Gallery Library
1) Login
2) Main Menu
3) Book Detail - Check Out
4) List View
5) Edit Screen
6) Inquire - Return Books
7) Return Books
8) Printing
9) Email Past Due Notices
10) Options
10) Dropdown Lists
11) Backup and Restore
Dewey Decimal Classifications
Login
A password are required. There are three levels of access.
One is for administration, one for staff, and one for public users (members).
The admin users can view/add/modify everything. Options can only be changed by admin users.
The staff users can view everything, print reports, add/edit members, check out books, but cannot add or modify any book data.
The member/public users can view and list the books, but cannot edit anything. They cannot see any member information.
Main Menu
File
Options - Set various program settings
Backup - Backup the database to another location/disk
Restore - Restore the database from a previous backup
Exit
Edit
Book Detail (Check Out Books) - The book detail edit screen. Add, edit, delete, check out books.
Inquire/Search (Return Books) - Search for and display a quick list of books
Return Books - Check books in for members
Print - Reports listing the books, books due, file cards, member list, and member cards
Member Maintenance - Add and edit the list members
Help
Help Contents - This help file
Getting Started - Beginning instructions
Dewey Decimal Classifications - A list of the classification numbers and descriptions
About - Displays Gallery Library information and version number
Book Detail
The main book view details the information about each book. Details like title, author, publisher, location in the library, etc,
are all editable on this screen. This screen also contains information about if the book is checked out and by which member.
When adding a book, a title is also required. Other fields can be setup as required. This is done in Options.
Each book is given a unique Book ID. This is simply a number.
It might be useful to write this book ID number in each book as it is added to the system.
When a book is added the Mark field is set. This field can be used when printing reports and cards.
When printing cards, you may want to print only the added books. The books with Mark set, indicate the new books.
The Mark field can be manually set or cleared, as you desire.
Click on Edit to enable making changes to an existing book. Click on Save when done editing the book record.
To check out a book, click on Edit, click on Book is checked out and select the member
that is borrowing the book. The due date is automatically set. This can be over-ridden if desired.
To check in a book, click on Edit, click on Clear, then click on Save.
The Show Calendar button pops up a small calendar. Click on any day in this calendar and it will fill in
that date in the date due field.
The set of arrows will page through the list of books.
The left arrow displays the first book in the list.
The right arrow displays the last book in the list.
The middle arrows display the previous and next book in the list.
Tip: Right click on the Next and Previous arrrows will skip ten records at a time.
When clicking on the arrow, the display moves through the books in order.
This order can be set to various different orders. Click on the desired sort order.
If you have multiple copies of the same book, click on Multiple to make a duplicate record of the displayed book.
This duplicate will get a unique Book ID number.
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List View
The list view displays a list of books. First you will be asked to select search criteria.
Because the list of books can be very long, we must select criteria to shorten the list.
Select the desired criteria, click on OK, and the list will be displayed.
Double click on any line in the list, or click on View/Edit to edit the contents of the record or to add new books.
This list can be sorted various ways. Click on the desired sort oder and the list will be refreshed in that order.
In a very long list it may be hard to find the exact book desired.
Click on Find, enter search text, and click on Search.
If the search text is found, that book will be highlighted.
When specifying search text, the search is not case sensitive.
You can search on a portion of the title by specifying the beginning letters followed by an asterisk * .
To search for 'Anderson Trust' you could specify 'ander*' or '*derso*.
Do not use quotation marks. The first occurence found will be selected.
Color: The list can be displayed in color. Like items will be grouped together with the same color.
If the list is sorted by title, all books with the same title will have the same color.
If the list is sorted by author, all books with the same author will have the same color.
Click on the Show Color to display the grid in color or not in color.
There are twelve colors. If there are more than twelve groups appearing in the grid, the colors will repeat after twelve.
Double click on any column header to sort by that color. The colors will group the items in the column that is sorted.
Re-sort by title to display each title with its own color.
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Inquire
On the main screen there is a button with a picture of a big blue I.
This will display a screen allowing a search of the book list.
This view will enable you to see a short list of books, showing brief information
including title, author, Dewey Decimal number, Book ID, whether checked out, and the member's number.
Enter the word, phrase or number to search.
Upper and lower case does not matter.
Select Title, Author, Dewey Number or Member Number.
Click on Refresh.
A list of the books found is displayed.
The member card number must be entered exact.
Tip: Use only a percent sign % as the search word to list all books.
View: To view/edit the contents of the record, click on any row to highlight the record and click on View.
Or you can double click on any line in the list to view the details.
Return: To return a book, highlight a book, click on Return, then confirm the return.
Show only books checked out will display only books that are currently borrowed by a member.
Show only books with Mark checked will display only books that have the Mark field set.
If both of the above are checked, then both filters will apply, making the list even shorter.
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Return Books
There are two methods available for returning books.
1) The inquire screen has a button labeled Return.
To return a book, highlight a book, click on Return, then confirm the return.
2) On the Return Books screen, enter a search word or number to display a list of books that are out on loan.
Only books that are out will be included in the list.
Highlight the desired book, click Return, then confirm the return.
Tip: Use only a percent sign % as the search word to list all books.
Try the two methods and use the one you prefer.
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Printing
There are three sections of selections to define a report.
First select a report, second select the sort order, and finally select the desired options.
Only selections that apply to the chosen report will be made available.
Selecting items in the options section will reduce the number of items included in the report.
Include only those with Mark checked will display only books that have the Mark field set.
Include checked out books only will display only books that are currently borrowed by a member.
If both of the above are checked, then both filters will apply, making the list even shorter.
If you want the Mark field to be cleared after the report is done, check Clear Mark when report is done.
Any of the reports can also be exported to a word processor or to a spreadsheet.
From here the information can be edited, printed, or merged into yet another program.
There are seven reports:
1) Book List - Brief Prints a list of books including: Title, Author, Publisher, Book ID, Dewey Number, Category, and Description.
2) Book List - Complete Prints a list of books including all the items about the book.
It does not include check out information.
3) File Cards (for card catalog) Prints 3x5 or 4x6 cards for a card catalog, one book per card.
The Avery card shock has two cards per 8.5x11 inch sheet.
Use Avery #5388 for inkjet or laserjet for 3x5.
Use Avery #8386-inkjet or #5389-laserjet 4x6.
4) Book End Labels Prints tiny labels to stick on the book binding.
The Dewey Decimal number, Author name, and book ID are listed on the label.
If you print on a regular sheet of paper, cut out the individual labels sized pieces and tape it onto the book end/binding.
You can also print it on a full sheet 8.5 x 11 inch one piece label. Avery #8165-Inkjet or #8265-LaserJet.
Cut the individual pieces and stick them onto the books.
5) Books Due Lists the books due, equal or before the date specified.
Items included on the printout include Due Date, Title, Author, Book ID, Dewey number, Member number, name and phone.
6) Member List This report produces a list of the members. Included are: member number and name, address, phone, email
and the date that this person last checked out a book.
7) Membership Cards Each member can be given a membership card when they sign up as a member.
The membership card is the size of a standard business card.
The card includes the library name, member name and address, and the membership number.
You can use Avery business card stock that has ten cards per sheet and the cards are 2x3.5 inches each.
They come in different colors and styles for both inkjet and laserjet printers.
Select the desired report, select the sort order, and select the desired options.
Click on OK. The report will be displayed. At this time you can print the report.
You can also export the report in various formats.
Email Past Due Notices This option is used to send emails to everyone with an overdue book. (See below)
Note: After the report displays, you may need to click on refresh to get current data from the database.
Click on the lightning bolt icon on the screen when the report is displayed.
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Email Past Due Notices
This option is used to send emails to everyone with an overdue book.
The first time this is used, it will need to be set up and tested.
Fill in the SMTP server, Library email address and Library name.
The SMTP server will be something like: stmp.att.net Contact your ISP host for this setting.
Fill in a known email address and person's name.
Click on Send Test Email Now check to see if the test email address recieved the test message.
This may take a few minutes to arrive.
Once the message is recieved, you are ready to send the overdue email message.
Fill in the subject, message text and the desired due date.
A sample of the email will be displayed. It will look similar to:
Member Name (member number)
This is to notify you that the book you borrowed is now due. Please return the book as soon as possible.
Book Title: The book title goes here
The book was due: date_here
Library Name Here
The message text in the sample above can be changed to anything desired.
Click on Send to send the emails.
All books with a due date equal to or before the date specified here, will get an email.
Each email sent is logged. You can view the log file at the completion of sending the emails.
If any of the email addresses sent to are not correct, the server will send a notification to the
library address specified. Check this mailbox for any notices.
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Options
Only admin users can access and change anything in the options list.
This screen is divided into two parts. There are two tabs at the top of the screen.
The left tab (Appearance) contains items that affect the visual look of Gallery Library.
The picture on the main screen can be changed.
Click on Picture multiple times to rotate through the available pictures.
If you want to use your own picture, click on Use the picture in the specified file below.
Click on Browse to point to your picture file. The file must be in BMP, JGP, or GIF format.
The picture must be 254 wide by 154 high (pixels). If it is bigger, only that portion will be displayed.
The right tab (Settings) controls various aspects of Gallery Library.
When adding books to the library, a title is required.
You can also force the data input of an author, Dewey Decimal number, category, publisher, and/or location.
Each time a book is added or edited, these selected items will be needed to save the record.
When checking out a book the member needs to be selected.
The member can be looked up by name or by number.
If you prefer one over the other, this method can be set as the default look up method.
Change Passwords: A password are required. There are three levels of access.
One is for administration, one for staff, and one for public users (members).
The admin users can view/add/modify everything. Options can only be changed by admin users.
The staff users can view everything, print reports, add/edit members, check out books, but cannot add or modify any book data.
The member/public users can view and list the books, but cannot edit anything. They cannot see any member information.
The Disable book checkout feature makes it unnecessary to maintain a member list.
The book list will not display the check out information.
If you simply want to maintain a list of your books, this feature may not be needed.
Default check out period in days: When checking out a book, the member can keep the book for a specified time period.
This option defines the time period in number of days. This can be over-ridden at the time the book is checked out.
Number of years of member inactivity: The member list can get very long as the years progress.
You may want to remove members from the list that have not borrowed a book in a specified number of years.
Click on Remove Inactive to remove the inactive members.
The number of years specified here will be used when removing inactive members.
Dropdowns: See detail on this feature here.
Mark: When a book or member is added, the Mark field is set to Y.
When printing reports, you can include only those with the Mark field set.
Here you have the ability to clear the Mark field from the book list and the member list.
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Dropdown Lists
Four lists are available:
Category: Divide books into any number of categories
Location: Physical location of the book, i.e. Section 1, Room 231, Storage, etc.
Format: Hardcover, Paperback, VHS, DVD, etc.
Language: English, French, Greek, etc.
The lists of each group that are available in the dropdown lists are created/edited here.
From the dropdown list on top of the screen, select which group you want to edit.
To add an item, click on Add, enter the new item, then click on Update.
To edit an existing item, click on Edit, modify the item, then click on Update.
The items in the list will appear in the dropdown in the order that you enter them here.
You can use the up and down arrow buttons to arrange the order as desired,
or you can click on Sort to put them in alpha/numeric order.
If, while entering data for a book, you encounter an item that is not in the dropdown list,
you will need to exit that entry screen and add the item here.
Be sure to click on Save after making any changes or additions. Changes are not saved until you click on Save.
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Backup and Restore
Making backup copies of the database is a recommended procedure.
This process simply copies the files to another location. No file compression is done.
You can copy the data files to any drive:\folder.
The drive:\path\filename for the data files is automatically entered.
You can browse to the desired backup/target destination or you can simply enter the drive:\path manually.
To restore your data, browse to the drive:\folder that contains the backup data files.
Restore will overwrite your database!
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Database
This database information is given only for reference.
You do not need to know the structure of the tables in order to use this application.
The database (GLibrary.mdb) consists of three tables:
Books
DropDowns
Users
ReportInfo
Each table has a field that is a unique record key that is automatically generated when a record is created.
This field is named the same as the table name with _Key appended. Like: The Books table's key is 'Books_Key'.
The Books table contains information about individual books.
Books_Key - Unique record number
Dewey - The Dewey Decimal Classification number, in the format 123.4567
Title - The title of the book
Author - The author of the book
Publisher - The publisher of the book
Year - The year the book was published, written, purchased. Whatever you want it to be.
Category - The category the book is in, selected from a predefined list.
Description - A 250 character description of the book
Out - Indicates if a book is checked out: Y (if out)
User_Key - The member's membership number. This cannot be altered.
DueDate - The date the book is due back
Location - The location in the library. Can be a shelf, section, room, building, etc.
Mark - When a book is added this field is set to 'Y'. It can also be set manually. When printing, books with the mark can be selected.
Pages - The number of pages in the book
Language - The language of the book, selected from a predefined list.
Format - The format of he book, selected from a predefined list, i.e. hard cover, paperback, tape, CD, DVD, etc.
Edition - The edition of the book, selected from a predefined list, i.e. first edition, revised edition, etc.
The DropDowns table contains a list of available categories, locations, languages and formats.
DropDowns_Key
Category - Multiple lists can be maintained in this table.
Sort - A number representing the order to display the items.
Desc - A word or number describing the item in the list.
The Users table contains the member list and member information.
Users_Key - Unique record number used as the member's ID number
LastName - Member's last name
FirstName - Member's first name
FullName - Member's full name: Last,First
Address - Address of member
City
State
Zip
Phone
Email
Mark - When a member is added this field is set to 'Y'. It can also be set manually.
LastCheckOut - The date this member last checked out a book.
The ReportInfo table contains data that is passed to the report.
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