Workplace booking in the Bavarian State Library with app
I want to borrow a collection of periodicals, more precisely old official gazettes from the Ministry of Education, from the Bavarian State Library. I can often take such objects home with me, but this is not possible with such sensitive products. Instead, they are made available in a reading room.
After I have received an e-mail notification that the copy is ready, I have to book a place in the reading room. This can be done either via the BSB website or via your own app for your smartphone; I choose the app.
There I can choose a time within the following seven days and a duration (1, 2 or 3 hours). The app shows me the number of jobs available under these conditions; surprisingly often there are 0 places, only a few days in the future or late in the evening there will be more. The app also shows me a floor plan of the reading room with all the workstations: Similar to booking seats on an airplane, the seats are displayed in different colors at their approximate position in the room, which indicate their status as occupied or available.
Shortly before the appointment mentioned, I enter the building. When entering the reading room, I scan my user card and only then will I pass through a turnstile. In the reading room I buy a copy card from a machine (cash, coins or bills only) and load it with some extra money. With this I could later print something from the USB stick on the copiers or, more importantly, scan the books on one of several book page scanners and also save them on a USB stick. I’m not allowed to make copies of the books on conventional photocopiers.
I find my book again on a shelving system under my user ID; I take it to work with my number. There is a credit card-sized monitor that displays a four-digit code and a request to check in via the app. In the app I check myself in with this code, whereupon the small monitor changes the picture and now shows that this seat is now reserved until the time I have chosen.
I can also interrupt my work in the app, this is possible once for up to 30 minutes. During this time I can leave my workplace, but nothing changes on the label – so you can’t tell whether someone left the workplace with or without a break.
When I’ve finished my work, I use the app to log out of my desk in the reading room. After this check-out, the small monitor shows “FREE” that this place is not booked at the moment. At a later point in time it will probably show that someone should check in with a new code.
(Thomas Rau)