Aprendices / CC BY-SA
Living in the Digital world has made a significant impact on us. Librarians can help the community from anywhere through the internet in providing authentic resources to our users. The librarians can play multiple roles and help the community in different ways as needed.
I helped my school with the help of the IT team in creating a local library software, which we have done through LMS (Library Management System), where I have kept in mind the library needs. The LMS keeps records of all the books, newspapers, magazines that are available in the library and tracks its usage and other Library activities.
Librarians need an LMS that can successfully do the following tasks:
Maintaining stock: This is an essential feature of all library software. With the help of the library system, we can manage stocks such as books, newspapers, magazines more efficiently. This feature can also be termed as cataloguing. This feature helps in editing or deleting the data, if and when required.
Classification of stocks: The stocks can be classified as per author name, publication, category, price, location of the book (i.e. shelf or rack id, we are still working on it)
Search Feature: The LMS provides a search option to the librarians, which makes their work fast and easy. Librarian can search stock in seconds.
Report: LMS audits the entire library in no time and generates reports accordingly, which makes the work of a librarian very easy.
Manages demands: It keeps records of the orders made by the members of that item that are currently unavailable.
Barcode facilities: Nowadays, bar code technology is widely used, and one of the most popular techniques. LMS bar codes every item separately. 
Reservation: It allows the members to reserve any item from anywhere by online/offline mode
Notification: It notifies the members about any new availability or availability of a particular item which was previously unavailable.
It wasn’t easy in creating this software. Building in-house software can be useful since it is personalised to meet our requirements. And sometimes when issues do arise, they are resolved each time successfully.
Creating an environment of virtual libraries :
Yes, it’s the right time to create a virtual library platform to help our students and teachers by sitting at home and supporting users.
A virtual school library is an online medium of sharing the resources physically present in your library, which can be accessed 24×7, where users can search and access your digital materials. “Virtual Library” is not a place or thing; instead, it is the capability to provide access to information resources across the world using digital technologies.
There is potential in the virtual library to offer new hope for gaining access to a greater world of information resources than ever dreamed possible in the past. Creating the environment and platform for the virtual library is possible only through collaborative partnership and proper planning among the institutions and most importantly, who is going to take ownership of this with full dedication.
Sharing access to the collection, and technical expertise, among many institutions, makes not only practical use of technology but also makes an excellent fiscal sense, says Patterson. You could even create this in the learning management systems (LMS) or build a website to meet the needs of the school community.
We are working on to create a virtual library page for our school.
I feel this is the right time to strengthen to learn, share and practice, through collaboration and utilise our time productively. Critical thinking approach and adapting to new ways help me move ahead in my profession with real energy, zeal and passion.
By Garima Mishra, Nord Anglia Education
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