Lost and Found Management System for Colleges Campus: Design, Implementation and Evaluation

Abstract

The universities must develop long-term solutions which will meet their operational needs but these solutions create problems for the universities because they need to keep track of all lost items throughout their campus areas. The system which uses paper-based registers with informal messaging and separate help-desk tickets cannot connect lost items with found items because it requires immediate owner alerts and blocks administrators from assessing recovery achievements. The research paper details the complete development process of a web-based Lost and Found Management System (LFMS) which researchers created for use in college settings. The system enables students, faculty, and administrative staff to report lost and found items online, attach photographs, search a live registry, and receive automatic email notifications when a potential match is identified. The system is developed using Python, Flask, SQLite and Bootstrap. The system for structured claim and verification workflows permits administrators to release items only when they require supervision of identity verification processes which happen in-person. The system improved recovery rates, reduced recovery time, achieved high user satisfaction, and performed efficiently.