Creating a library database

[jschiller]

Please forgive my inexperience with FileMaker. I have used it to make slight adjustments to the templates previously, but I am now trying to use it to build a custom library management system to replace InMagic. I searched the forums and I was unable to find anything that would help me, but maybe I am too new to even know what to look for.

Regardless, let me speak to what I need and any help would be very much appreciated.

Simple book management is easy enough with the Lending Library template included. The trouble comes in with journal management. I am attempting to create a system where I have a database of each titles entries as a unique database. For example, I need a database to have all of the journal titles. I need to be able to click on that title and have it take you to its own database set where I can create a new record for each issue that comes in. So Time Magazine would have 52 unique records each year.

If I haven't made myself clear, I'll be happy to explain further as needed. For an example of what I am looking for, click here and notice how each box represents its own record for that database and it is unrelated to any other title (or database).

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

Edited November 19, 2008 by Guest

[T-Square]

Welcome to the forums.

Um... if inMagic does what you want, you might be better off paying for the software they offer. The problem you outline is not a trivial one that a beginning Filemaker developer can knock out in a few days' time. I am a professional librarian, and know some of the complexities that you face with this.

That said, if you do want to keep on with this, you might want to keep all the physical items (books, journal issues, etc.) in one table, to facilitate circulation management. Many library systems separate the description (the bibliographic information such as the author, title, year of publication, etc.) in one data table, and physical items (everything that has its own barcode) in a second one, with fields in this second table to store item-specific information (such as volume, issue and date). Keep in mind that this structure provides no way to track individual articles within a journal issue (that is an even messier problem!).

The library system at my library uses a separate system for managing the actual subscriptions, which then get programmatically transferred into the main library catalog when the items are processed and ready for public use.

David

[jschiller]

Thanks, David.

That is exactly the problem. InMagic doesn't do what I need it to. It is very limited for what our needs are. I do realize the issue is a large scale project, and I do have the willingness to undergo book research and further internet searching to work on this project slowly so that I can get where we need to be in order to achieve the solution. I certainly realize this may take a good month or so to really hammer out exactly what we need. So, yeah, I do want to keep this project moving forward if you agree it is possible to do.

I was considering for the sake of ease, doing exactly that, keeping all books and journals on a seperate table. I wasn't sure where to keep individual issues of those journals though, perhaps a second table only connected via title and issn via a relationship to the initial catalog of physical materials? I do not need (or even want) to specifically track individual articles within each journal issue. That is too meaty for our time and really even for our needs.

I would be curious to know what program you use at your library to manage the issues. Do you even use Filemaker to manage your database for any aspect of your catalog?

I have previously used Innovative's Millenium and I was happy with some of the features including individual issue proccessing on journals and its record keeping, but it is more than what our small library can afford.

Anyway, thank you, David, again for your help. Any suggestions on how to go about setting up this structure is appreciated.

Jeff

[T-Square]

I will take the primary point you mentioned as the main goal of this database--that is, that you want to be able to note when you received a journal issue--and mesh it with the implied needs to be able to search for the titles in your collection in general (and the issues of a journal in specific).

To meet this, I would create two tables: a BIB table which stored bibliographic information about the work (title, author, ISBN/ISSN, etc.), and an ITEM table that stored very basic information about each physical item in your collection. The physical item record would have fields for the BIB ID, the item barcode, and journal issue information. A portal on your BIB layout would enable you to see all the physical items linked to the current BIB record. With regular books, this portal would have one entry for each copy of the book you owned; with journals, each row would show an issue. Adding an issue or copy to the system would entail adding a row in the portal and adding the correct item information.

While it seems overkill to have book descriptions separated from their items, it actually is not that complex, and enables you to track multiple copies, if that arises.

Take a look at this quick file to see what I'm suggesting. It's very bare bones, but begins to show what I suggest...

David

MyLibrary.fp7.zip