6.18 Libraries and Librarians

(See also HELP PERMISSIONS, HELP JOURNALS)

Libraries are places to keep, and from which to borrow, books. Libraries
are available for placement in private homes and in organisational locations
(such as House or House estates, Order Temples, or City locations).

They are also very seriously expensive propositions! The smallest and least
expensive will still probably cost over half of a million gold sovereigns to
set up.

A person or clan or org can only own one library. You can have multiple locations (a designator needed for each), but they will share the main library booklist and permissions.

(see end of this scroll for COPY, LOCK, and SEAL services.)

Table of Contents:
   I. Using a Library (a Guide for Borrowers)
  II. Who is a Library Owner?
 III. Acquiring a Library (a Guide for Library Owners)
  IV. Setting up a Library (a Guide for Owners)
   V. Library Commands (for Library Owners)
  VI. Library Groups (for Library Owners)
 VII. Library Group PERMISSIONS (for Library Owners)
VIII. Library Services: COPY, LOCK, and SEAL (for Everybody)


I. Borrowers: to use a Library
------------------------------
- Go to the location of the library. 
- View each bookshelf (with PROBE or LIBRARY STATUS).
- CHECKOUT <book> - to check it out.
- While you have it, Probe it to see how long till it is due.
- CHECKIN <book>  - to check it in.
- If you forget to check it back in, no problem - the book will return itself!
- LIBRARY BROWSE <text> to show only those books available that have the
  specified <text> in their title.
- The Library listings may show either a '*' or an 'X'; the
  'X' indicates that a book is locked and may not be copied,
  whereas the '*' indicates that it may be (see section VIII, Library
  Services, below)


II. Who is a Library Owner?
---------------------------
For private homes, the library owner is the owner of the home.
For Cities, the library owner is the city leader.
For Houses, the library owner is the House leader.
For clans, the library owner is the clan head.

III. Library Owners - Acquiring a Library
----------------------------------------
- THE PLACE: you must have a private home, or an organisational room
  in which furniture may be placed. For organisational rooms, this may
  require special arrangements to add a 'building' associated with your
  organisation's rooms. To make these special arrangements, file an
  ISSUE. Be sure to know where you'd like the building to be.

- THE DESIGNATION: go to Fronck at the Delosian Furniture showroom and
  REQUEST LIBRARY DESIGNATION. The cost of this is currently 250,000 gold.  
  Fronck will provide you with a token-like, coin-shaped 'Designator'
  which you must drop in the place you wish to designate as a library.
  (Anybody can do this, for anywhere.) This item can also be referred to as a
  LIBRARYDESIGNATOR, for those who deal in tuns too, this prevents confusion.

- THE SHELVES: Any practitioner of the Furnishing tradeskill (including you!) 
  may create bookshelves or bookcases which may then be PLACEd in your Library.
  Consult HELP FURNISHING for more details.

  Simply PLACE each bookshelf or bookcase in the room you have designated
  as a library. You're in business!

  See also HELP FURNISHING for more details. Only the home owner, or
  a member of the organisation that owns the building, may drop
  furniture there.


IV. Setting up a Library (a Guide for Owners)
---------------------------------------------
- To designate a librarian, use LIBRARY LIBRARIAN <who>.
  (Do not designate yourself! It is not needful.)
- You can do this as often as you like, changing/updating for any
  reason, or no reason.
- To add books to a library, simply put them into a library bookshelf.
  PUT <book> INTO <bookshelf/case>.
  If an item is already resetting, it cannot be placed in circulation.
  Contact an admin for help with this via ISSUE ME.
- To remove books from circulation, just take them out of the bookshelf.
- To check the contents of your library, or to open or close it, use the
  LIBRARY STATUS [OPEN|CLOSE] command.
- To control access to the library, set up groups (see below).
- To take the collected fees out of the library: LIBRARY WITHDRAW <amount>.
- You may also CHECKIN or CHECKOUT as others.


V. Library Commands (for Library Owners)
----------------------------------------
Type LIBRARY to see the commands available to you.

* open/close, etc
  LIBRARY STATUS           - to see if your library is open or not.
                             also tells you what books are in the
                             library, or checked out, and by whom.
                             Note that a * next to a title means
                             it can be copied, while an X means it
                             cannot.
  LIBRARY STATUS OPEN      - to open it.
  LIBRARY STATUS CLOSE     - to close it.

* define who can check out books, for how long, and at what cost.
  LIBRARY GROUP                 - list the relevant group commands.
  LIBRARY GROUPS                - list all groups you've defined.
  LIBRARY GROUP <#> NAME <name> - give the group a name.
  LIBRARY GROUP <#> PERM        - (see permissions below).
  LIBRARY GROUP <#> FEE <amt>   - cost to check out for this group.
  LIBRARY GROUP <#> LEND <amt>  - how long this group checks out,
                                  in Achaean days.
* other
  LIBRARY LIBRARIAN <who>       - designate a librarian.
  LIBRARY WITHDRAW <howmuch>    - withdraw from the library's treasury.


VI. Library Groups (for Library Owners)
---------------------------------------
Groups are used to control who has access. Each library has four, numbered
1 through 4. Group 1 is considered first, when determining who has access
to a library.

Groups have 
- a name         - optional, for whatever purpose you wish.
- a fee          - cost for borrowers to checkout a book.
- a lending time - measured in Achaean days. (0 means checkout not allowed)
- permissions    - see Library Group PERMISSIONS below.


VII. Library Group PERMISSIONS (for Library Owners)
---------------------------------------------------
This makes use of the permissions system already used for housing doors and
totems (described in HELP PERMISSIONS).

  LIBRARY GROUP <#> PERM ADD <perm>    - adds a perm item to group.
  LIBRARY GROUP <#> PERM REMOVE <perm> - removes a perm item before group.
  LIBRARY GROUP <#> PERM               - lists the perms for this group.

If you set up no groups at all, then everybody can borrow from your library
with no fee for a period of 300 Achaean days. As soon as you set up even one
library group, then nobody gets access at all, excepting those you have set up
in those groups. You can set up, change, and otherwise deal with groups
whenever you want, over and over again if you want. This is not a one-shot
thing!


VIII. Library Services: COPY, LOCK, MARK, and SEAL (for Everybody)
------------------------------------------------------------
Seek Mydoin inside the Library in New Thera. There read the sign to familiarise
yourself with the COPY, LOCK, and SEAL services.

- with COPY you copy a volume (that is sealed and not locked).
- with SEAL, you make a volume permanently unchangeable. Only the owner may
request SEALing of a personal journal.
- with LOCK, a volume in a library may be locked by a librarian or library
owner only. A locked volume may not be copied.
- with MARK you make a volume resetting to you. (This cannot then be put into
library circulation as resetting conflicts with library status.)

(See also HELP PERMISSIONS, HELP JOURNALS)