The main component of a circulation control system is the transaction of documents i.e. issue and return of documents. This database contains bibliographic details of the documents which provide information on titles, authors and publishing details, which are used in notifying the users about the overdue. Circulation involves the charging and discharging of library materials, reservations, statistics, sending of reminders for the over-due material, etc.

 

   The objectives of an automated circulation control may be summarized as follows:

 

• To record and maintain the loan transaction data accurately;

 

• To record and maintain the membership data

 

• To have efficient and effective control over dues, fines and records

 

• To provide accurate information about status of a book and a member

 

• To provide necessary statistical and management reports

 

    Fully-developed circulation modules can accommodate a broad range of transactions        including the followings:

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• Membership Record Keeping: Maintenance of a database of authorized users and define their entitlements as per their category, i.e. faculty, students (Ph.D., PG orUG) and staff

 

• Provision to check-out and check-in library documents as per authorization of a given user

 

• Handling reservations

 

• Overdue follow-ups and Recall

 

• Renewal of loaned items

 

• Stock verification

 

• Inter-library loan and transaction of books borrowed through ILL

 

• Calculation of fines

 

• Analysis of circulation transactions

 

• Handling special categories of borrowers and special types of materials

 

• Notifications to delinquent borrowers (users with overdue books, unpaid fines, etc.)

 

• Printing of due date slips, no dues, routing slips, etc.

 

• Queries handling: both on borrowers and collection

 

• Report generation: overdue and recall notices, reserved titles, checkouts to borrowers, stock verification list, delinquency records, loan statistics by category of users, etc.

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