Design and Development of Web-Enabled Databases in Libraries With Special Reference to RDBMS: Selection of Tools and Technologies

Abstract

There are a number of ready-made library automation software packages in the market. However, many of these packages lack web interface and, thus, do not provide library database access (OPAC, etc.) through web. Moreover, these commercial packages provide less flexibility to librarians for make desired changes to the existing databases and to publish the same on the web. Therefore, designing in-house databases in libraries by using common relational database tools (RDBMS) like MS Access, SQL, DB2, etc., as back-end solutions is an area of deep concern. This paper discusses the merits and demerits of the currently available RDBMS software for library applications as back-end solutions. The paper also discusses the various tools/technologies required/available for publishing the library databases over web. It has also been emphasized to use the technology that is more user friendly, easy to design, requires less programming skill thus, suitable for librarians to setup web-enabled solutions in the libraries.

http://dx.doi.org/10.14429/dbit.22.4.3573