Modelling and implementation of catalogue cards using FreeMarker

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to report on a study involving the specification (using Unified Modelling Language (UML) 2.0) of information requirements and implementation of the software components for generating catalogue cards. The implementation in a Java environment is developed using the FreeMarker software.Design/methodology/approachObject‐oriented methodology as well as CASE tools are used to design the software components. The system architecture makes the catalogue cards available from every segment of the library management system, and enables catalogue card updates without recompilation of the source code.FindingsThe outcome of the work is a software package, implemented in a Java environment, that generates and displays catalogue cards based on bibliographic records in the UNIMARC format, but it can be easily adapted for the other MARC formats.Research limitations/implicationsThe package is limited to generating only catalogue cards based on MARC formats. In order to avoid this limitation it is possible to define specific metadata for catalogue card generation. In such a case, the catalogue cards could be generated from the metadata regardless of the bibliographic record format.Practical implicationsThe software package is integrated into the BISIS library management software system used by 36 libraries including public, city, faculty and special libraries in Serbia.Originality/valueThe architecture of the software component can be used in different implementations of library management systems. It is only necessary to represent the bibliographic record data using the internal data structure of the FreeMarker software package.