NJCSO Tracker

When I was on the executive committee of my school’s strings orchestra (NJCSO), we had over 30 instruments to keep track of and it was a mess. Nobody really knew which ones were in storage and which ones were borrowed out, so I built a web app to fix that.

The app works using QR codes. When someone borrows or returns an instrument, they scan the QR code on the instrument and the QR code on the storage zone. This way the system knows where everything is and who has it.

For storing data, I went with Google Sheets instead of a proper database. It made it a lot easier for the other committee members to check inventory without needing any technical knowledge. They could just open the spreadsheet and see everything laid out.

The borrowing process works like this:

1. Student scans the instrument’s QR code
2. System checks if it is available
3. Student scans the storage zone’s QR code
4. System cross-checks the location
5. Transaction gets logged and inventory updates automatically

It was a pretty simple project but it actually solved a real problem and the other committee members found it genuinely useful.