About Aleph

The ALEPH500 automated library system is produced by the Israel-based ExLibris company, its distributor for the Czech Republic being Multidata Praha, s.r.o.

This system supports several clients with the following being the most frequently used ones by BUT libraries:

• Graphical client – an application running in the librarians' computers used to implement a librarian's operations such as cataloguing and lending of documents.
• On-line catalogue – a cloud application used by the users to search for books and other publications offered by BUT libraries.

The data processed by Aleph are stored by an Oracle database system. It contains the following bases:

• Bibliographic basis – containing bibliographic records of documents.
• Administrative basis – information on readers, records of title copies, loans, etc.
• Authors' basis – records on authors, and document creators

The system works with several basic modules with the first four being designed for librarians and the last one for the users:

• Cataloguing module – used to register and manage the bibliographic records of documents
• Loan protocol – a module used to manage loans, returns, and extensions. Next, it can be used for working with a system of payment transactions as well as for registering and managing readers' accounts
• Interlibrary loan service – records and manages requests for interlibrary and international loans, and manages the accounts of their providers
• Acquisitions/serials – used to manage and register periodicals, work with the budget system, order forms, invoices, dunning, etc.
• WebOPAC – is and on-line catalogue used to view document search registers, manage readers' accounts, use the interlibrary loan service to order documents and reserve the lent titles.