Library Management System Using PHP and MYSQL Database Project Proposal

Background 

Library management system has a wider scope towards the educational institutions these days. In general each and every educational institution right from a high school to Universities, maintain ample number of books, journals, articles and different publications with them. Initially library management is done manually and the required records are saved across books. The common details that were maintained across libraries include the overall information of all kinds of books against different publications and also the details of the issues and refunds of the corresponding books.

The manual approach followed initially is fine if the case is limited to few books and as the scope of library is improving these days, a perfect automated system is required in this context. There were many automated software’s developed in this context and most of them are successful in maintain the library information as per the required standards of schools and universities as well. The main scope of the library management system mainly depends on few aspects like the number of publications and books maintained and also the nature of the client like either it is targeted for universities, colleges or schools.

In this project I would like to develop a web based library management system that can suit for any sort of clients including universities, colleges and schools. I have reviewed different library management systems and am interested to develop one using PHP and MYSQL database and improve the scope of library management system to a generalized level. Following are the key aims and objectives identified in this project. 

Aims and Objectives 

Aim: To develop a web based library management system using PHP and MYSQL database 

Objectives 

Following are the key objectives 

1. To review different types of library management systems what were popular and identify the key advantages and limitations
2. To design a web based library management system using the modeling techniques like UML
3. To create the required web pages and add the PHP code
4. To develop the required database using MYSQL and establish the database connections required
5. To test the application against few test cases and run the application to generalize a web based library management that suits for schools, colleges and universities as well.  

Scope and approach 

As discussed in the background section, scope of the project is to create a web based library management system. The main reason behind to create a web based application is that to create the mobility to operate even when the admin is out of office. All the status of books, article, journals and publications can be updated or viewed using this website and also all the issues and returns of the books can be maintained against the student details. A separate log is maintained across the website and it holds the required reports as per day, week, and month or to the extent of desired time period.

All the web pages are created using PHP and MYSQL is used as the required database. UML modeling is used to create the basic design and flow of the application and once it is done the actual coding is done. Initially all the required web pages are created along with the database tables. The required business logic is added to improve the scope of the application and the database connections are established. Few test cases are created and manual testing is used in this project. Test cases are created in a manner to check all the required field level validations and also database validations. Once the application is created the corresponding test cases are executed against couple of runs and the bugs are resolved if any identified. Once the testing is done, the final product is delivered. 

Time line 

This complete project can be completed in 4 months approximately. Following are the key tasks involved in the project and I m giving the approximate weeks to complete 

1. Critical analysis of Library management systems using academic journals and articles and this will take 3 weeks.
2. UML modeling of the application and this will take 2 weeks
3. Database design which include design of backend database and tables and this will take 2 weeks
4. Front end design of all the required forms and this will take 3 weeks
5. Developing the business and database logic and this will take 3 weeks
6. Development of test cases will take 1 week
7. Unit testing is done module level and this will take 2 weeks
8. Bug fixing and final release will take 1 week