A publisher's offprint sent to John by the author in Decenber 2007 Abstract: Introduction of computer in a library for managing services and house-keeping jobs generally raises the expectations on users, staff members and authorities. The success of library computerisation, however, depends to a great extent on the appropriate selection of hardware configuration and software packages. This calls for systematic assiessment of library needs and constraints and identificaiton of suitably matching computerwares. For this purpose, an approach based on generic design science principles which combines subjective judgement with analytical tools is proposed. An application to the software selection problem faced by a typical college library illustrates the methodology.