System Data

Suppose that you are required to document a library system, particularly focusing on the functionality at the back end. The scope the system’s back end is defined as follows:

• You should include all system functions and data, such as borrowing items, accessing both physical and electronic items, renewing loans, viewing a borrower’s account (including overdue items and fines), searching catalogues for various items, renewing loans, login, and asking a librarian. Note that this list is not exhaustive.

• Some functionality (such as book rooms, access databases, borrow ebooks) is provided by applications integrated with the school library system. As such, you will need to show that the functionality is captured, but that no structural data is retained in this system.

• Front-end content, such as ‘getting started in the library’, information pages (with static HTML content), the ‘About’ section, reference guides, and general information, is out of scope, and thus is not required to be included in your work. Some specific functionality is not necessarily apparent from public or student views, but should be included:

• An ITS officer uploads a list of lists of active borrowers each year. The list contains staff, student and ‘others’. On this list: a. staff have a staff ID, barcode, name, DOB, and department b. students have a student ID, barcode, name, DOB and department c. others have a borrower ID, name, DOB, address & license number

• The uploaded list is compared to existing borrowers by the system. If a person have left the university, his/her account will be removed if they have no unpaid fines. Otherwise, their borrower status is changed to inactive, and their record is retained. A new borrower account is created for a new person on the list

• Librarians can also add borrowers. They create a borrower account with a name, DOB, and an expiry date.

• If borrowers do not have a card with a barcode (such as those that are just created by the librarian), their borrowing status is pending until they collect a library borrowing card from the library.

• If a borrower is late in returning items, a fine occurs. When a borrower has a fine exceeding $25, they can no longer renew or borrow any items until the fine is paid. Library fines must be paid in person to a librarian, who will then mark the fine as paid in the system and issue a receipt.

• Librarians can view any record in the system – catalogue items, borrower records, etc. They can search for a record or scan a barcode (of an item or borrower) to view the data.

• A borrower’s status can either active, inactive, pending, temporary, or suspended.

• Staff may request the library to place items used by their course on ‘reserve’ or ‘restricted borrowing’. Staff may also submit past exam papers to the library.

• The head librarian generates reports based on item usage, borrowing rates, and library usage by department type (staff and student). You are required to play the role as a technical business analyst, analyzing the library system and creating diagrams as requested in the questions that follow. Note you are not modelling a website using storyboards, site-maps etc., but rather the back-end behavioural and structural needs of the system.