simple so 7 year olds can use it.
  4. Do you have an up-to-date version of Microsoft Access on the school system?
    Microsoft Office 2003 is installed on all of the computers
  5. Do you have a suitable computer to use in the library?
    We would put a laptop in the library and use that.
  6. Does it have an installed operating system on it (i.e.Windows/Apple)?
    It has a Windows Server 2003 operating system.
  7. Can it be attached to a printer?
    There are two printers in the corridor that can be attached to the laptops.
  8. Are all your computers networked (linked) together?
    As far as I am aware no but you’ll have to check with somebody who knows more than me.
  9. Can you file share through different computers?
    Every student has their own memory stick

This is the holiday data I obtained from the website:

(all the dates between where ‘Term Ends’ and ‘Term Starts’ (including ‘Teacher Training Days’) are holidays

Who: Sonja Henman

Role: Headteacher

Where: Interviewees house

When: 23 September 2011 at 5pm

I conducted the second interview to determine the problems with the current system and the expectations of the new system.

This is the plan:

  • Problems and expectations
  • What problems do you find with the current system of which you expect the new system to resolve?
  • Do you have any other expectations of the new system?
  • Is there a certain colour scheme/style sheet you wish it to follow?
  • Would you expect the logo to be on the entry form?
  • What information would you like to extract from the new system? (i.e. reports on what books students have been taking out)
  • Did you expect a function which automatically calculates the ‘return-by-date’?
  • Does the information need to be securely protected?
  • How is the information currently kept secure?
  • Do you have any expectations for the security of the system?
  • Would you like a password protected database?

This was the actual interview transcript:
(Her reply was written in red)

Problems and expectations

1.What problems do you find with the current system of which you expect the new system to resolve?
At the moment if a book is not returned it is generally forgotten about because it is hard to keep track of and every couple of months we put an amnesty box in the hall for parents and students to return any books they find at home. There isn’t an up-to-date list of stock. Also, it is difficult to track individual students and what they have been reading.

2.Do you have any other expectations of the new system?
It would be useful if the system could flag up if a student has read ten books from one reading scheme and also if it could somehow work out which publishers are selected most commonly so we can select where to buy new books from of which the students prefer. It also would be useful if it could show us if there are any books over the age of ten years since publication. I also expect the system to be able to work out when a book needs to be returned (2 weeks excluding school holidays). I need it to be relatively cheap; so less than £150 to install the software.

  1. Is there a certain colour scheme/style sheet you wish it to follow?
    It should follow the website colour scheme so red, white and black. A title should be on every page so it is obvious to the user what they are doing.
  2. Would you expect the logo to be on the entry form?
    Yes and the school name.
  3. Do you have any other expectations as to the layout?

If it is for the students to enter, the system needs to be as simple as possible so there is less room for errors. So a large, clear font. It also would be useful just to have one main navigation page which links to all the other forms and all the forms link to it. I would like a submit and reset button on every form.

3.Does the information need to be securely protected?
It would be preferable if the student had no access to their reading age as it may be quite demoralising but the school is securely protected so it doesn’t need to be securely protected. There should be a conversion chart between reading age and level/colour separately as part of the system. The data kept on the system is not particularly dangerous (I cannot give you the students’ names because of the data protection act).

4.How is the information currently kept secure?
The exercise book is left in the library which is locked every evening. However as it is only paper based so if there were any physical damage like a fire it would be destroyed. It is not backed up.

5.Do you have any expectations for the security of the system?
Not really.

  1. Would you like a password protected database?
    It could be useful to add a password to stop students having unauthorised access of the database. The teachers could be told the password but then again this isn’t vital. Or some sort of security system which can prevent the children from accessing it and deleting the list of books or students.

Who: Julie Reid

Role: School bursar

Where: PitsfordPrimary School

When: 29th September 2011

I rang the school on the 27th September to arrange a meeting so I could observe the current system. We agreed the meeting to be the morning of Thursday 29th September.

I asked a few questions (of which those which Mrs Henman was unable to answer).

This is the plan for the questions I was to ask:

Who would update the system?

Are the computers networked together?

Have you got any expectations of the new system?

What forms do you want to include?

I asked Mrs Reid and other appropriate members of staff:

(Her replies are written in red)

1. Who would update the system?

The head of IT,Jane Cartlidge

2. Are the computers networked together?

At the moment, there are 12 standalone laptops/computers and no server between them, so files are saved, shared and printed using removable memory sticks (every student has one of their own). However, we are planning on buying a new server in a few months so by the time the IT project is completed, all of the computers will be networked together. So hopefully the system will be accessible from any of the computers.

3. Have you got any expectations of the new system?

It would be useful if there were reports showing which subject areas children were taking out so the teacher could tell them to take out a fiction for example if they were taking too many non-fiction books out. Also it would be useful to see how many pages there are in each of the books that they are taking out. If possible, it would also be good if the children could rate the books with a star rating or something and add a review to help future students. Also, as some of the teachers and most of the students are not very educated with Microsoft Access, there needs to be text on the screen to assist the users and a user guide.

4. What forms do you want to include?

Borrowing a book, returning a book, one for adding new books and students and holidays