The Hindu : Front Page : Smart cards at TNAU library

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Oct 01, 2005

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Smart cards at TNAU library

A. A. Michael Raj

GOING DIGITAL: Accessibility to valuable books will widen. - Photo: M. Periasamy

COIMBATORE: Students and faculty of the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU) will be issued smart cards next month to borrow books from the University Library.

The Deputy Librarian and Head of University Library TNAU, K. Perumalsamy told The Hindu that the bar-coded plastic card would have a photograph and printed information about the borrower. The electronic system would replace printed library tickets and date stamping.

Librarians at the lending desk would swipe the card through a bar code reader linked to a computer system that would display details regarding the borrower, how many books had been borrowed and when each of them was due for return. If a book were overdue, the computer would calculate the fine to be collected.

During the last few months, library staff had affixed bar-coded stickers to each of the books in the lending section, so that the computer could link the details regarding the book being issued with information about the borrower.

In the next stage, the library was likely to have an electronic system to detect misplaced books on the racks and also to physically trace anywhere on the campus, borrowers of books urgently needed.

The Director of Students' Welfare V. Thandapani said that the main library and the annexe would soon be linked through a passageway for the convenience of library users. There were currently 1.61 lakh volumes in the library.

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