Library Management System Design

Process to Improve Quality of Management Systems in Academics

Library forms an important part of any learning and research program. Therefore, effective management of learning resources is a practice that every learning and research institution should strive to implement. The advent of the internet and new technologies have impacted the academic arena in different ways (Ractham 2006). For instance, it has led to the introduction of management systems that have increased efficiency in knowledge management and institution management. Library management system provides a comprehensive solution to librarians by streamlining the process of ordering, issuing, and replacement of study materials. Unlike the traditional library management system that maintained a manual cataloging system, the electronic library management system is designed in such a way that it uses bar code technology to track books in the library or those that have been issued to the users. Additionally, the library management system uses a centralized database to maintain all the data about the books. This cataloging technique makes it easy for the system users to find a book.  

Requirement Specification

In this section, I will outline the System Requirements Specification (SRS) document. SRS document describes all the system data, functional, and non-functional requirements of the system that is to be developed. Although the level of formality in an SRS depends on the development methodology, system requirements, functional requirements, technical requirements, assumptions, and system constrained must feature in every SRS document (Fabbrini 2000). System requirements are developed through a constructive communication between the various stakeholders. Through elicitation, specification, and validation of these requirements, stakeholders can understand why, what, and how the proposed library management system will meet the needs of various library users (Van Lamsweerde 2009). 

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Functional Requirements

The library management system will allow students to search the availability of a study material from the library database before borrowing. The librarian will use the system to track all the learning resources in the library and those that have been borrowed. To use the system, one must be registered and issued with a username and password to use to access the system

Process Requirements: The system should be able to use the bar code to identify a resource. Additionally, the system should be able to handle valid and invalid search from the users effectively. The proposed system should protect the system data by ensuring only privileged users can edit or delete system data.  

Output Requirements: The system will provide the user once logged in with a search page where one can search for a book the title, author, or using the book ISBN. After searching the book, the system should output search results depending on the search input. The system should provide the librarian with a record of all the resources in the library and those that have been issued.

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Non-Functional Requirements

1. Reliability:  The proposed library management system should emulate the conventional library system but should automate the process to save users’ time.  
2. Performance: The database will be optimized to ensure search results are displayed within the shortest time possible. Additionally, the system will be designed in such a way that it will have a bare minimum or no down times. 
3. User Friendliness: Usability of a system is an important feature in determining how effective the system will be. The proposed library management system will apply the eight principles of user interface design to ensure it is user-friendly. The system will be designed to support different languages to ensure people from a different origin can be able to use it. 
4. Flexibility: The proposed system should be flexible enough to accommodate future changes. For instance, the system should be able to support different type of searches to make finding a book easy. 
5. Security: Security is an important feature of every information system. Therefore, the proposed system should ensure only registered users can log in the system. Additionally, only the librarian will have the privilege of editing or delete any information system.

Software Testing Plan

Software Test Plan is a document that defines the approach, scope, schedule, and activities carried out test whether a system meets all specifications. To ensure all components of the system meets the system requirements, we will use Level Specific Test plan. Level specific testing is highly effective as it breaks the system into units that are tested separately then combined and tested together (Basak 2014). Level specific testing plan is divided into unit test plan, integration test plan, system test plan, and acceptance test plan. This test plan will be highly effective for the proposed library management system as performance and security will be tested at every unit of the system. 

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Software Development Models

Various development models can be used in developing the library management system. Although all models are geared towards a system that will meet the needs of the users, the model choice depends on the type of system and the availability of system requirements among other things. The major software development models are; waterfall, incremental, RAD model, Agile, and Model, iterative, spiral, and prototype model. Agile is the best software development model the proposed library management system due to its transparency and constant communication with the stakeholders (Losada 2013).