The Project Case Study.

NATIONAL ONLINE LIBRARY SYSTEM

Students registered at all universities in the country have access to the National Online Library System (NOLS). The Student Registration System of each university automatically registers the student with the NOLS by sending data for a record to be created in the student database of the NOLS. The NOLS generates a student identification number and a default password which are emailed to the student together with the web address. The student is also informed that it is mandatory to initially login and change the default password to complete the registration.

To access the NOLS, the student must type the web address in a browser. The System will then ask the student for login credentials and the student will enter a student identification number and a password. The NOLS will access the student database in order to authenticate the student as a student registered to use the NOLS. An Online Log file stores all access attempts to the online library, recording the Student ID, Date, Time, Length of Access, Type of Access and Status. If the students login credentials are invalid, the student is informed that access is denied and the Status field of the Online Log record is set as Denied. If the students login credentials are valid, the student is granted access to the system and the Status field of the Online Log record is set as Active.

The student will always be asked to choose one of the three (3) following options (1) Change Password/Complete Registration, (2) Search Documents/'Resources or (3) Access Reserved Documents. The Type of Access field of the Online Log record is updated based on the option chosen. A student accessing the system for the first time must choose option one (1) to complete the registration. An already registered student can also choose option one (1) to change his/her password.

If the student chooses option two (2) a search query must be entered. The system then accesses the Documents database for results. The documents include books, journals, magazines, articles, blogs, etc. Each record in the Document" Database has the following fields: Document Code, Title, Type, Publisher, Date Published, and Author. The search results are then displayed for the student. If the document requested is available from the Documents database, the document is made available to the student for immediate download. If not, the system will automatically query the National Library Archives and provide a list showing the particular libraries where a hard copy version of document presently exists.

Once the student requests a copy from a particular library, a reservation record is created reserving the document for viewing online at a later date using option 3. Students must make a reservation to view a copy of a document not immediately available from the document database to allow the particular library with the hard copy to prepare a digital copy of the document and have it uploaded and a record created in the document database. The reservation record stores the date and time of the reservation, the status, location of the document, the document number and the date for viewing. The Status field of the Online log record remains as Active. The status field of the Reservation record will be set as Open.

When the student chooses option 3, the system will confirm that the student has an Online Log record with the Status field as Active and an open Reservation record, before the document reserved previously is made available for viewing. If not, the request is denied and the student informed. The Status fields of both the Online Log and the Reservation record are updated to reflect that the student has viewed the document that was previously reserved.

c) Project Part C - E-R Diagram and Database Design

1) Assume you are required to design an Entity-Relationship diagram for a database in which all information pertaining to the National Online Library System is to be stored. Given the information in the case, state all the E-R entities and use them to sketch an E-R Diagram showing both maximum and minimum cardinalities for each relationship in the diagram. State ALL assumptions made to arrive at the cardinalities.

2) For all E-R entities, provide the primary key attribute and four (4) or more other attributes (make up these where the information from the case proves insufficient).

3) For all relationships in your E-R diagram above, show the database tables for a relational database design. Provide at least two attributes along with the primary key attribute for any new table derived.