Circulation Systems - Patron Information

Patron Information in Circulation Systems

Key concept: Files of data in a computer are collections of individual records, which are in turn collections of individual fields. Each field holds a particular data element. In some records, certain fields may be blank, but there must always be somewhere to store each required data element. For instance, in a patron file, you might leave a place in each patron record in which to store apartment numbers, even though most patrons lived in houses.

Group Exercise: Imagine that you are on a committee to set up a circulation system for your library. Your committe must recommend the types of information to solicit from patrons, and develop a rough outline for the patron "file". Your director has suggested the following list of pieces of information which would be required for each patron:

surname
given name
street address
city
state
zip code

Working with your group, jot down any other items which you think would be useful. Remember that you will want to identify patrons who might have names similar to other patrons, and to keep track of statistical information which might help you plan library services in the future. Each and every patron "record" within the file will have a place for each of these data elements you decide upon.
Once you have come up with a more comprehensive list, it is time to divide the information up into "fields" - that is, the subdivisions within each patron record which hold each separate data element.
You may decide to use certain fields as access points rather than having the full text of the patron file searchable. To do this, you would extract information from certain fields and build an index file, containing, for example, just surnames. The index would link back to the full records. Why might this be preferable in the case of patron data? Which fields should be searchable?
Remembering that each character or number takes up one "byte" in the computer file, try to come up with some reasonable lengths of fields to store each of the data elements you have suggested. For instance, a typical surname might be say, 20 or 30 characters long. Jot down these suggested numbers beside each field name. (Even if you plan on using variable length fields, this is not a bad idea, as it will help you estimate file sizes).