OpenBiblio is a product for librarians.

The installation is very simple. After untarring OpenBiblio in a subdirectory of the web document root, say in "openbiblio", you must create the MySQL database,

   mysql> create database openbiblio;

Next you can invoke the installation script through your browser, following the instructions at

   http://localhost/openbiblio/install_instructions.html

The configuration file with the database connection data is openbiblio/database_constants.php.

The database contains the following tables:

biblio	id, barcode, created, updated, material, collection, title, subtitle, author, add_author, edition, call_nr lccn_nr, isbn_nr, lc_call_nr, lc_item_nr, udc_nr, udc_ed_nr, publisher, pub_date, pub_loc, summary, pages, physical_details, dimensions, accompanying, price
biblio_hold	bibid, begin_date, mbrid
biblio_status	bibid, begin_date, status, mbrid, renew_date, dueback_date
biblio_status_dm	code, description, default_flag
collection_dm	code, description, default_flag, days_dueback
material_type_dm	code, description, default_flag, adult_checkout_limit, juvenile_checkout_limit, image_file
mbr_classify_dm	code, description, default_flag
member	mbrid, name, ...
staff	userid, username, ...
session	userid, last_updated_dt, token
settings	library_name, url, hours, phone, image, ...
state_dm	code, description, default_flag
theme	themeid, ... // presentation theme

Essentially there are four objects:

• biblio items
• loans
• users (members)
• staff

One weak point is the unstructured form of the items hold by the library. A consequence is the replication of informtion (author, publisher, ...) inside a table.

The status_dm contains the item status descriptions: checked_in, checked_out, damaged/mending, display_area, hold_call, hold_wait, lost, on_loan, on_order, shelving_cart.

The users (members) are distinguished in "adult" and "juvenile".

The codes of the material are: audio_tapes, book, cd_audio, equipment, magazines, maps, video/dvd.

The codes of the collections are: Adult Fiction, Adult NonFiction, Cassettes, Compact Discs, Computer Software, Easy Readers, Juvenile Fiction, Juvenile NonFiction, New Books, Periodics, Reference, Videos and DVDs.

These categories can all be modified, increased, or reduced through the administration graphical interface (or directly with "mysql"). The presentation changes accordingly.

The service is accessed via web at

    http://localhost/openbiblio

It seems however a library software providing a web interface for librarians only. They can manage the library users, the loans, and so on. Therefore it is a system for the automatic management of a library. As such it may be sufficient for a home environment. It is clearly designed for the USA (for instance the list of states contains the only USA states) and for a middle size school library.

To login enter the username "admin" with password "admin". To change the password you need to use 'mysql' and modify the relevant field of the "staff" table,

      mysql> update staff set pwd=password("...") where ...;

There are three folders

• Admin, for the database tables
• Cataloging, to search and insert new items (books)
• Circulating, to manage users and borrows

I tried to do some management. Modifying the collections and adding new ones is very easy. Same for staff members. A nice feature is the choice of the presentation theme, and the customisation of the library settings (name, hours, and so on). Inserting biblio items was straightforward, and they reappear at the proper search.

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