Administration
Item Types, Shelving Locations, and Collection Codes
Koha utilizes item types, shelving locations, and collection codes to manage and identify library materials, though the item type is the only required field. Item types are important because the combination of the patron’s category and the item type ...
Migrated Lost Items
The returning of lost items by patrons can be a challenge, and especially so when the item was lost in a previous ILS and has now been migrated to Koha. When migrating from another ILS to Koha with ByWater Solutions support, items that are lost prior ...
SIP Administration in Koha Staff Interface
SIP Administration The SIP2 module allows staff members with the sip2 permission to manage SIP2 institutions, accounts, and system preference overrides directly in the Koha Staff Interface. In 25.11 (rolled out to all BWS partners in April 2026), ...
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 ...
Shelving locations in Koha
Shelving locations in Koha tell the user where an item physically lives in the library. There are several options in Koha to control the shelving locations as materials move through cataloging and circulation. Add a Shelving Location Administrative ...
Cities and Towns in Koha
Koha can define cities or towns so staff have a standard list to pick from when registering a patron. <br><text></text> Setup From your staff client, navigate to the More dropdown menu and select Administration > Patrons and ...
Credits and Debits in Koha
Koha has the ability to define credits and debits in system administration. Credits and debits appear as options in patron accounts when charging fees and the Point of Sale module. The Koha Manual has instructions for setting up Credits and Debits. ...
How Long Overdue (Lost) Works
When an item becomes sufficiently overdue, Koha can automatically assign a lost status with the longoverdue.pl cron. This article discusses its setup and customization options, as well as how it interacts with overdue notices. Further details are ...
Add Custom Links to the Staff Interface
The system preference, IntranetNav, allows libraries to add links/text to the top static bar on the Staff Interface. &lt;br&gt; System Preference In the system preference, IntranetNav, text or a link can be added that will appear in the top ...
What Does the IndependentBranches System Preference Do?
IndependentBranches is a system preference intended to create barriers within Koha between libraries sharing one Koha instance but functioning wholly independently of each other. It is a preference that must be set before a library is live since it ...
Creating a New Branch in Koha
A new branch can be added to Koha at any time. &lt;br&gt; Adding a Branch Go to Administration > Libraries. An option to add a new branch will exist on the top of the page. Then the form will appear. The only required fields are Library code ...
Item Types in Koha
One of the key components of your library's collection will be the Item Type designation. Item types are a way for your patrons to identify what the item is and more importantly to Koha how this item circulates in your library. Here is a link to the ...
Authorized Values in Koha
Authorized values can be used in several areas of Koha. They are what generally populate dropdown menus in Koha. Your system has pre-defined values that your library uses like LOST, Collection Codes, Shelving Locations, Not For Loan Values. ...
Statistical Patron and Local Use
One way to track the use of in house items is to “check out” the materials to a statistical patron. The “check out” process doesn’t check the book out but instead tracks an in house use of the item. You can create a statistical patron for tracking ...
Setting Up Sounds in Koha
Koha has the option to customize the standard sounds played on the staff client as well as the ability to define custom alerts on the self checkout modules. Setting up custom alerts takes a bit of HTML/jQuery knwoledge, but changing the default ...
Koha to Koha ILL
This articles walks through the steps of setting up a Koha to Koha interlibrary loan instance. The ILL (Interlibrary loans) module adds the ability to request and manage loans or copies of material. Patrons can submit a request via the OPAC from the ...
GDPR and Koha
The General Data Protection Regulation is a regulation in EU law on data protection and privacy for all individual citizens of the European Union and the European Economic Area. GDPR has not been implemented as a law in the United States, however, ...
Managing Patron Categories
Patron Categories are created and configured in Administration > Patrons and Circulation. The configuration allows the library to define default settings that are applied at the time of registration. Passwords ...
How to use Branch Transfer Limits in Koha
The Branch Transfer Limits Table in Koha allows you to limit the ability to transfer items between libraries based on the library sending, the library receiving, and the collection code or itemtype involved. You can also use branch transfer limits to ...
An Overview of Item Statuses
When training new Koha libraries, we often spend a lot of time talking about item statuses. As in many things, Koha allows a great deal of customization of item statuses and their associated behavior, but that customizability comes with its share of ...
Housebound Module
Today Jessie and Kelly deep dive into the Housebound Module in Koha. We talk set up, processes and show off some handy reports. &amp;amp;amp;lt;span class=&amp;amp;amp;quot;size&amp;amp;amp;quot; ...
Labels in Koha
There are a number of options for creating labels in Koha. Label Creator Koha's label creator tool allows libraries to use layouts and templates in the creation of spine labels and barcodes for printing. A library can create customized label layouts, ...
Passwords in Koha
Koha has several system preferences and patron category customizations for setting up and keeping passwords up to date. minpasswordlength - how long should the password be - at a minimum! RequireStrongPassword - a strong password for staff and ...
Using Library Groups in Koha
Since Koha version 18.05, libraries have been able to define hierarchical groups. This will allow for grouping of libraries based on a special library branch or geographical region, for example. Staff can now set this functionality up in ...
Setting Up Libraries
Adding a MARC Organization Code Since Koha 17.11 branches within a multi-branch system or consortium can add their specific Marc Organization Code to their records as they catalog. For libraries within a branch system or consortium, each library that ...
Record Matching Rules
Record matching rules are used when importing MARC records into Koha. Koha includes some Record Matching Rules, such as ISBN, ISSN, 999$c (Koha's Unique Identifier), and 035 (OCLC number), by default. During an import, a staff member can select which ...
Self Checkout
Koha has a built in self checkout module that libraries can use, and Jessie and Kelly show libraries how to set it up. &lt;br&gt; System Preferences The first thing you will want to enable is the WebBasedSelfCheck preference. Set this to ...
Koha Calendar Options
Calendars play a part in our everyday workflow. From events to who is covering the desk and more. This article covers everything from the staff interface to the OPAC. The calendar plays a centerpiece of the Koha Administration. Everything from ...
Cover Images in Koha
Cover images can come from multiple sources in Koha including third-party sources or locally provided. Koha has several options when it comes to displaying cover images on the OPAC. System Preferences Users can choose from these system preferences ...
Circulation Alerts for Items
In Koha, there are many ways to alert your staff about certain item types and specific items during both the check-in and checkout process. Check-In Messages/Alerts per Item Type To have an item type show a generated “check-in message” or alert, can ...
Default Replacement Cost per Item Type
In Koha, default replacement costs can be assigned to item types with the option of adding processing fees. Item Types Go to Administration > Item Types > Item Type > Edit Assign a Default replacement cost and Processing fee (when lost) fees. The ...
Customizing MARC Frameworks in Koha
Changing your library’s frameworks to fit cataloging needs is simple! Here are the steps: Frequently Asked Questions Overview MARC Frameworks can be found in the Administration Module under Catalog. To view a specific framework’s subfields, click the ...
Budgets and Funds
Budget and fund administration can be accessed via Administration > Budgets or Funds under the Acquisition parameters heading, or Acquisitions > Budgets or Funds links under the Administration heading on the left-hand sidebar. A library can have ...
Attaching Files to MARC Records
It is possible to attach files or documents to MARC records. This functionality can be enabled in the frameworks found in the Administration module. MARC Bibliographic Framework In the Koha Administration module, select MARC bibliographic framework ...
Record Overlay Rules
Record overlay rules allow catalogers to protect specific MARC fields while editing and overlaying. Within the Administration module, select Record overlay rules. There are a few columns within these rules. The columns Module, Filter, and Tag are ...
Hourly Loans
Loaning items by the hour, instead of by the day, requires some additional set-up in Koha. In addition to defining the Unit as hours, not days, in the circulation matrix, there are three options to determine the due date of an hour loan using the ...
Floating
There are two places where libraries can define whether an item floats The first is the Default checkout, hold and return policy. The second is the Default holds policy by item type. The Default holds policy by item type overrides the Default ...
Grouping Item Types in Circulation Rules
Parent and Child item types allow you to create combined rules to incorporate several item type rules together. In the circulation and fine rule matrix, there is the ability to limit the number of checkouts by item type. However, a further option ...
Changing Circulation Rules
Let's take a look at what happens when you change your circulation and fine rules and discuss how Koha receives the data and processes a circulation transaction. At checkout When you scan a barcode into the checkout box, Koha zips through a lot of ...
Circulation Rules Default Policies
In addition to the circulation and fine matrix, the Default Policies control other aspects of circulation. Koha reads the Default Policies from the bottom of the page to the top. Default checkout, hold, and return policy You can set a default maximum ...
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