Koha 3 Library Management System

Book Image

Koha 3 Library Management System

Book Image

Koha 3 Library Management System

Overview of this book

Koha is the first full-featured open source library management system that is widely used for efficiently managing libraries. However, setting up and maintaining Koha is no walk in the park. It is not as straightforward as setting up the other popular LAMP applications.This practical guide provides all the essential information that is needed to make the task of installing and configuring Koha really seem simple and easy. It demonstrates how to set up Koha and its various aspects – installation, configuration, application administration, and data migration. It also covers troubleshooting, software maintenance, software customization, and other advanced topics.The book starts with installing and configuring the LAMP stack and the Koha application to meet your needs. It then goes deeper into setting up various rules and configuring settings for Koha. It also covers data migration of catalog records, software maintenance, and customization of the application. Chapters are also dedicated to providing an insight into advanced topics such as LDAP integration and Internationalization. Filled with numerous code samples and screenshots, this book will tour you through setting up Koha for evaluation or test purposes. It also includes loads of tips for troubleshooting and maintenance activities. By the end of this book, you will have gained the knowledge to get the most out of your Koha installation.

Koha 3 Library Management System

Koha 3 Library Management System

Credits

About the Authors

About the Authors

About the Reviewers

About the Reviewers

Preface

Free Chapter

Installing the Software Stack

Installing the Software Stack

An orientation to Koha's installation

Preparing for installation

Installing Koha's software stack

Configuring the Apache2 Web Server

Configuring the Apache2 Web Server

Understanding Apache2 configuration

Preparing for Apache2 configuration

Configuring Apache2 web server

Troubleshooting configuration problems

Installing Koha's Zebra Search Engine

Installing Koha's Zebra Search Engine

Koha's Zebra related components

Installing Zebra

Using Koha without Zebra

Koha's Web Installer, Crontab, and Other Server Configurations

Koha's Web Installer, Crontab, and Other Server Configurations

Executing Koha's web installer

Configuring the crontab

Ensuring Koha starts automatically on server reboot

Configuring the correct SAX parser

Setting up environment variables for the Linux shell

Configuring the Cataloging Module

Configuring the Cataloging Module

A first look at Koha's cataloging configuration tools

Preparing a configuration plan

Implementing our configuration plan

Configuring MARC frameworks

Configuring the Circulation Module

Configuring the Circulation Module

Patron categories

Circulation and fine rules

Configuring the calendar and calculation of due date and fines

Due and overdue notices

Configuring holds

Configuring Other System Preferences

Configuring Other System Preferences

Understanding Koha's system preferences

Configuring transactional modules

Configuring OPAC preferences

Configuring styling and appearance

Configuring general preferences

Test Driving Your Koha Installation

Test Driving Your Koha Installation

Patrons—create, search, and view patron record

Cataloging—create, search, and view bibliographic and item record

Circulation—check-out, check-in, and view circulation history

Acquisitions—create an order, receive shipment, and view budget utilization

Serials—creating a subscription and receiving the first issue

Reports—creating a guided report and executing it

OPAC—running a catalog search

Migrating Catalog Data

Migrating Catalog Data

An orientation to migrating catalog data

Preparing to migrate catalog data

Migrating catalog data

Troubleshooting

Troubleshooting

Where to get help—community resources

Common problems

Problems with Internet Explorer

Updating Software

Updating Software

Orientation to updating software

Updating the software

Zebra—rebuilding indexes and restarting the server

Customizing Koha Software

Customizing Koha Software

An orientation to customizing Koha software

Customizing Koha software—an example

Committing changes

Create a patch using Git

Sending the patch to Koha's release manager

Advanced Topics

Advanced Topics

Creating and using matching rules for use during catalog imports

Understanding matching rules

Determining search indexes

More information and examples

Using LDAP with Koha

Multiple OPAC interfaces

Installing new languages

Setting up a public Z39.50 server

Index

Customer Reviews

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Multiple OPAC interfaces

If you have multiple libraries or branches on the same Koha installation, you might want to use the multiple OPAC interfaces feature of Koha.

We use this feature to:

Create a customized OPAC interface for each library
Each OPAC interface can have its own logo, colors, fonts, and so on.
Search is limited to the particular library

Here are the steps to doing this:

Edit the Apache2 koha-httpd.conf file and create a virtual host block for each library or branch.
You will need domain names for each branch, for example, branch1.mykohalibrary.org, branch2.mykohalibrary.org.
In each virtual host, repeat this stanza, change the values of environment variables OPAC_CSS_OVERRIDE and OPAC_SEARCH_LIMIT appropriately.
```
SetEnv OPAC_CSS_OVERRIDE branch1.css
SetEnv OPAC_SEARCH_LIMIT branch:branch1
SetEnv OPAC_LIMIT_OVERRIDE 1
```
Create the corresponding style sheet files in the folder:
```
/koha-tmpl/opac-tmpl/prog/en/css/branch1.css
```

If we had two branches, we would have two Apache2 virtual hosts as...