Database Setup, Cataloguing & Enquiry

Database Setup

• Database Setup allows the system administrator to define many features of the library environment including but not limited to : security access rights, cataloguing and loans defaults, loan policy, categories of users, types of materials etc.
• Title, author, subject and key term indexes are maintained automatically as part of normal cataloguing procedure and are used for enquiry purposes later. Users can define more than the usual fields as access points.
• A Stopwords function sifts out common or trivial terms from thesauri so the database remains uncluttered.
• You can define all catalogue record tags to be displayed on screen and exclude unwanted subfields.
  

Cataloguing

• Catalogue records can be created and maintained on-line in both MARC and non-MARC form. All standard MARC tags are available, and a library-selected subset of these MARC tags can be defned during the set-up of the system.
  
• Supports an unlimited number of different information types such as books, serials, audio-visual materials, posters and newspaper clippings. Even toys and costumes can be catalogued.
  
• Can be linked to image, text, video clip, sound clip and MS Word files.
  
• Supports a MASTER-CATALOG for general catalogue information and links the general catalogue to each copy of the item. Each copy will be treated as a separate item record and will contain information unique to it.
  
• Provides for easy duplication of similar records, movement of records to a different information type, movement of copy information and updating of copy information without the need to re-key data.
  
• Data is entered interactively and is immediately available for modification or enquiry. All indexes are updated on-line.
  
• Edit checks on the fields and completeness of the records is ensured before updating the database. Errors are highlighted.
  
• Changes made to the record are identifiable through the logon ID.
  
• Searching by keyword in title, authority headings, by Record Number and Barcode Number of items are possible. In addition, the library can define up to 4 other search access points. Wildcard, truncated and boolean searches using AND, OR and NOT are available.
  

Loans and Circulations

• Provides issue, return and renewal functions interactively, either by keyboard or barcode scanning. Immediate checks on the borrower status and item status can also be made.

Borrowers

• Borrower records are updated on-line and the information is immediately available to authorised library staff. This includes special borrower statuses (eg. if delinquent), any reservations placed or awaiting pickup, current loans, fines, overdue items, and outstanding fines.
• Delinquent borrowers can be inhibited on-line.
• Modification of borrower record data is performed interactively and changes are available immediately. All information on a borrower record is available at the circulation desk.
• Messages can be linked to a borrower record for display at circulations and OPAC, and then deleted at circulations.
  

Issuing / Check-out

• Loan periods, loan limits and fine rates by day can be defined depending on material and borrower types.
• Due dates are automatically generated by a parameterised calendar to prevent unavailable dates (such as public holidays) being allocated as due dates.
• A due date may be modified to a specific date at the point of issue, for one or for all items issued to a particular borrower.
• The status of each item is automatically checked at the point of issue or renewal, and the operator alerted if an item is reserved or unavailable for loan.
• Messages will warn if a patron's loan limit has been passed or if the item being borrowed is a reference item. An override option is available to allow staff to by-pass the system checks.
  

Returns / Checking-in

• Borrowed items may be discharged at any service point and the operator prompted if a change of location is required.
• Reservations and overdues, are trapped at the point of return.
• Renewals may also be made either for one item at a time or for multiple items for each patron at the same time.

Fines and Charges

• Fines are calculated at the point of return for the number of days overdue.
• Fine payment processing includes full payments or waiving of payments. Other charges for lost items and damage to materials can be added to the table of charges.
• Fines receipts can be printed.
• Fines details are attached to the borrower record. Overdue notices and final/account notices are produced according to User-Specifications.

Reservations

• Reservations can be made both by members at OPAC or by staff from the loans module.
• Borrowers are queued for an item on a first-come first-served basis.
• Queue priority can be changed by authorised library staff.
• When a reserved item is trapped at the point of return, the number and name of the next borrower in the queue is displayed on-screen.
• Reservations can be easily cancelled when they are overdue and the system will inform the library of the next patron in the queue.
  

Item Control

• Maintains multiple item specific records for each title so that information does not have to be re-entered.
• The item record contains all information that is particular to the item and the information is available to other modules. Included are the creation date and time, modification date and time, price and loan information of each item.
• Items can be barcoded or accessioned by keyboard input or barcode scanners and are linked to the catalogue record automatically.
• The system supports terminal, PC-based, and portable bar-code readers.
• Barcode labels can be re-used when the books are withdrawn from the system.
• The status of each item can be easily maintained and is automatically updated by the system during loans and circulations.
• Allows for detailed call numbers and collection codes as well as a field for volume numbering for multi-volume works.
• Item records are modified interactively so that changes are available immediately.
• An audit trail is used to record all items withdrawn from the library. Weeding log reports can be produced periodically.
• A stocktake function is available to check items which are missing. Items scanned into a portable data collector for stocktaking can be uploaded into the V-LIB database. Missing items reports can be produced.
• Extensive location controls are provided for libraries with multiple branches or locations.
• Extensive control of loan priveleges for specific items are provided by collection codes.

Serials Control

• Ordering of serials subscriptions are simplified with a subscription entry form.
• Budgeting and accounts control can be linked to Acquisitions.
• Serials record information can include the issue and item / copy levels.
• Serial issues can be barcoded and loaned out.
• Provides automatic generation of issues expected according to the subscription pattern of each serial title for ease in keeping track of overdue issues.
• Marking issues as received and accessioning them can be done on-line with a few clicks of the mouse.
• The System caters for a wide range of frequency variations.
• Provision is made for the receipt of special issues, supplements, combined issues, annuals and indexes.
• Receipt information of individual issues entered into the system is updated online.
• An extensive routing facility is available.
• Multiple routing lists can be attached to a single title.
• Claim letter formats are user-defined to let you specify your own wording and make changes as required.
• After setting up arrival patterns, the system monitors all issues received and generates claims letters and other routine correspondence. There are extensive provisions for human intervention for irregular, spasmodic, and maverick serials.

Acquisitions

• The system supports online creation of orders on pre-formatted screens.
• Orders may be created and placed, singly or in batches, to selected suppliers on system-produced order forms.
• Comprehensive budget controls provides a breakdown by nominated cost and accounts to indicate the funds available, funds committed, and funds spent.
• The module allows for foreign currency calculations which can be maintained routinely.
• Order numbers may be specified by the user as well as be automatically generated.
• Partial orders may be completed, and follow-ups on an order placement, and receipt and payment of orders can be made.
• Pre-catalogue information entered during acquisitions processing is available for future updating without having to be re-entered.
• The System provides facilities for automatic retrieval of supplier information from existing files.
• Acquisitions processing interacts with the library budget parameters to control all of your order suggestions, order placements, and receipt and payment of orders.
• During Acquisitions processing, notes may be added to the requisitions/orders to help you route any items once received. A title still on order may have reservations placed against it.
• All items received are updated online and made available in other modules such as Cataloguing and Circulations.
• The System allows the library to receive and track the partial receipt of multi-volume and multi-copy orders.
• Titles received can be converted singly or in batch to the Catalogue database without any re-keying. Received titles can be accessioned on-line at Acquisitions.
• Titles converted to the catalogue database will automatically display the status "On Order".

Authority Control

• Libraries can define the fields that are to be considered Authority Headings fields for indexing and authority control.
• Authority checks are provided during the inputting of authors names, subject headings and series headings at Cataloguing to minimise input errors.
• Headings can be selected from Authority lists instead of being re-keyed to prevent spelling error and to facilitate inputting.
• "Use", "Used for" and "See also" references can be created. Automatic "Use' references can be generated for non-preferred headings.
• Headings can be up to MARC and AACR2 standard or not depending on the library's policy.
• Global changes can be made to replace non-preferred headings with preferred ones in catalogue records with a few clicks of the mouse.
• Headings without references can be deleted in batch.
• The option to verify headings is also available.
  

Marc Interface

• The System supports the uploading of MARC records from external databases as well as the exporting of MARC records.
• The Library can define fields to be selected from the MARC records. Only selected fields will be uploaded into the system.
• The System supports all common MARC standards such as: LCMARC, UKMARC, AUSMARC.
• Work file reports can be printed and checked before the actual conversion of external records to the database takes place.
• After conversion, a conversion log report can be printed.

Online Public Access Catalogue (Web OPAC)

• The OPAC (Open Public Access Catalogue) facility for public enquiries does more than merely enable library users to search the catalogue database. It features other options : Online reservations and renewals, E-Reviews feature, Automatic generation and display of booklists, Save Search Results feature, Patron Loan Enquiries, On-line Dynamic Lists and a Call Number (shelflist) Listing.
• Has a colourful graphic interface, user-friendly screens and helpful instructions.
• Screens are extremely customisable with libraries able to input their own screen instructions or messages.
• OPAC users in different locations can be presented with different web screens befitting different types of OPAC users.
• The library can define any information it wants to display on-line. All screens can be easily customised in both English and non-English languages.
• OPAC allows users to make enquiries across Title, Author and Subject. The library may define additional access points for searching and browsing.
• Patron Loan Activities enables users to check on their own loans, overdues, reservations and fines. Messages can also be sent to specific users and then accessed by those users when they make enquiries into their loan activities.
• Web OPAC users can make reservations for titles and make renewals on-line.
• Libraries can opt to restrict access to registered members by ID and password control or open up the library to the world.
• Multiple users in various locations throughout the world can access the library's database through the Internet.
• It can be made available 24 hours a day even when the library itself is closed.

Email Delivery

• Have all customisable letters such as Overdue Notices and Order Letters automatically generated at any regular interval you wish, without touching the keyboard.
• With email delivery you get an automatic sending facility so that you need never print or post a letter again.

Non-Romanised Script Support

• V-LIB provides Unicode support so that non-Romanised script input, search and retrieval is possible. It supports Arabic, Chinese, Japanese and other scripts.
• Data inputting can be done in any of these scripts and subsequently, enquiries can be made and reports printed in any non-Romanised font.
• Records in both English and non-Romanised font will be interfiled in lists and reports.
  

Selective Dissemination of Info/Alerts

• V-LIB’s Selective Dissemination of Information (SDI) module extends the proactive functions of your library, enabling users to communicate their information needs to the library and to receive alerts when materials they want are available, all with little or no human intervention.
• Users can register (and de-register) themselves from user-defined form screens through the V-LIB Web OPAC and specify their own profile of interests by any number of fields selected by the library such as subject headings, collection and material types. Interest profiles can be changed at any time by SDI users without affecting any part of the process.
• The SDI program will automatically match all SDI profiles with the catalogue and item records of materials received by the library and generate customisable letters to SDI users. With V-LIB’s email interface, SDI letters act as email alerts to keep SDI users informed.
• New Feature! Knowledge Exchange has been given a new twist. Not only will library users be able to view book reviews, comments and opinions added by their fellow readers, they will also be able to receive email alerts, linking them to the titles which have new comments added to them.
• The Info Alerts program works for both hard copy and E-Journal. With little or no human intervention, library clients can register their interest in a selection of journal titles to create a title profile database and receive automatically generated info alerts through email whenever the program finds a match between title profile and published / received issues.

Self-check Interface

• Provide a manless library by enabling your members to do self-checkout at their convenience.
• The V-LIB Self Check Interface is SIP II compatible and can be used for self-check machines utilizing either barcode or RFID technology.
• With the Self Check Interface, the V-LIB Loans programs will verify each loan transaction passed from the Self Check Machine against the loan policies set up in V-LIB.
• The program will warn if a transaction is invalid and will not accept the checkout transaction. As a result, the self check machine will not disarm the security device in the item to be checked out.

Gateways for one stop searches across multiple databases

• Make one search for a title and access multiple sites at one time without re-doing the search or having to use more than one search interface.
• The V-LIB Gateway programs can be either for multiple disparate databases or for multiple V-LIB OPAC databases only, or a combination of both.

Imaging Capability

• The imaging capability of V-LIB is highly versatile and flexible. V-LIB can interface with OPEN Image which allows you to capture, organize and store large quantities of paper-based information or images.
• The V-LIB imaging facility enables you to scan in full-text and images and to link them to your catalogue records. More than one image may be linked to each record.
• Images my be manipulated and printed.
• At cataloguing and OPAC you may make a search for catalogue records and display the images attached to them.
• Access control to allow the scanning and displaying of images can be provided at any relevant module as specified by you.