Changing the system of a video library Essay Example for Free

Changing the system of a video library Essay The current system is a hand written and hand handled by Mr Roberts. It is a paper database where all details of the members, transaction and return details are stored. Mr Roberts currently operates all the system by himself and he does this to keep a record of all the bookings out of the videos, he does this by pen. He finds the page in the book allocated to the member, writes when the person needs to bring it back in, takes the payment then gives the video to the member. When a new member joins Mr Roberts takes all the details down in his book, then gives the new member a member number. Mr Roberts has to check every night for overdue videos. When a members page is full, then Mr Roberts has to get a new page, this just adds to the ever-growing file of Mr Roberts. There are lots of problems with the system, it is very slow, it would wear down with over use, he cannot cope with the growing number of customers, He has to check every night to see which videos are overdue and hand type each letter and send them off the same night. This would be increasingly difficult when lots of members join. Another problem is that the videos all have to be numbered and when a video is taken out a card is put in the original case giving the video number and return date. The new system would have to display all the details of the members on one screen and show when last rental and return was. It should be able to show all overdue videos on one screen. It should be very fast and speed up all aspects of the shop. If the database is faster and easier to manage then the number of members will increase and therefore so will the profit. Jonny Sharpe Possible solutions Mr Roberts could solve all his problems by using a filing cabinet. This would solve all his problems with information handling. The advantages of this would be that a filing cabinet is easier to cope than a filing book, the disadvantages are that it is still based on paper and they could easily be damaged or lost. Another problem is that it is still time consuming and would not be any faster, if anything slower than before. Another way to cope with this problem is putting all the files onto a computer. The computer would store all the information easily. The advantages of this are that it would significantly improve the speed and ease of running the video shop. The disadvantages are that it may cost a lot of money and all staff may not be trained in how to use a computer A computer program could be writ but expertise would be needed for this and this expertise I do not have. The next best alternative is that you could use a already existing program such as Microsoft Access. The information would be stored on multiple spread sheets, the information would consist of all the members details and the video details as well. These would be good because they can handle lots of multiplications and can search through information Mark foster System Choice Microsoft office xp professional edition. Pcworld: i 519 Inc vat Any computer could be chosen as long as it has Microsoft access and a printer for printing reports. Software Justification Justify choice of software: Word: The program needs to handle numbers but word is very good at typing letters. Excel: This program would be ok for the video shop but there would have to be 1 sheet for the videos and 1 sheet for the members details. This program would not be able to type letters up and print the letters off. Access: This program is excellent, this is because you can merge the video details and the members details together to give records of loans. This program can also produce reports in letter form and print them off. Data needed 1. This database is for the videos, it should show the number code, name. 2. Members details should be shown on this page, name, address, membership number, telephone number, current video rented and the date it is due back. Design section This shows that I have made two tables to store information, one for the members details and one for the video details. I have entered 50 videos and 5o members into the tables. I have designed the system to alert me when there are overdue videos and to be able to book out videos and book in videos with ease. I linked the two together by making a link between the membership number and the video number as shown below. These next pictures are of my queries. They are update queries which update booking in and booking out of videos. They are linked between the two tables and display the videos booked out and the membership number of the person along with some details. This is my form design. The form is for a member to fill in to automatically add his details to the members table. This is my report. This is basically to inform members that they are in possession of a overdue video and they need to return it. Members have their own membership no and each video has its own video number. This way members and videos dont get mixed up. This is an application form for the video shop, members are asked to fill out basic details. Analysis 1) What do I need from my database. I want it to store information about my members, including their name, address, telephone number, membership number, date of birth. Also in each members record will be stored the video they have rented (its code, not its title to speed things up) and also the date it is due back. Customers can only rent one video per day and it must be returned the next day. I also want the database to store information about the videos, including its code, title, price, certificate and category, eg horror, action, comedy etc. I want a system that will let me book videos in and out very quickly, just by entering the members number and the video code. I also want a system to check which videos havent been returned and create a letter that could be sent out if it hasnt been returned after 1 week. Sometimes people forget they have it so this should be a polite reminder. If they havent returned it after 2 days, then I usually phone them, so I would need it to produce a list of names and telephone numbers. I will answer the other questions at a later time as there are customers in the shop. Regards. Mr Roberts 2) To collect data from new members I have a form that they fill out. They write on it their name, address, tel. number, and date of birth. I write their new membership number on it. 3) Each member has a membership number. It is a four-digit number, starting at 1000. 4) I dont use credit card details as there is too much security needed. 5) For new members I need two forms of identification, one with their name and address, i. e. a bank statement or gas bill for example and one with their photo on, i. e. theirs drivers licence or passport. 6) I havent got a password system. If you think I should have one let me know how you think it would work. The problem is that customers would have to tell me their password and other customers could overhear it so it wouldnt be that secure. Evaluation I think the final product meets the standards set by Mr. Roberts. The only mistakes I have made is that I have given the example members, membership numbers starting at 200 and they are only 3 digit. The final product can do everything specified in the design requirements made by Mr. Roberts. The opinions of the users would be on the questionnaire I made. The only improvements that could be made to my database is that I could maybe produce an automatic report displaying all the information of the member on a report whos video is late, instead of just having a basic template.