NBLUG Library ?

[Eric Eisenhart]

On Wed, Oct 23, 2002 at 08:32:24PM -0700, augie wrote:
> but mostly i was hoping to get a consensus from the nblug community
> about whether this was something that is needed, or wanted, or if it's
> a good idea, or bad idea. either way reply back to the list and let me
> know what you think.

I think it's a great idea.  I think it can even be done without all the
coding you've set up for yourself, at least initially.  One pad of paper
with a list of "patrons" (id#, name, email, any other info our librarian
thinks we need for each person; seems like a minimum would be a secondary
means of contact, like a phone #) and a second pad of paper with a list of
books and the id# of who checked it out last.  (cross out and add a new one
when it changes hands)  Or, for proper thoroughness and paper-based-database
integrity, a 3rd sheet with PatronId, BookId, checkout date and checkin
date.

Either way, you've got my support.  I might even have a few old books in my
personal collection that I no longer have a use for that might be
appropriate for the library.

> ps...if we do go ahead with the project we will probably need some
> developers, so if you are looking to get your feet wet in the open
> source software development world this may be a good opportunity. a
> brief list of requirements, and design ideas about the project can be
> found here:
> 
> http://www.nblug.org/augie/nblug-lib.html

Looks good so far.  Of course, I already have a list of suggestions:
1) if possible, make it reasonably database agnostic so that it works with
   mysql or postgresql.  (if somebody already has one installed, they'll
   want that one)  Or, at least structure it so that anything that won't
   work with mysql is abstracted behind an interface so somebody could
   write a different module to be able to do things with mysql.  (yes, I'm
   suggesting PHP's PEAR library or Perl's DBI library, too...  none of this
   "pgsql_*" stuff.)
2) rename some of those fields a bit; instead of "what" use "itemId", for
   instance.  More "formal" and obvious which table they refer to.  Maybe
   use an id# for Patrons like you're using for Items, too.
3) figure out whether you like plural or singular and stick with that for
   all tables; in other words, change Checkout to Checkouts and Patron to
   Patrons change Items to Item.  (I suggest the singular approach)
4) move the checkin date out of the Items table and over to the Checkout
   table; then "select Items.title, Patron.name, Checkout.checkedout from
   Items, Patron, Checkout where Checkout.what = Items.id and Checkout.who =
   Patron.email and Checkout.checkedin is NULL" to find your currently
   checked out books; Then something like "select Items.title from Items
   where Items.id not in (select Items.id from Items, Patron, Checkout where
   Checkout.what = Items.id and Checkout.who = Patron.email and
   Checkout.checkedin is NULL)" to find the currently available books.  (or
   add two fields in Items along the lines of "Status" and "statusDate"; a
   checked in book would be status='in' -- this allows for the realistic
   possibility of a book that is supposed to be in (last patron checked it
   in) but can't be found to be checked out to another patron.  (For real
   coolness, use a trigger so that setting Checkout.checkedin to a non-null
   value sets the appropriate Items.status to 'out' and setting
   Checkout.checkedout (or maybe on insert to Checkout?) sets the
   appropriate Items.status to 'out'.
5) Yes, I know; in #1 I say "make it work with mysql" and then in #4 I say
   "maybe you should use these SQL features that won't work in mysql".
6) along that status line, maybe a "hold" status in addition to "in", "out"
   and "missing" for a book that somebody has requested but doesn't actually
   have yet.
7) CVS repository; preferably with trusted+authenticated rw access and
   anonymous public ro access.
8) Get the above and some related mailing lists by setting it up as a
   project on sf.net.  http://sf.net/projects/luglib/

-- 
Eric Eisenhart                                  eric-dot-sig at eisenhart.com
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