LIBR10037: Analysis of Quinte West Public Library Circulation System

This report details an interview conducted with a staff member at the Quinte West Public Library regarding their automated circulation system. The report covers various aspects of the system, including user information management, registration procedures, the use of barcodes and security systems, check-in and check-out processes (including self-checkout availability), material and user alerts, renewal and hold policies, overdue and fine handling, user privacy considerations, borrowing history tracking, self-service options, inventory management, information usage for weeding, circulation procedures during system outages, and statistical reporting. The interview provides a comprehensive overview of the system's functionalities and its role in managing library operations, highlighting its impact on users and the library's overall efficiency. The report concludes with an assessment of the system's effectiveness and its contribution to the library's services.

Running head: - CIRCULATION COMPUTER SYSTEM.
CIRCULATION COMPUTER SYSTEM.
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1CIRCULATION COMPUTER SYSTEM.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction:...........................................................................................................................2
2. Description of the interview:..................................................................................................2
2.1 User information maintained by the computer system:...................................................2
2.2 Registration procedures:...................................................................................................3
2.3 The use of barcodes and security systems (RFID or other):............................................4
2.4 Check-in and check out procedures, including self-check-out if available:....................4
2.5 Material and user alerts/blocks/messages:.......................................................................4
2.6 How renewals and holds are handled:..............................................................................5
2.7 How overdue and fines are handled:................................................................................5
2.8 If/how concerns regarding user privacy affect circulation work at this library:..............5
2.9 If the system records each user’s borrowing history:.......................................................6
2.10 User self-service options for circulation activities:........................................................6
2.11 If the library takes inventory on a regular basis, if/how the system is used for this:.....6
2.12 If/How information from the system is used for weeding:............................................6
2.13 How circulation is done when there is a power outage or the system is down:.............7
2.14 Statistical reports generated by the system:...................................................................7
3. Conclusion:............................................................................................................................7
4. References:.............................................................................................................................8

2CIRCULATION COMPUTER SYSTEM.
1. Introduction:
Quinte West Public Library is situated in the middle of Canada that has a primary
mission statement of provisioning every individual reader having the zeal to read with the
freedom to reach out to them and read anything and everything the individual wants to gain
knowledge. This library is known for its excellent service provided to the customers and to
provide them with the computer circulation service that provides the readers with multiple
policies such as membership to the library, privileges to borrowing books and loan period as
well as limits. This also includes fines, refunds as well as other existing services that form a
primary component of the circulation policy (Okundamiya, Michael and Uchechukwu 1-5).s
For carrying out all of these activities, the library has a library management system for the
circulation procedures that are done by software. This particular system monitors and tracks
over all the primary activities that relate to the daily procedure of the library. In addition to
this, all of the trackings is done virtually with the management system as a part of the entire
circulation procedure.
2. Description of the interview:
John Matt was supposedly interviewed as a person working in the Quinte West Public
Library, along with the circulation system belonging to the library itself. The following
information has been gathered from the whole interview that had been conducted.
2.1 User information maintained by the computer system:
The computer system that is associated with the circulation system of the library consists of
information that belongs to the users of the system (Al-nabhani, Suhail and Amgad Muneer).
The primary users of the system include the employees of the organization, along with the
readers that visit the library daily.

3CIRCULATION COMPUTER SYSTEM.
According to what John Matt said, the information includes the personal information of
every individual reader visiting the library, the details of the books issued by them as well as
the personal information of the employees belonging to the Quinte West Public Library.
2.2 Registration procedures:
For registering into the library, the individual reader should provision with a personal
identification that has the address of the reader on it for verification purposes (Adeniran et
al.). For the adult readers belonging to the age of 18 years or above the following will work,
 Driving license.
 Mortgage, lease, or rental agreement.
 Direct Deposit stub.
 Utility bill.
 Ontario Motor Vehicle Permit.
 A statement of the bank or a personal cheque.
Youth belonging to the age group of 13-17 years have the following necessities for
the procedure of registration,
 Driving License.
 Student card Paystub.
 A report card with the address on it.
Lastly, the children from their birth to the age of 12 years will require to provide with
one of the following for getting registered to the library,
 Identification proof of the parents or any other evidence of the address.
Following this, signing to the library card implies the fact of acceptance as well as
adherence towards all the rules along with the regulations of the library (Clayton).

4CIRCULATION COMPUTER SYSTEM.
2.3 The use of barcodes and security systems (RFID or other):
The circulation system of the library has been designed to operate with the use of
barcodes as well in regards to both the readers who are a member of the library as well as the
items getting issued from the library.
The barcode system is an integral part of the circulation system for the Quinte West Public
Library to ensure proper security and to keep track of all the books that are being issued from
the library and the ones that are being returned to the library (Nunekpeku). This also
provisions with a helping hand towards tracking any book that might get lost.
2.4 Check-in and check out procedures, including self-check-out if available:
As John Matt stated, the check-in, as well as the checkout procedure, is entirely done
by the circulation system for the library. For every individual book that is checked out, the
barcode is scanned, and the relevant data of the text such as the name and the ISBN gets
entered into the database of the library system (Odunola). Following this, when the user
returns the same book, the barcode is again scanned, and the database gets updated with the
fact the particular book has been returned to the premise.
However, the option of self-checkout is not available in regards to the current
situation since there have been instances when the users forget to scan the barcode, and there
is no record for the book that has been checked out.
2.5 Material and user alerts/blocks/messages:
With the circulation system maintaining the data to every single book as well as the
users, the users are given a proper date for returning the book that has been issued by the
user. As the date for return approaches, the user is alerted with notifications as well as
messages as a part of reminding the user to return the same.

5CIRCULATION COMPUTER SYSTEM.
On failing to return the book on or before the given time, the user is blocked for a
certain period from issuing any book from the library.
2.6 How renewals and holds are handled:
In regards to the renewal procedure, the specific item can be renewed by the user on
the telephone or through the website of the Quinte West library having a complete
dependency upon the catalog (Litsey, Ryan, and Weston Mauldin 140-144). However, they
hold as well as the procedure of renewal is handled based on the following categories,
 Assurance of the fact that the book has not been reserved for another user.
 The renewal cannot be proceeded with if that particular item is on high demand from
other users.
 The respective user has an amount of $10.00 or less in the form of a fine.
2.7 How overdue and fines are handled:
When the individual user makes the return of a particular book, three days before the
original date of returning, the user is notified through the automated system of the library. On
the other hand, the user is again notified if the overdue is three days after the original date of
returning.
In case of fines, the privileges of the respective users shall be suspended by the library
if the fine amount has exceeded the amount of $10.00.
2.8 If/how concerns regarding user privacy affect circulation work at this
library:
With the circulation system in possession of every single information that belongs to
the user, the automated system should be careful enough to maintain the privacy of individual
users (Burney 1-26). As a reason, the Quinte West Public Library does not provide other
individuals with the information belonging to any other user of the library.

6CIRCULATION COMPUTER SYSTEM.
2.9 If the system records each user’s borrowing history:
The system of the library does record the borrowing history of each user since the
automated system keeps track of every transaction that is performed within the premise of the
library. As a result, borrowing history can help the library in various circumstances where the
information might be needed.
2.10 User self-service options for circulation activities:
Since the library system is entirely automated, the users are provisioned with the option of
self-service at times when the supervisors of the circulation are not present within the premise
due to some other reason (Kovalcik, Justin, and Mike Villalobos 114-124). This also acts as a
satisfaction for the users, since the users cannot get past the entrance/exit without getting
notified by the system.
2.11 If the library takes inventory on a regular basis, if/how the system is used
for this:
The library, with the help of the automated circulation system, keeps a check upon the
inventory regularly as stated by John Matt, to get hold of information regarding any material
that might be in high demand but is not in stock.
2.12 If/How information from the system is used for weeding:
The Quinte West Public Library respects the privacy of the users as well as the
information that is provided to the library for verification purposes (Gupta, Parul and
Madhusudhan). Hence, in regard to this, the library makes no other use of the information
that is present on the system for other purposes such as the likes of weeding.

7CIRCULATION COMPUTER SYSTEM.
2.13 How circulation is done when there is a power outage, or the system is
down:
In regards to the situation, when there is a power outage the system does not work
since it has a complete dependency upon the power supply (Wagstaff, Kiri and Geoffrey
238-247). In such cases, the work is performed manually in a traditional way that used to be
followed before the circulation system had come into play.
2.14 Statistical reports generated by the system:
Every month, the system generates reports that have the primary information of a
number of books that have been issues, a new number of memberships, fines generated as
well as other information that might be related to the interest of the library (Madhusudhan,
Margam and Vikas Singh). Similarly, the system also generates statistical reports on a yearly
basis having the primary inclusion of the same set of data.
3. Conclusion:
The Quinte West Public Library has been properly utilizing the functionalities of the
automated circulation system for a long time. In regards to the interview, where John Matt
provisioned with the above- stated information, it can be said that the system has been
working fine until now. Maintaining every single information regarding all the transactions
carried out within the library as well as monitoring over the inventory, user information as
well as other relative service put forward an efficient computer system as a part of managing
all the carried out activities. While carrying out the research, this library entirely performs
every single activity that is essential while making use of such an automated circulation
system and puts forward a significant usage of the late library management system.

8CIRCULATION COMPUTER SYSTEM.
4. References:
Adeniran, Temitayo Caroline, Joy Hadiza Zubairu, and Samuel Olusayo Onidare. "Design
and Implementation of a Secured Automated Library Using RFID." (2018).
Al-nabhani, Suhail, and Amgad Muneer. "Automated Library System Using SMS Based Pick
and Place Robot." International Journal of Computing and Digital Systems 8.6 (2019).
Burney, Shumaila. "Exploring the Usage of Information Technology for Library
Automation." Library Philosophy and Practice (2019): 1-26.
Clayton, Marlene. Managing library automation. Routledge, 2018.
Gupta, Parul, and M. Madhusudhan. "A Review of Literature on the Recent Developments in
the Application of Electronic Security System in Libraries." JLIS 42.1-2 (2017).
Kovalcik, Justin, and Mike Villalobos. "Automated Storage & Retrieval System."
Information Technology and Libraries 38.4 (2019): 114-124.
Litsey, Ryan, and Weston Mauldin. "Knowing What the patron wants: using predictive
analytics to transform library decision making." The Journal of Academic Librarianship 44.1
(2018): 140-144.
Madhusudhan, Margam, and Vikas Singh. "Integrated library management systems." The
Electronic Library (2016).
Nunekpeku, Paul. "Establishing clients' satisfaction levels with automated library-based
services." Digital Library Perspectives (2019).
Odunola, Oluwole A., et al. "Evaluation of Automated Cataloguing System in Academic
Libraries in Oyo State Nigeria." Evaluation (2019).

9CIRCULATION COMPUTER SYSTEM.
Okundamiya, Michael S., and Uchechukwu E. Nwokolo. "Design and Implementation of an
Automated Library System using Biometric Technology." Journal of Communications
Technology, Electronics and Computer Science 16 (2018): 1-5.
Wagstaff, Kiri L., and Geoffrey Z. Liu. "Automated Classification to Improve the Efficiency
of Weeding Library Collections." The Journal of Academic Librarianship 44.2 (2018): 238-
247.