University of York Library automation project:3. The reserve (short loan) system

The main circulation system is off‐line and as an advance booking facility offered by the existing manual system was to remain, a hybrid subsystem, partly manual and partly automated, has been developed. The automated element, using the Plessey light pen system and a direct on‐line link to the main frame computer, incorporates the loan records into the master loans file, controls the statistical record of reserve loans, creates the daily listings of the contents of the collection and monitors the reading lists. The manual system controls the booking system and the overdue loans.