Case – Library Database System
A university library has need for a database system handling their books and DVDs. The data-
base part of the Book Borrowing Database system (BBD system), as they chose to call it,
should be developed by you. The library has a number of employees, one of whom is desig-
nated as the manager of the library and is responsible for supervising employees and the gen-
eral day-to-day management of the library.
The system does not require users to identify themselves to search for item according to cer-
tain criteria or to check the availability of a particular item (book/DVD). However, to loan
items, to check their respective loan account status, and to place reservations on items that are
already on loan, users must first identify themselves to the system. A single receipt is printed
for each user check-out session; details for each item: the title, the unique identifier of the
item, the date the item was borrowed, date the item has to be returned. At the start of each
week, the system sends reminder emails to all borrowers that have overdue items.
Generally, a library stocks a number of copies of each book title and each DVD. Each item
has a physical location and have attributes like: author, ISBN, a classification that is used for
“keyword” searches e.g. “database”, “database systems”, “database management” etc. Book
publishers are maintained, but not DVD publishers. Books and DVDs have physically
attached barcodes which are used for the identification of items that are checked out (a
barcode scanner will be used). In case the item does not scan then it should be also possible to
enter the barcode for the item manually. All course literature also has a reference copy, that is
not allowed to leave the library (it is there for reference).
All searches will be made via the new BBD system (either by staff or by customers). To find
an item, searches can be performed based on the book/DVD title, the author/artist's name,
ISBN, the category of the book/DVD, or the publisher's name. The results of the search are
displayed in summary format. The librarian will add new books and DVDs and their copies to
the system and is also responsible for notifications (reminder emails) and fines for overdue
items.
Rules for library loans:
• Each user has a maximum number of items allowed to be on loan at a specific point in
time. The limit is dependent on the category of the member, e.g. researchers can
borrow as many as 20 items, teachers are limited to 10, and students are limited to 5
items.
• Different categories of items have different loan periods. Standard books are allowed a
loan period of 2 months, Course literature a period of 1 month, Reference literature
cannot be borrowed, DVDs have a loan period of 2 weeks.
