Library Instruction System Documentation

1. System Overview

1.1 Purpose

The Library Instruction System is a Laravel 11 web application designed to streamline the process of scheduling and managing library instruction sessions between faculty and librarians within the Portland Community College network.

1.2 Technical Evolution

• Originally: Laravel 8, Infyom Generator, AdminLTE, Yajra DataTables
• Current: Laravel 11, Livewire 3, Tailwind CSS, Livewire PowerGrid 6.1

1.3 Current Implementation Status

Working Features

• Request viewing and management
• Status updates across multiple states
• File attachments for various document types
• Basic dashboard functionality
• Instruction request creation
• Editing existing requests
• Copying existing requests

Technical Components

• Custom Blade components
• Alpine.js for frontend interactions
• Spatie Media Library for file management
• Standard Laravel authentication

2. Core Components

2.1 Request Lifecycle

1. Faculty submits instruction request
2. System creates/links instructor record
3. Request enters received status
4. Librarians can:
   • View requests
   • Assign requests
   • Accept requests
   • Mark requests complete
   • Reject or copy requests

2.2 Request Statuses

• received: Initial state
• assigned: Librarian assigned
• accepted: Librarian confirmed
• completed: Session finished
• copied: Request duplicated

2.3 Key Models

• InstructionRequests: Central model

  • Relates to Instructor
  • Relates to Classes
  • Relates to Campus
  • Associated with InstructionRequestDetails

• Instructor: Faculty representation

• User: Librarian accounts (manually created)

3. File Handling

Supports file collections with the following specifications:

Supported File Types

• Plain text (.txt)
• Rich Text Format (.rtf)
• Portable Document Format (.pdf)
• Microsoft Word Documents (.doc, .docx)
• Microsoft PowerPoint Presentations (.ppt, .pptx)

Upload Restrictions

• Maximum file size: 8 MB per file
• File collections:
  • Course syllabi
  • Instructor attachments
  • Teaching materials
  • Assessment documents

4. Notification System

Provides notifications for:

• Request received
• Request assigned
• Request accepted
• Request rejected

5. Authentication

• Standard Laravel authentication
• Manual user creation
• No role-based access control

6. Development Environment

• Framework: Laravel 11
• PHP Version: 8.2+
• Timezone: America/Los_Angeles
• Date Format: YYYY-MM-DD H:i:s
• Access: Internal VPN network

7. System Requirements

• PHP 8.2+
• Composer dependencies
• Node.js 18+ for frontend compilation