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University of Namibia

Faculty of Science: Computing Department

Internship Report

Supervisor: Mr. Edwin Tjazerua

Library Internship Report By

Casper Chingwe

Student No.200842404

October 2013

A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Bachelor Degree majoring in Computer Science and Information

Technology

i

Dedication I dedicate this report to my elder sister Francisca Chingwe who passed on this year.

ii

Acknowledgement First and foremost, by holding firmly, the saying, “Without God, Iam a zero and with God, Iam a hero”, I thank my God (Jehovah) for all his kindness, mercies and blessings He has bestowed upon me, until this day and moment. I firmly believe that it was due to Has help Iam here, I was able to face all the difficulties during my internship, both personally and academically, and was able to overcome all of this successfully. I give my special thanks to all the library staff that helped us do the work and the IT staff for accepting us to do internship in the Library. Thanks for the experience you provide us with it will go a long way.

iii

Declaration I, Casper (Seele /Stephen) Chingwe, declare hereby that this study is a true reflection of my own internship report, and that this is my work and no part or whole of it has thereof been submitted for a degree in any other institution of higher education. No part of this report may be produced, stored in any retrieval system, or transmitted in any form, or by means (e.g. electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise) without the prior permission of the author, or the University of Namibia in behalf of the author. I, Casper (Seele/Stephen) Chingwe, grant the University of Namibia the right to reproduce this thesis in whole or in part, in any manner or format, which The University of Namibia may deem fit, for any person or institution requiring it for study and research; providing that The University of Namibia shall waive this right if the whole thesis has been or is being published in a manner satisfactory to the University. Name: Casper Chingwe Signature: ………………………………….

Table of Contents

Dedication ............................................................................................................. i

Acknowledgement ............................................................................................. ii

Declaration ........................................................................................................ iii

Introduction ........................................................................................................ 2 About UNAM library ...................................................................................... 2

Mission .......................................................................................................... 3

Purpose ......................................................................................................... 3

Values .......................................................................................................... 3

Goals ............................................................................................................ 3

Activities performed by the students ................................................................... 4

Database Design .......................................................................................... 4

System User Interface .................................................................................. 5

Conclusion ........................................................................................................... 8

Introduction

This opening chapter presents to the reader an introduction to the internship

conducted at the University of Namibia Library IT department. A background

to the report include the importance of the IT department, the service the

library IT department offers to the University and the activities we performed

at the Library.

Filed Attachment is an integral part of the Bachelor of Science (Computer

Science Major, Information Technology Minor) program. This module

provides the framework for the development of the necessary interpersonal

and other work related communication skills through the completion of a

supervised internship period of two months. This work term provides students

with valuable insights into professionalism and industry-oriented side of

Computer Science and IT in practice.

About UNAM library

Library and Information Services are recognized worldwide as indispensable

contributors to education, research, knowledge creation, knowledge

management and knowledge dissemination. The Library of the University of

Namibia is a national information support system for providing access to

high quality information and knowledge necessary to support the academic

programmes and the curriculum of the University - it is a knowledge hub that

underpins research and education.

The structure of the University of Namibia Library is inspired and guided by

the long term national development goal of ‘Vision 2030’ as well as the short

term national development goal ‘NDP3’ and ETSIP that set out the very

ambitious target to join the ranks of higher income countries by the end of

2030 and afford all its citizens a quality of life that is comparable to that of

the developed world.

With emphasis on enhancing the quality of life for all Namibian, Vision

2030 calls for rapid economic growth to be accompanied by equitable social

development. These twin goals of growth with equity are to be pursued

within a broader strategic framework of transforming Namibia into a

knowledge-based economy in which institutions of higher learning are

responsive to the skills needs of the country. The University of Namibia is

expected to rise to the challenge of producing graduates that are fully

equipped with all skills to support the social and economic demands of the

labour market. The University Library is a national support system for

knowledge creation and knowledge management, providing access to

relevant, appropriate and timely information in support of the mandate of the

university. Access to high quality and relevant information services and

facilities will enhance effective utilization of knowledge, resource-based

learning and teaching, research and development, and rapid transfer of skills.

The library thus underpins a knowledge-based economy.

Mission

To facilitate excellence in teaching and learning, create an appropriate study

and research environment, anticipate and respond to student learning and

research needs, contribute to positive graduate outcomes and provide an

information infrastructure necessary for ground-breaking teaching, learning

and research.

Purpose

To deliver client-focused innovative information products, services and

programs of the highest quality that are integrated with, and central to, the

University’s teaching, learning, research and community service activities.

Values

Commitment to Excellence

To work together as a team committed to provide the best possible service to

our clients. We opt to maintain a safe, quiet, supportive and welcoming

study, reading and research environment.

Transparency and Accountability

We use resources in an effective, ethical, transparent and responsible

manner.

Innovation

We provide training opportunities for all our staff to develop their knowledge

and skills, and encourage innovation and respond creatively to new

challenges.

Open Communication

We promote open, appropriate and timely communication to engage and

inform students, staff and all our clients

Diversity

We embrace diversity and treat each other and our clients with respect and

dignity.

Goals

Secure adequate facilities and resources and manage these creatively

to serve as an intellectual home to students and staff and the

community at large.

Provide greater access to digital collections while continuing to build

and improve collections in all formats to meet research, teaching and

learning needs of the University.

Recruit, hire, and retain quality staff with expertise in delivering

excellent service in response to the rapidly changing needs of the

University.

Provide an easily accessible, user-friendly and safe environment that

fosters research and study, teaching and learning for both library users

and library employees.

Apply appropriate technological innovations and promote innovative

adoptions of emerging learning technologies to achieve productivity

and efficiency.

Communicate library services to raise awareness and promote

partnership with other libraries, educational institutions and local

community.

Create a forward thinking, dynamic staff that is responsive and flexible

in order to achieve the library mission and goals.

Continue to improve the library’s effectiveness through systematic,

ongoing outcome assessment.

Offer formal and informal instructions to promote information literacy.

In order for the library to follow the principles of the mission, vision and goals

outlined above, the library has articulated its structure with the basic staff

compliment with the levels of skills and expertise to initiate, innovate, plan,

implement and pro-actively deliver an information service that meets or

exceeds the needs of the academic community.

Activities performed by students

Our task at the involved developing a Library Survey System that will be used

to rate the services provided by the Library Department. The System

Specification were as follows:

1. A system where students can easily rate the Library Services

2. The students that rate the services are not supposed to be

linked to any of the information on the system. This was to

ensure user confidentiality.

3. The system is supposed to have administrator system were

they can update, delete and view the answers provided by the

students.

The Database Design The image below is of the database design. It has five tables namely the

question_system for storing the questions, answer for storing the Answer that

will be presented to the user. Survey stores the name of the survey which can

have survey_ID, Survey_name and survey purpose and the administrator table

will store the administrator_ID, username and password this is important so

that only a few administrators or only authorized users can access the

administrator system.

Figure 1.0 shows the database design

This is the way the form looks with you start the system for the first time and

no connection settings have been entered. It shows the questions numbers and

then the questions are displayed in the labels. The answers are displayed on the

other side inform of label names. The user has to check the answer from the

labels in a groupbox.

Before the students start using the system, the administrator has to first enter

the connection settings to the database so that the system can retrieve the

questions and answers from the database.

The System User Interface

Figure 1.1 shows the form when you start the system

The System also displays the purpose of the survey so as to inform the

students why the information or the answers they give are important and what

they will be used for.

The other tables would have a database name and be installed on a remote

server where the administrators can see and analysis the answers provided by

the students. This can still be done. We just have to create the databases and

install them and when entering the connection settings we enter the password

and username for the primary server which can be wampserver or XAMP that

can be running on the same system.

The form below shows what happens when the configuration button is click. A

form appears allowing the administrator to enter the database name, the system

hosting the database, password and username for both the primary and

secondary database. The initial plan for the system was that the

question_system and the answer table can be a separate database that can run

on the same system this is for the purpose of easy retrieval of questions and

answers.

The administrator has to enter the database connection details such as the

database hostname, username, password and database name then the

administrator clicks the test connection button if the details are valid the form

disappears and the button also disappears. Then the students can come and rate

the services provided by the library.

Figure 1.2 shows the connection dialog form for the administrator to enter the

connection details

The form below shows the form with questions and answers loaded in the

form. The system was designed with scalability and availability in mind. This

system can be installed on severe system

Figure 1.3 shows the survey form with all the questions and answers

Conclusion It was a good experience to work at the library. The system that we were developing worked fine even though we still have to work on the administrator side system.so far the survey system works fine. Hopefully, we will be done with it by the end of the exam. The internship provides us with a good working environment and helped us understand what is required of us in a work place. It has broadened our minds and prospects.