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ISSN 1039-3498 | no. 51| June 2001
Whats OnEvent Management System
Almost since the Library first had a web presence we have been advertising details of upcoming events of interest to both the library sector and the general public. There is also a printed colour Program published every quarter listing these events.
Maintaining the content of the Whats On web pages and the Program was time-consuming for Public Programs staff. They requested help from the IT Division to provide them with an online database for maintaining details about events. This could then be used to generate a more interactive public web site where visitors could find events of interest to them. The maintenance of various internal calendars such as the Corporate Calendar and the Training Calendar as static web pages could also be automated using the same solution.
Library staff were also finding the management of venue and equipment bookings for both public and internal events to be a time-consuming activity, mostly handled through manual processes. A possible solution was an Event Management System to cover both the efficient publicising of events and the management of venue and equipment bookings.
The IT Division chose to develop a system using its own Web Application Framework after conducting a product survey of existing applications. Analysis and design began in August 2000, development started in October and the new system was released to all library staff on the 8th May.
The system is only accessible by library staff but the resulting Public
Whats On service can be seen at www.nla.gov.au/events
Monica Berko
Please address any comments and enquiries to The Editor, Gateways: dthomas@nla.gov.au