Redesign of Circulation Module

Since its launch in 2009, the internal Circulation Module of ABCD has been very little used by the community due to the fact that it looks unfinished, however this is not the complete truth.

All operations necessary for the correct operation of the Circulation Module were properly programmed, however what was noticed is that the big problem with this module was the flow.

The simplest flow such as Loan had the problem of not allowing prior identification of the user before executing the loan. The suspension or fine information would only come after the loan attempt, causing possible frustration.

Another problem that we can consider serious is that while the loan was active, the ABCD followed the rules of the typeofitems.tab file, that is, if during the loan this file was changed, the active loan rules would also be. A not-quite-right action with someone borrowing a book based on a policy that could be changed at any time.

The new ABCD update corrects this by recording the rule in effect on the day in the loan register, bringing more security to the library user.

Fines

Another issue that has been improved concerns the local currency that is now possible to configure in the Settings of the Circulation Module.

The ABCD is used in different parts of the world and as each country has its own monetary rules, it was not possible to have a correct calculation of fines for broken values such as cents.

In the case of Brazil, a comma is used to separate the cents. Example: BRL 1.50 (read: one Real and 50 cents). In the US Dollar there is no comma, for example. Based on these differences, the currency system has been redesigned and must (mandator) be configured in the menu Settings → Currencies and opening days and hours.

Layout

The Circulation Module follows the path taken by the ABCD in recent times, which consists in improving its navigability, including its aesthetics.

Now it is possible to do almost all basic operations such as Borrow, Renew, Return and collect Fines in a single screen.

ABCD was created at a time when monitors were more square, so it has few sidebars, but this has changed. Today, even the smallest of laptops has Widescreen, which allows a sidebar without disturbing the information on the page.

Another detail in the new layout is the addition of a new column in the borrowed items table that allows the real-time display of the estimated fine. This will allow the library staff to have a quick response to its user.

Next steps

Improve the connection between Opac and Circulation. The new Opac and Circulation Module already have connection in the processes of booking and renewal of items, but it is still not possible for Opac to obtain the quantity of available items, i.e., even if a work has some item available, it is still possible to make your reservation ignoring the Loan Policies that usually prevent the booking of available items.

The case cited above is just one of the situations that happen in the exchange relationship between Opac and Circulation, there are still many improvements in the issue of response to system operators and sending e-mails to users.

The modifications can be seen in the ABCD demo at: https://demo.abcd-community.org/ (login: abcd – password: adm)