Library Information System

The college library needs a new Library Information System to track and manage its resources. The most obvious resource the library must manage is its books. Books are checked out, checked in, and requested by library patrons. Books can also have special status if they are placed on reserve or if they are reference books. In either case, such books may not leave the premises. Reminders are mailed to patrons when resources are more than 2 weeks overdue. Patrons are fined 25c per day that books are overdue, to a maximum of $5.00 per overdue item. The library also has resources that may be checked out, including music CDs, software, videos and books on tape each of which may only be checked out for one week at a time.

Patrons also have a variety of statuses that influence how long a book may be checked out. A patrons status also determines what services are available to them. Students may check out books for four weeks, and faculty may check them out for 3 months. Library staff may keep a book for an entire year. Any checkable library resource may be renewed as long as no other patron has requested it. Faculty and library staff may place a book on reserve for the period of one semester, or they may bring in foreign resources (books, papers, CDs, magazines, or tapes that do no belong to the library) and put them on reserve.

The library must also manage a large selection of weekly, monthly, and quarterly magazines, which may not be checked out but are available as reference materials. These magazines are annually bound into volumes or recorded as microfiche. Additional activities of the library staff include reshelving books, renewing magazine subscriptions, and ordering new library resources.

Library staff members also provide a number of other services supporting activities in the research community and for the general public. Two dozen computers are scattered throughout the library and these provide access to a variety of databases and indexes as well as the Internet. Designated library staff are available to assist patrons with their research needs using these computer-based resources as well as standard hardcopy indexes. The library must also connect to the holdings of other libraries so that interlibrary loan requests can be fulfilled. A subset of these libraries allow patrons to directly browse their selections.

I need help justifying answers as to whether the designs need improvement or are fine as-is

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