Lists in Koha
Staff can curate lists for both the OPAC and also for internal use for the Library. When creating a new list, a staff member will go to the top static bar or choose the List module from the main page of the staff interface. From here there is a "New List" option. Staff can give this List a title, how the list will be sorted, opt to have this list Public or Private, and finally who is allowed to make changes to this list.
Once a list has been created, add items to this list! Batch adding either barcodes or biblionumbers can be done right from this screen. Or another way that items can be added to the list, is when searching the catalog. The search results list will have an option to click a title or multiple titles. After the title/s are clicked, there is an option to add to a list that can be found at the top.
Batch Modification with Lists
Lists are also an option that is found in both Batch Record Modification and Batch Record Deletion.
Lists in the OPAC
Lists are a fabulous way to provide readers advisory or otherwise highlight materials in a library's collection. This functionality is enabled by turning on the virtualshelves system preference. Once lists are enabled, links to them can be found via the top left corner of the OPAC.
Lists can also be discovered from the bibliographic records of items included on them. For most libraries, the public lists will be ones created and maintained by staff, unless the OpacAllowPublicListCreation system preference is enabled, permitting patrons to share their own public lists.
The only lists visible in the catalog - staff client or OPAC - will be those created by users of the library. External discovery tools sometimes pull in content from other libraries or sources, but the lists in a library's Koha OPAC will only come from that library's users.
There are two different types of Lists on the OPAC for patrons to utilize. The first are called Public Lists, which is a way a library can highlight a certain portion of their collection in a easy and retrievable way. The other type of lists are Private Lists. Private lists can be created by a patron for their own personal use. Below each type of list will be described in more detail. Remember, each Koha library can be different, so all patrons may have different abilities with the list feature.
Private Lists
A private list is for patrons to store books/items from their library catalog to share and track. Examples on how private lists are used are to-be-read lists, book club ideas, State award winners to read, books on a specific subject and so much more! A patron must be logged into their public catalog to create their own private list. Once the patron is logged in, they can easily search for a title, subject or specific author to start creating a list.
Once an item or items are found, the patron can easily check mark the titles on the left. The save button allows the patron to save to a cart, an existing list or a new list.
In this image, a search was performed for the author John Grisham and filtered to only see Audiobooks. For example, my grandfather only listens to legal fiction based audiobooks. Choosing New List, will prompt the patron to name their list and add these books that have been selected. After the list has been saved, the patron can continue looking for other titles to add to a list, or access the list by choosing the List option at the top of the OPAC screen.
The patron can now access the list by choosing which list to look at. Once the list is clicked on, the options on what to do with this list will appear. This is my favorite part about lists. From here the patron can send this list to a friend (my grandfather perhaps), add any / or all of these items on hold, remove items from the list, print the list, change the order of the list and remove title to this list. In the image below, between the two gold stars, the patron will see all the options available!
In my example, my grandfather and I share the same library and I can easily find him books on our joint library catalog and email the list to him. He will show this list to the librarian to place them on hold or find them on the shelf next time he is at the library.
Public Lists
In addition to Patron’s Private lists, a library can provide Public Lists to their patrons. These public lists have been known to advertise new books added to the library’s collection, NY Times bestseller books that the library owns, a local author collection, and so much more! If a patron’s library utilizes this Public Library feature, the public lists will be found at the top of the OPAC screen under Lists. If there are both Public Lists and Public Lists, they will all be displayed in this dropdown:
Once a public list is chosen from this dropdown, the same options a patron had for private lists will apply for the public lists. These features include, placing an item/s on hold, sending this list, printing this list and more. If an item is part of a public list, there will be an indication in the book details on both the result screen and detail screen of the item. This is a great way to highlight books in a library collection.
This feature is especially handy if a patron was looking for local authors and only knew one local authors name. If the library had a public list highlighting Local Authors, the patron could find more!
Tutorial
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