Whether your library is in implementation or you are training new staff, these exercises are a great place to start practicing procedures and workflows!

Each section has linked resources for further reading and learning. 

Koha OPAC/Aspen

• Log in as if you were a patron.

• Search for the newest book by a popular author

• Put one item on hold, then suspend your hold.

• Turn on reading history.

• Change your messaging preferences.

• Update a piece of personal information.

• Aspen only: 

• Search for a topic of your choice. Limit by format and/or audience. Save the search

• Complete self-registration as a new patron (if used by your library)

• Place a request for the library to buy something that isn’t currently in the collection (if used by your library)

• Apply the setting to view the catalog in a language other than English. How would you save this as your default language? 

• Masquerade as a patron. Place 2 holds for them. 

Koha Manual: OPAC

Patrons - Creation

• Create a patron from your favorite book or movie.

• Duplicate that patron to create a second family/household member, and complete their record.

• Create a guarantee/guarantor relationship between two patrons.

Self paced learning in Koha: Patrons

Koha Manual: Patrons

Patrons - Searching and Modification

• Search for one of the patrons you created above.

• Search for another patron by their first name, then narrow your results by typing their last name in the Name column.

• Search for a patron by card number.

• Search for a patron by last name and category.

• Search for a patron by William, then modify the search to look at the Surname field only. Finally, search for patrons whose last name starts with William.

• Add a message to a patron’s account.

• Add a circulation note to a patron’s account.

• Flag a patron as having lost their card. Save the change, and exit their record. Then  return to the patron record to give them a new card number and remove the Lost flag.

• Add a manual restriction to a patron’s account.

• Change your patron’s address.

• Change your patron’s category.

• Add checkout notices by SMS.

• Add hold reminder notices by email.

• Merge two patron accounts (try to find two actual duplicates).

• Find a family or three (or more) patrons who share an address, and batch update their addresses.

Koha Manual: Patron search and Editing patrons

Searching and Catalog

• Search for books about birds, then add multiple results to a cart.

• Search for non-fiction books about Spain, then add two or more to a new list.

• Search for cookbooks, then narrow your results to items held by your library. Finally, narrow your results to Adult Nonfiction.

• Find the replacement price for a board book of your choice.

• Mark an issue of a magazine owned by your library as Missing.

• Repeat the searches above in the OPAC/Aspen. 

Koha Manual: Searching

Circulation

• Check out a book to one of the patrons you created.

• Check out another book and specify a due date.

• Renew a book checked out your patron.

• Find a patron with overdue items, and check out another item to them. Then, print a Slip and a Quick Slip and compare the two.

• Check a book out to yourself. Renew it on the OPAC. 

• A damaged item comes back to your library. Work through your library’s damaged item procedure in Koha:

• Set statuses and add notes as appropriate.

• Charge patron for the replacement cost.

Koha Manual: Circulation

Holds

• Locate, sort, and pretend to print the pick list.

• Place a hold on an available item.

• Trigger (check in) this hold.

• Cancel a hold for a patron from their account.

• Cancel a hold for a patron from the bib.

• Find an item from the Holds Queue, and check it in to trigger the hold.

• Find a bib with multiple holds on it, and move a patron to the top of its holds list (if you have permissions to do so).

• Suspend a hold with an end date.

• Suspend a hold indefinitely.

• Place a hold on a book that is currently checked out, then check in an item on that bib and confirm the hold.

• Change the hold expiration date for a hold that is waiting for a patron, then print a new hold slip.

• Change the pickup location for a hold that hasn’t been filled.

• Use the ‘Search to hold’ feature from a patron’s account, then place 3 holds at once from your search results.

• Place an item level hold. 

• Find a title with item groups. Place an item group hold. 

• Log into the OPAC/Aspen. Place 3 holds for yourself/your test patron.

• Suspend or cancel the holds above from the OPAC/Aspen. 

Koha Manual: Holds

Fines

• Charge a manual invoice to one of the patrons you created.

• Charge a patron for a damaged item, then pay the full fee.

• Charge a patron for a lost item, then waive half of the fee.

Koha Manual: Patron accounting

Collection Management

• Use item search to fiind a list of missing items at your library.

• Find an existing record and add a brand new item for your library.

• Search for a title with one or more copies at your library and duplicate an existing item your library already owns.

• Find a record your library has multiple copies of; edit the items in batch to change the shelving location.

• Move an item from one record to another.

• Do an item search for items with a particular shelving location. Select all results. Use batch modification to change the shelving location. 

• Find a record with multiple items, or add many items to a record. Create item groups. Add items to item groups. 

Bibliographic Record Cataloging

• Use cataloging search to look up newly published book.

• Use Z39.50 search to find and import a record.

• Edit the new record - add a new tag (subject heading is an easy one!), and find a tag to delete.

• Add an item to that record.

• Practice creating an item template.

• Add an item to a record using that template.

• Upload a local cover image to a record.

• Find a record that has multiple versions of that record using catalog search and merge those records. (Hint: Report 79 - List of records that may be duplicates based on ISBN will help!)

• Create a private list of records needing some maintenance.

• If you can think of a use for a MARC modification template, try creating one. (Hint: a useful one is a template to add a 942$c tag with an item type that can be used with vendor records that may not have it.)

• Apply a MARC modification template to either a single record (under Edit menu on a record) or to a list of records. Check the final version - did the template do what you expected?)

• Batch delete some items. Delete the record too if no items are left.

• Batch delete some records. (Hint: Report 10 - Bib Records with No Items might help here.)

Koha manual: Cataloging

Reports

• Find a report for circulation statistics in saved reports. Run it for your branch.

• If you have report creation permissions, find a report in the Koha Reports wiki and add it to the reports library. Run it.

• Run a report and download the results as a csv.

• Find a report that has itemnumbers, bilbionumbers, or cardnumbers in it - explore the batch options available with those.

Koha manual: Reports

Acquisitions

• Search for a vendor and update the contact information

• Add some purchase suggestions and mark them as accepted

• Create a new basket and add some orders by

• Searching for an existing record

• From a suggestion

• By adding new record

• Close the basket and receive some orders.

• Search invoices and enter an adjustment.

Koha Manual: Acquisitions