Library computer system

A library computer system is the software used to catalog, track circulation (where appropriate) and inventory a library's assets. It is intended for home, church, private enterprise or other small to medium sized collections. Larger, First World libraries will typically use an integrated library system to manage the more complex activities such as acquisitions and the reference interview.

Software criteria

Distributed software vs. web service

Library computer systems tend to fall into two offerings: software to be purchased on a perpetual licence or purchased as a subscription service. With distributed software the customer can choose to self install or have the system installed by the vendor on their own hardware and is responsible for the operation and maintenance of the application and the data or can choose to be supported by the vendor with an annual maintenance contract. Some vendors charge for upgrades to the software, and some do not. Customers who subscribe to a web (hosted) service upload data to the vendor's remote server via the internet and may pay a periodic fee to access their data.

Data entry assistance based on ISBN

Many applications can reduce a major portion of manual data entry by populating data fields based upon the entered ISBN using MARC standards technology via the internet.

Barcode scanning and printing

With most any software, users can eliminate some manual entry by using a barcode scanner. But some software is designed, or can be extended with an additional module, to integrate scanner functionality. While most software vendor provide some type of scanner integration, not all will print labels with barcodes.

See also

• OPAC
• Integrated library system
• List of next-generation catalogs
• Database management system
• Public library ratings

External links

• Open Source Library Automation Software
• ACQWEB's Guide to Automated Library Systems, Library Software, Hardware and Consulting Companies

Lost cost LMS - MySource Ver 2.0