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School Library Systems
What are School Library Systems?
The term "school library systems" refers to the system that school libraries use to organize, check in/out, and keep track of their books. School library systems utilize bar codes that are placed on their book to give the book a "call number." This call number defines the book according to its author, title, and type of book (Young Adult Fiction, Nonfiction, etc). The school library themselves have a copy of all of the bar codes that are placed on the book. These bar codes are then referenced to when a bar code is scanned to check in/out a book. The computer used then changes the said book's status to being checked in/checked out.
Students can make the process of finding a book easier through the use of the school library's catalog. The catalog has all of the bar code information of every book available so that it can be searched for a specific book according to title, key word, author, subject, or series. An example of the Bowie High School catalog is shown above. This catalog allows for students to search across the entire district for a book as well.
Boolean operators such as "and" and "or" can be used to make the searches more specific.
IT Systems
Advantages
Disadvantages
Social/Ethical Issues
- people and machines: librarian vs. the computer database
http://library.lakelandcc.edu/PDFs/research/howlibrarieswork.pdf
http://www.grandeprairie.org/10-questions-about-how-libraries-work.html
The term "school library systems" refers to the system that school libraries use to organize, check in/out, and keep track of their books. School library systems utilize bar codes that are placed on their book to give the book a "call number." This call number defines the book according to its author, title, and type of book (Young Adult Fiction, Nonfiction, etc). The school library themselves have a copy of all of the bar codes that are placed on the book. These bar codes are then referenced to when a bar code is scanned to check in/out a book. The computer used then changes the said book's status to being checked in/checked out.
Students can make the process of finding a book easier through the use of the school library's catalog. The catalog has all of the bar code information of every book available so that it can be searched for a specific book according to title, key word, author, subject, or series. An example of the Bowie High School catalog is shown above. This catalog allows for students to search across the entire district for a book as well.
Boolean operators such as "and" and "or" can be used to make the searches more specific.
IT Systems
- Bar Code
The bar code is used as a reference point for the computers to recognize the book by its title, author, subject, category, whether its in a series, and certain key words for the specific book. - Optical Reader
The optical reader is used in order to scan or "read" the bar code so that the computer will know specifically what book is being checked in/out or tracked. The optical reader transports the specifications of the book back to the computer. - Catalog Software
Students and teachers can use the catalog software to find books within their own library as well as in other schools or districts. The catalog searches for the book that they are looking for based on their keywords, title, author, subject, or whether it is in a series within its database of books that are within the library's collection of books. The catalogs can also be made to be online accessible to allow students to search for books from home. - Database
The database stores all of the books and their information in order to allow for the catalog to search the said database and find the information that is needed. The database may be stored or included with the catalog software itself in order to make things more efficient for the school library.
Advantages
- Efficiency
Bar codes and optical readers provide a quick and easy way for librarians to check out books to students during school or to quickly check in a pile of books that have been turned in at the end of the day. The database and catalog also are advantageous in letting the student find a book themselves without the need to wander around the library searching for a specific section. - Ease of Access
The online capability of the catalog allows for anyone to access the library catalog at any time. This is advantageous in allowing students who may need to search for the availability of a book while at home in the middle of the night or allowing students to check on books that they have an interest in checking out.
Disadvantages
- Need to understand technology
Librarians may have to be specifically trained in order to have them understand the way the school library system functions. Things such as how to find a book on the catalog and how to quickly check out a book are necessary in order to use a school library system. Troubleshooting with computers may also be necessary in the case of a computer crashing or an error occurring. - Precision / Accuracy
The database and catalog bring up the issue of precision and accuracy. School library users such as students may not always be able to find what they are looking for because they are searching for the wrong things. The database and catalog only function in one way according to what is typed in and cannot be used in any other way. The precision and accuracy is then considerably less according to the student, as a result.
Social/Ethical Issues
- people and machines: librarian vs. the computer database
- Reliability
This would be an issue with the school library system because the school network may not always be functioning and not allow access to the school library catalog which would in turn defeat the purpose of a school library system. In addition to network failures, the issue of whether the school library system is accurate in its methods of searching for a book and whether it is able to find a book that is needed is put into question. - People and Machines
The struggle between people and machines can be exemplified here in the school library systems because the computer and its database used for the library puts a librarian almost out of work. The computer does the majority of the amount of work for a librarian - so where does that leave the librarian? Fortunately, the computers themselves need people to function them and to troubleshoot them when necessary, which is where the librarian fits in.
http://library.lakelandcc.edu/PDFs/research/howlibrarieswork.pdf
http://www.grandeprairie.org/10-questions-about-how-libraries-work.html
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Latest page update: made by mmmmmmmary
, Apr 28 2009, 10:48 AM EDT
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