group 4 assignment 3 initially when trying to run reports in koha, i had a lot of trouble trying to...

Assignment3LIS630spring2012RosalindMooreKatieStolleryAdministrationModule:

ForthisprojectwesetupGroup4BranchLibraryinKohatopracticeaddingpatrons,importingMARCrecords,andcreatereportsfromourfictitiouslibrary.Theinitialtaskofsettingupalibrarywasveryeasy.GoingintoKohaunder“KohaAdministrations”then“LibrariesandGroups”wewereabletosetupandcreateourgrouplibrary.

Tocreateabudgetforthislibrarywasveryeasybyclickingonthe“FundsandBudgetAdministration”linkandsetupageneralfundbudgetof$5000forourlibrary.Kohagivestheusermanyoptionsforbudgetssuchaschoosingbudgetcategories(general,serials,children’setc)andalsoallowstheusertochangethecurrencyorandspecifybudgetdates.

CatalogingModuleToaddMARCrecordsintoKoha,weimportedtwoZ39.50clientstohelpimportrecordtoourlibrary.WeusedMetro‐BostonLibrarynetworkandtheHammondPublicLibrarytosupportoursearches.

AddingMARCrecordswaseasyusingtheZ39.50searchoptions.Choosing“addMARCrecord”fromthehomepage,userscanclickonz39.50andenterinformationforitemintosearchoptions,choosehostclientstosearchandchoosetheiritemsforimport.

Choosedesireditemfromresultsgiventhenselectimportatfarright,toimporttheMARCrecorddirectlytoKoha.

DesiredResults:

Itisveryeasytochangewhattypeofrecordtheitemisbyselectingfromthetopmenu,thisinstanceitissettobooks,bookletsandworkbooksbecausethisitemisabook.Onceyousavetheitem,youwillthenbeabletoassignabarcodeandadditemtoyourlibrary.

PatronsModuleWesetupfourpatronsforourfictitiouslibrary.Twoareregularpatrons,oneisachildconnectedtoaguarantorpatronandthelastisastaffpatron.

Belowisanexampleofwhatapatronrecordlookslikewhentheyhaveanitemcheckedout.StaffPatronJean‐MichelBasquiat:

Wewerealsoabletocreatefinesforpatrons,whichcanbeviewedunderthefinestabinpatronrecords.

AcquisitionsToaddanewvendorInAcquisitionsyousimplejustclickontheIcon,"AddVendor"shownbelow:

Thentheabovefunctionwillbringyoutothe,"AddVendor"Screenwhereyoucanaddselectedvendorsforyourlibrary.IaddedAcademicBookVendorfororderingpurposesforourlibrary.

Onceavendorhasbeenaddedtoourlibrarydatabasethenwecannoworderbooksfromourselectedvendorsbyselecting"NewOrder"icon:

Thenyouwillbeabletosearchforspecificitemsintheselectedvendorsdatabase.BelowIselectedGirlsGuideandmyresultsendedwithtwopublicationsbelowandselectorder.

Onceyouselectyoupublicationtoorderthenyoumustselectyourselectedlibraryandsave:

BelowisyourBasketdetailspage:

SamesetupfororderingwithAmericanLibraryAssociation:

CreatingGroup4ListFromthemainpageonKOHAyoucanclickon"List"icontoaddalistforyourlibrary.Thisallowsyoutoaddmaterialsfromyourdatabase:

Toaddbarcodesyousimplyjustaddbarcodesandselect"Add"thenyourresultswillbeaddedtolistbelow:

Tools

UndertheToolsiconifyouclickonNEWSyoucancommunicateeffectivelywithyourstaffmembers.Youcanaddanewentryeasilybyclickingonthe,"NewEntry"iconbelow:

Belowisexactlyhowtoaddadiscussionortopicunderyournewsfeed:

Alsoundertoolsyoucancreatelabelsbyselectingthelabelstab:Ihaveillustratedbelow:

IntheCalendarModeyoucancreateandeditholidaysorclosingsinyourlibrarysystem:

UndertheNoticestabinToolsyoucanseeanyoutstandingbalancesoroverdueitemsforyourpatrons.ForexampleWillowStolleryhasanoverdueitem:

ToactuallysendnoticestoyourpatronsyoucanselectNotice/Statustriggers:

ReportsInitiallywhentryingtorunreportsinKoha,Ihadalotoftroubletryingtogetareportthathadourinformationthatwasaddedtothegrouplibrary.AftermanytrialsanderrorsIfoundtheproblemwasIwasnotaddingenoughparameterforthesystemtocreateareport.HereisanexampleofthecatalogreportcreatedthroughtheKohareportgeneratorandexportedintoExcel.

Thisisthepatronreportgenerated.

CirculationReport

Accounts(Fines)

ReflectionsonKoha Katie‐MypersonalexperienceusingKohahasbeenalearningopportunity.OneaspectofimplementationthatlibrariesholdwhenacquiringanewILSsystemwouldbeishavinganextensivetrainingplanfortheiremployeesandusers.Fromanoviceperspective,Kohaissimpletoself‐teachthebasics,butmoreextensivetrainingwouldberequiredformetofullyusethisILSsystem.IthinkKoha’sstrongestpointisthatausercanself‐teachthemselvesthebasicsofthisprogramsuchasaddingpatrons,addingMARCrecords,checkoutitems,makefines,makelists,etc.,butgoingbeyondthebasicsintosystempreferencesisbeyondaself‐taughtbeginner.ToreallybeabletouseKohatoitsfullestpotential,andmakeitaworthwhileinvestmentforalibrary,wouldrequiretrainingandopportunitiestofurtherexplorethesystemwithoutfearofaccidentlymessingupacriticalaspectoftheprogramthatmightpreventusability(i.e.notbeingabletoimportMARCrecords).Overall,IwouldsaythatmyexperienceusingKohaispositive,butfrustratingattimes.IlearnbestbyhavingsomeoneteachmethenIpracticeformastery,soinbeingabletoteachmyselfhowtousemajorcomponentsoftheILSsuccessfullyreallysayssomethingaboutthequalityoftheKohaprogram.