Design and Implementation of an Automated Library System using Biometric Technology

Abstract

The aim of this paper is the design and realisation of an automated library system using biometric technology. The personnel at the circulation desk (entrance) of the library desires to either confirm or ascertain the identity of the person requesting service in the library. Currently, most libraries use identity cards, including photo-based, smart card based for this purpose. With the proposed authentication scheme it is possible to confirm or establish an individual’s identity based on the fingerprint rather than by what one remembers (e.g., a password); hence, the authentication system is able to ensure that the rendered services are accessed only by a valid user, and not by any other person. The automated library system is designed based on the client/server architecture with the web structured as a 3-tier application. The front end aspect (first tier) of the automated library system was developed using Microsoft Visual Studio. The middleware engine uses dynamic web content technology (hypertext preprocessor, Java Server Page, Active Server Page) while the backend was designed using MySQL server application, thus all the data for the user authentication software are stored in the MySQL database. The performance under test was found to be satisfactory when compared with the traditional verification/authentication technique