A computer booking system is a system whereby publicly accessible computers can be reserved for a period of time. These systems are commonly used in facilities such as

public libraries ''Public Libraries'' is the official publication of the Public Library Association (PLA), a division of the American Library Association (ALA). It is devoted exclusively to public libraries. The print edition is published six times a year and i ...

to ensure equitable use of limited numbers of

computer A computer is a machine that can be Computer programming, programmed to automatically Execution (computing), carry out sequences of arithmetic or logical operations (''computation''). Modern digital electronic computers can perform generic set ...

s. Bookings may be done over the internet or within the library itself using a separate computer set up as a booking terminal. Computer booking systems allow public service with reduced staff involvement. Typically a computer booking system consists of both server and client software. The server software might run within the LAN or more typically is run from a publicly accessible web-server thus enabling users to book or reserve their computer time from their web-browser. There are both commercial and

Open Source Open source is source code that is made freely available for possible modification and redistribution. Products include permission to use and view the source code, design documents, or content of the product. The open source model is a decentrali ...

computer booking products on the market.

External links

Libki
a cross-platform Open Source computer reservation & time management system.
An example of a computer booking system
at

Birmingham Central Library Birmingham Central Library was the main public library in Birmingham, England, from 1974 until 2013, replacing a library opened in 1865 and rebuilt in 1882. For a time the largest non-national library in Europe, it closed on 29 June 2013 and was ...

, UK
An Open Source PC Reservations and Bookings system
Library resources Personal computing {{software-type-stub