A: LIXON Library is web-based, so it will work on any operating system that has access to the internet.
A: No, you do not. That’s the beauty of the system! Once you scan the ISBN number barcode on the book, it connects with available
book databases on the internet. Usually within 24 hours, the title is found and automatically input into
your library database. So, there is no need to prepare a database beforehand.
A: The system searches for book information for you overnight by using available online sources such as Google Books and
OpenLibrary.
A: This happens occasionally. In that case, the book can be looked up on the internet and the information can be inputted
manually. When a book cannot be found it will appear in an unidentified list (top menu > Library > List
Unidentified Books) for administrator users.
There have been some cases of the ISBN number barcode on the back of the book actually being
the stock number, with the true ISBN displayed on the inside cover. (This is sometimes the case with
authentic materials.)
Books originally sold as part of a set may not have an ISBN number barcode on the cover. In
that case, it is possible to look up the ISBN number, generate a barcode, assign the ISBN to that barcode,
and print it out to stick on the back of the book.
A: The system can track what books a student has checked out and which books need to be returned. It can also provide a list
of what books are checked out the most, to help schools with curriculum and future purchasing decisions.
A: Generally for borrowing and returning by students, use the pages under the Landing menu item in the top menu. The landing
pages for borrow and return will open in a new tab. From there you can switch between borrow and return
using the Actions menu in the top right corner.
A: Most barcode scanners are setup to send a carriage return (i.e. return/enter key) after scanning a code by default. You
can test your scanner on any of the landing pages (borrow or return) - scan a barcode and if the cursor
moves to the next field or submits the form - your scanner is ready to go. If not, please consult your
scanner's documentation for how to set it to send a carriage return (return/enter key) after scanning.
A: You will occasionally come across a book with no barcode or the barcode has been covered with a sticker because it was
a sample. On these occasions we have entered the ISBN by hand - the system allows you to enter the code
either way - by hand or scanner. The ISBN is usually typed somewhere on the first few pages. When the
book is returned it is suggested to keep them out of circulation and generate barcodes for the relevant
ISBN and stick them on.
You can generate bar codes using
http://barcode.tec-it.com/en.
Occasionally older books like
Magic Tree House have the ISBN barcode inside the front
cover instead of on the back.
A: It is recommended to have an administrator account and a regular account setup for your school. When you register for
LIXON Library your administrator account is created automatically. Please create
a regular account also (top menu > Your Organisation's Name > Add New Users).
A: The administrator has higher level access, for example add, edit and delete students. The regular account has read-only
access with the exception of borrowing and returning books. The regular account is recommended for everyday
use by your students in the classroom (especially if unsupervised).
A: Code-128 is a common barcode standard that has a wide range of support. It is the recommended format to generate, but
please first consult your barcode scanner's documentation. There are some barcode scanners that do not
support Code-128.
A: To connect to the API (Application Programming Interface), generate API credentials for your school (top menu > Your Organisation's
Name > Manage API Details). Please keep the key and secret private - it should be treated as a password
that can access your data.
Next in the code of your system, access the following URL with a GET request and substitute
in your own key and secret.
https://library.lixoneducation.com/api/library/books/borrow/current?key=YOUR_KEY&secret=YOUR_SECRET
This will return to you a JSON response with all the currently borrowed books for your school. You can limit the
amount of data returned by adding student codes to the API URL. Please see the following example. Student codes should
be separated by a comma.
https://library.lixoneducation.com/api/library/books/borrow/current?key=YOUR_KEY&secret=YOUR_SECRET&student_codes=STUDENT1,STUDENT2
By default the dates in the response are GMT, but you can optionally specify a timezone. Please see the following example.
The timezone should be specified as it appears in the TZ column in this
list of valid timezones.
https://library.lixoneducation.com/api/library/books/borrow/current?key=YOUR_KEY&secret=YOUR_SECRET&student_codes=STUDENT1,STUDENT2&timezone=Asia/Tokyo
An example of a successful API response is detailed below.
{
"operation_result": "success",
"operation_message": "Operation completed successfully.",
"results": [
{
"book_title": "Hoot",
"student_first_name": "Mifuyu",
"student_last_name": "Yamada",
"borrow_date": "2016-07-13T20:18:46+09:00",
"return_date": null,
"student_code": "STUDENT1",
"book_isbn_13": "9780440419396",
"book_isbn_10": "0440419395"
},
{
"book_title": "The Fault in Our Stars",
"student_first_name": "Mifuyu",
"student_last_name": "Yamada",
"borrow_date": "2016-07-13T20:18:51+09:00",
"return_date": null,
"student_code": "STUDENT1",
"book_isbn_13": "9780141355078",
"book_isbn_10": "0141355077"
},
{
"book_title": "Slumdog Millionaire",
"student_first_name": "Ren",
"student_last_name": "Yamada",
"borrow_date": "2016-11-09T20:22:12+09:00",
"return_date": null,
"student_code": "STUDENT2",
"book_isbn_13": "9780230404717",
"book_isbn_10": "0230404715"
}
]
}
An example of an API error response is detailed below.
{
"operation_result": "error",
"operation_message": "Invalid credentials.",
"results": null
}
A: Sometimes the forwarding on the main LIXON Education domain is slow or momentarily down. Please wait a few moments and try again. If the problem is continuing, please
contact support.
A: The landing pages for borrowing and returning books can be used with MochaSoft's free Barcode application for iOS and Android.
There is an option in the Barcode application that needs to be turned on for it to work correctly. In the free Barcode application, go to
options (icon shaped like gears) and then turn on the Scan to function
option.
A: Most DVDs do not have an ISBN number but you could assign your own number and affix it to the DVD case.
You would need to enter the information about the DVD manually. If required, the same solution could be used for magazines.
A: A parent can subscribe to students for LINE messaging and this will allow them to ask questions about what books a student currently has borrowed
and their latest class attendance.
To subscribe to a student, follow the steps below
- Firstly, the parent must add the LIXON Library LINE messaging bot as a friend in the LINE app using the QR code below (Add Friends > QR Code) if they haven't already.
- Next, find the student in the student list (top menu > Students > List), use the 'Actions' menu to choose 'Subscribers'.
Copy or directly send the subscription request text to the parent.
- The parent then needs to send the subscription request text to LIXON Library LINE chatbot using the LINE app.
A: A parent can ask the LIXON Library LINE messaging bot a number of things described below.
A parent can ask the bot to subscribe them to a student. However, the parent must know a key and secret to be able to subscribe.
Each student has a unqiue, randomly generated, secret that only a organisation's administrator has access to, therefore adminstrators
should only send this to a bona-fide parent or guardian of a student. Please see the example below.
subscribe 28jUjs oj9Sas
A parent can ask the bot to tell them all the currently borrowed books for students that they are subscribed to.
borrowed
A parent can ask the bot to tell them the last attendance record for each student they are subscribed to.
attendance
A parent can unsubscribe to remove all subscriptions.
unsubscribe
A parent can see who they are subscribed to.
who
Anyone that is a friend of the bot can send a greeting, like 'hello' or 'good morning' and the bot will respond.
hello
To see a list of supported commands.
help
A: To avoid confusion when borrowing and returning the book, it is a good idea to cross out or cover the barcode that is not
the ISBN. This is especially important when the other barcode on the book is a code with a length of 10 or 13 characters,
as the system may interpret this as an ISBN.
A: Yes, you can go to Library in the top menu and then go to Return Books, by default it will show you in order of oldest borrowed
book that hasn't been returned. You can change the number of books showing and also go through pages. You can also sort by clicking
on the headers of columns or you can search. An example here, you can search by a student code to see all books a particular student
hasn't returned, or you could search by ISBN to see all copies of a book that haven't been returned yet.
A: Yes there is, you can go to Students in the top menu, then to List Students. Find the student required, you can use the
search with a name or code. Once you have found the student in the list, click on the Actions button in their row and
choose List Student's Borrows.
A: Yes, you can do this for currently borrowed books or all currently borrowed and historically borrowed books. Please see below.
Currently Borrowed
Go to Library in the top menu and then choose Return Books. Use the search to find the currently borrowed book(s) by entering the ISBN 13 or 10.
Currently Borrowed and Historically Borrowed
Go to Library in the top menu and then choose List Borrowed Books. Use the search by entering the ISBN 13 or 10.
A: Yes, you can make the changes to the original file you uploaded your classes with to LIXON Library.
Once you have made those changes, you can upload that file again into LIXON Library and where the class codes match an existing class,
the new details in the file will update that existing class. If the class code does not match an existing class, it will be created as a new class.
You can do this at any time, not just across school years. Any historical attendance data will not be affected when you upload a file with
changes for existing classes.