I'm interested in trying to computerise the way in which copies of sheet music are issued to members of a male voice choir to which I belong.
I envisage each choir member (about 30) having a library ticket which carries a unique barcode. Each item of music (several hundred titles, multiple copies of each title) would have a unique barcode - identifying the title and copy number. A record would be kept of who had what by scanning a member's card, followed by the scanning each item issued to him.
The software would need to be able to:
- Print 'library' tickets for members
- Print barcode labels to attach to sheet music
- Record the issue and return of music
- Produce reports on what music has been issued to whom, overall stock levels, etc.
In fact, more or less what any library does, but on a much smaller scale than your average public library.
Are any of you involved in anything like this, and/or do you know of any Freeware or relatively inexpensive software with this sort of functionality?
Obviously, we would need to buy a barcode scanner of some sort. These seem to range in price from a few pounds to a few hundred. Can anyone give any advice about what we would need to go for - which would work reliably without breaking the bank?
Google hasn't been that helpful because most references to music or library seem to be to collections of MP3 files, etc. or subroutine libraries - hence the request for any first-hand experience of the sort of things I want to do.
TIA.