Mixed approach in creating a university union catalogue

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present the software architecture of the university’s union catalogue in Novi Sad, Serbia. The university’s union catalogue would comprise the collections of 14 academic libraries. Design/methodology/approach – The basis of this paper is a case study of developing a software solution for the union catalogue of the University of Novi Sad in Serbia. The solution principles of object-oriented modelling are applied to describe the software architecture. Specifically, the unified modeling language (UML) component and sequence diagrams are used. The database model is described by using a physical data model. Findings – Through the research of related papers and, taking into consideration the problem of creating a university union catalogue, it is concluded that the best approach is to combine the idea of a virtual and a physical union catalogue. Records are stored in one physical union catalogue, while the holdings data are stored in the local library management systems (LMSs) organized in the form of virtual union catalogues. Because academic libraries often use LMSs from different vendors, interoperable communication between those LMSs and the union catalogue is provided through the usage of standard library protocols for information retrieval (Search and Retrieve URL [SRU], SRU Record Update and NISO Circulation Interchange Protocol [NCIP]). Research limitations/implications – The development of a union catalogue for the University of Novi Sad is in its test phase, and, at this moment, only a software solution supporting the functionalities of a union catalogue has been created. Practical implications – By introducing a university union catalogue, students would be able to search the collections of all the university libraries by using a single portal. Their results would indicate whether a book is available and from which library it is available to borrow. Originality/value – Originality of this software architecture lies in the usage of standard library protocols. The described architecture enables the addition of new members to the university union catalogue, regardless of which LMS the library uses.