Global and Local Settings in Koha

Global and Local Settings in Koha

This is a guide to Koha settings that apply to all libraries sharing one Koha instance and those settings that can be configured by library. This is not exhaustive. Instead, the focus is on those settings that are most relevant to consortia and large library systems. 
This list is a  reference that libraries can use to inform configuration decisions during initial implementation, or when adding a new library to an existing system.

Libraries using Aspen Discovery should also refer to Global Settings in Aspen Discovery.

Creating individual libraries and groups of libraries 

Library locations and library groups are referred to by all other settings that can be localized.

Libraries 

  1. Database code, name and contact information for every library that will be sharing the system. Koha pulls from this list of libraries for all branch information connected to patrons, items, and circulations as well as for those settings that can be determined by library location.
  2. Libraries can be defined as pickup locations
  3. Aspen populates library locations from the Koha Libraries

Library groups

  1. Create groups of libraries for sharing and limiting data access and some circulation policies.  
  2. Libraries can be part of multiple groups with different functions. 
  3. Note that while library groups can have subgroups, as of version 25.05 the functionality is still very limited. 
  4. The Koha Community Manual has up-to-date documentation of the different functions of library groups. 

Administrative settings that can be configured by location

Item Types 

  1. Item types drive circulation. 
  2. Item types are generally configured to refer to a material type like book, 2 hour reserve. However, consider your circulation policies when setting Koha item types. You will build circulation rules around your item types. 
  3. Use of any item type can be limited to one or more library locations. 

Authorized Values

  1. Authorized value categories are controlled lists in Koha. 
  2. Authorized values can be limited to use by one or more libraries. 
  3. Examples of data configured in authorized values: 
    1. Shelving Locations.  Shelving locations represent physical locations in the library (ie: 1st floor, 2nd floor, computer lab).
    2. Collection Codes. Collection Codes are codes that describe a collection (ie: Career Resources, Psychology, Local History). 
    3. Lost Statuses
    4.  Not for Loan

Patron Categories

  1. Patron categories drive circulation rules along with item types.
  2. A category can be limited for use by one or more library branches.

Patron Attributes 

  1. Patron attributes add data flags to patron accounts that can be searched and reported on. 
  2. Examples: County of residence, Computer use allowed (yes or no). 
  3. Attributes can be limited to one or more libraries. 

Circulation Rules 

  1. One set of general shared rules can be established for all libraries, and unique or specific rules can be set for individual branches.
  2. Circulation rules include issuing rules, floating rules, hold target and pickup location policies, item return policies, and refund policies. 

Notices and Slips

  1. Each notice and slip (print receipt) can have a version shared by all libraries and versions for specific library locations. 

Overdue triggers

  1. The timing for sending overdue notices and the notice templates that will be used can be shared or set by library location. 

System preferences that can be configured by location

DefaultLongOverdueLostValue/DefaultLongOverdueDays

  1. This system preference is a global setting for the lost value of long overdue materials and the timing at which materials become long overdue. However, the long overdue cron job can be used to set values and timing for individual libraries. 

Global settings 

Policies and settings controlled by system preferences are applied globally. The following is a list of system preferences recommended for large library systems and consortia. 

Circulation Rules

  1. CircControl and HomeOrHoldingBranch system preferences establish which library's circulation rules should be applied for a transaction. 
    1. If CircControl is set to “the library you are logged in at” circulation rules will be selected based on the library the staff person is logged in at
    2. If CircControl is set to “the library the patron is from” circulation rules will be selected based on the patron’s home library
    3. If CircControl is set to “the library the item is from” circulation rules will be selected based on the item’s library where HomeOrHoldingBranch chooses if the item's home library is used or holding library is used
  2. RefundLostOnReturnControl establishes which library's refund policy should be used. 
  3. ReservesControlBranch establishes which library's hold rules determine if a hold can be placed. 
  4. IndependentBranches should only be used by library systems that share a single Koha installation among multiple independent organizations that do not share material or patrons with other branches and do not plan to change that in the future. If set to ‘Yes’ it increases the security between library branches by:
    1. Prohibiting staff users from logging into another library from within the staff interface
    2. Filtering out patrons from patron searches who are not a part of the login library conducting the search
    3. Limiting the location choices to the login library when adding or modifying an item record
    4. Preventing users from other library locations from placing holds or checking out materials from library branches other than their own
    5. Preventing staff from editing item records which belong to other library branches.
    6. All of these security safeguards can be overridden only by the superlibrarian, the highest level of privileges.

Checkouts and Returns

  1. useDaysMode defines how due dates are calculated
  2. noissuescharge Define the maximum amount a patron can owe before checkouts are blocked
  3. ReturnBeforeExpiry Decide if patrons need to return items before their accounts expire
  4. AllowReturnToBranch controls where borrowed materials can be checked in.
  5. AllowTooManyOverride Allow/don’t allow staff to override when patron has reached maximum checkouts
  6. AllowFineOverride Staff to manually override and check out items to patrons who have more in fines than set in the noissuescharge system preference.
  7. AutomaticItemReturn Automatically or don’t automatically trigger transfers to happen
  8. OnSiteCheckouts Minor but something everyone would have to do
  9. RecordLocalUseOnReturn With this preference set to "Record" you can record local use by checking out to the statistical patron and/or by checking in a book that is not currently checked out.
  10. AutoRemoveOverduesRestrictions  Allow/don’t allow OVERDUES restrictions triggered by sent notices to be cleared automatically when all overdue items are returned by a patron
  11. Allownotforloanoverride Allow/don’t allow staff to override and check out items that are marked as not for loan.
  12. notifyborrowerdeparture Decide when to warn staff that the patron account is about to expire
  13. MarkLostItemsAsReturned Determines whether items set to lost continue to count against a patron’s checkout limits 

Fines

  1. finesMode Calculate and Charge will charge fines based on your circulation rules
  2. finesCalendar Calculate fines based on days overdue directly or not including days the library is closed
  3. Maxoutstanding Determine the maximum amount that people can owe in fines
  4. WhenLostForgiveFine Forgive/don’t forgive the fines on an item when it is lost 

Lost Process

  1. BlockReturnofLostItems Determines whether items set to lost can be checked in or not
  2. BlockReturnofWithdrawnItems Determines whether items set to withdrawn can be checked in or not
  3. WhenLostChargeReplacementFee Determines whether to charge a replacement price when a patron loses an item
  4. RefundLostOnReturnControl If an item is marked lost and returned by a patron, determine how the refund is applied. 
  5. DefaultLongOverdueChargeValue Charge a lost item to the borrower's account when the LOST value of the item changes to the value set in: 
    1. DefaultLongOverdueLostValue /DefaultLongOverdueDays By default, set the LOST value of an item to  ___when the item has been overdue for more than ____ days. Lost values and days can be configured by library location using the longoverdue cron job. 

Holds

  1. AllowHoldsOnDamagedItems Decide if patrons can place holds on items that are marked as damaged 
  2. AllowHoldPolicyOverride Decide if you want the staff to be able to override the setting for the above at checkout 
  3. maxreserves Decide how many items a patron can have on hold at once 
  4. Canreservefromotherbranches Decide if a user from one library can place a hold on an item from another library 
  5. maxoutstanding Define the maximum amount a patron can owe before holds are blocked 
  6. ReservesMaxPickUpDelay Define the number of days before a hold expires 
  7. ExpireReservesMaxPickUpDelay - Decide if holds should expire automatically if they haven’t been picked up in the time allotted by ReservesMaxPickUpDelay 
  8. ExpireReservesMaxPickUpDelayCharge: charge a borrower who allows his or her waiting hold to expire a fee of xx USD 
  9. ExpireReservesOnHolidays Decide if expired holds can be canceled on days the library is closed
  10. OPACAllowUserToChooseBranch Decide if the user can choose which library to pick up a hold from 

Patron Accounts

  1. EnhancedMessagingPreferences Decide if staff can choose from a series of notices (other than overdues) for patrons
  2. EnhancedMessagingPreferencesOPAC Decide if patrons can choose from a series of notices (other than overdues) for themselves
  3. minPasswordLength Enter the minimum number of characters you want passwords to have***
  4. BorrowerMandatoryField What fields must be filled in on the patron entry screen (If using self-registration, cannot contain cardnumber because self-registration requires enabling autoMemberNum system preference be set to Do)
  5. MembershipExpiryDaysNotice Send an account expiration notice when a patron's card will expire in
  6. Patronimages Will image to be uploaded and shown for patrons on the staff client BorrowerUnwantedField What fields they do not need on this form- would have to make a group decision
  7. Uppercasesurnames How to display patron names
  8. Automembernum automatically increments library card numbers 

Patron Privacy 

  1. intranetreadinghistory Decide if the staff can see the patron's reading/checkout history
  2. OPACPrivacy Do you want to allow patrons to choose their own privacy settings for their reading history
  3. Opacreadinghistory Do you want to allow your patrons to see what books they have checked out in the past
  4. StoreLastBorrower Do you want to store the last patron to borrow an item, even if the patron has chosen to have their reading history anonymized
  5. TrackClicks Decide if you want to track every link clicked in Koha. You can track, no tracking, or track anonymously
  6. Anonsuggestions Allow patrons make suggestions anonymously
  7. RequireStrongPassword If set to ‘require’ this system preference will require patron and staff passwords to contain at least one digit, one lowercase and one uppercase. Alternately, a strong password requirements can be set in patron category configuration. 

OPAC

  1. OPACFinesTab Allow patrons to access the Fines tab on the My Account page on the OPAC
  1. OPACFineNoRenewals Decide on an amount above which patrons will be blocked from renewing books
  2. OPACFineNoRenewalsBlockAutoRenew Determine whether the fine amount set in OPACFineNoRenewals blocks autorenewals
  3. Hidelostitems Decide if you want to hide lost items on search and detail pages 
  4. OpacAddMastheadLibraryPulldown Decide if you want to add a library select pulldown menu on the OPAC masthead 
  5. OPACBaseURL Decide if you’re going to have a base URL for the OPAC this will allow staff to click on the OPAC link from the staff client marc record 
  6. OpacFavicon Are you going to have an OPAC favicon?
  7. OpacLocationBranchToDisplay Decide if you want the OPAC records detail page to display the Holding Library, the Home + Holding Libraries or the Home Library 
  8. OpacMaxItemsToDisplay Decide how many items to display on the biblio detail page
  9. OpacHiddenItems Decide if you want to block a certain subset of items from being visible in the OPAC, i.e. damaged or withdrawn items 
  10. OPACPatronDetails Allow patrons to notify the library of changes to their account from the OPAC 
  11. OPACComments Decide if you want to allow patrons to make comments on items in the OPAC 
  12. ShowReviewer If you allow reviews, then decide if you want their name to appear and if so, in what format 
  13. ShowReviewerPhoto show or hide reviewer’s photo beside comments in OPAC 
  14. suggestion Decide if you want to allow patrons to make purchase suggestions on the OPAC
  15. OpacSuggestionManagedBy Decide if you want to show the name of the staff member who managed a suggestion in the OPAC
  16. OPACSuggestionMandatoryFields Decide which fields you want to make mandatory for purchase suggestions
  17. OPACSuggestionUnwantedfields Decide which fields your library does not want to appear on the Suggestion Form
  18. OPACrenewalallowed Allow/Don’t allow patrons to renew their own books on the OPAC 
  19. SearchMyLibraryFirst Decide if you want to limit patrons’ searches to only the library they are registered at 
  20. OpacPasswordChange Decide if patrons can change their own password on the OPAC. Note that this must be off to use LDAP authentication.*
  21. OPACResetPassword Allow library patrons to reset their password through the OPAC *
  22. BlockExpiredPatronOpacActions Decide if you want to block expired patrons from renewing or placing a hold.*
    1. *This can also be set in patron category configuration. 

Staff Intranet

These preference controls the default value in  branch selector pull down menus
  1. Defaulttologgedinlibrarycircrules When editing circulation rules show the home library or all libraries the rules by default. 
  2. Defaulttologgedinlibrarynoticesslips When editing notices and slips show the home library or all libraries notices and slips by default. 
  3. Defaulttologgedinlibraryoverduetriggers When editing overdue notice/status triggers show the home library or all libraries rules by default.
  4. SeparateHoldings and SeparateHoldingsBranch determine whether holding information on the bib detail page is shown in one or multiple tabs.

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