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<b>L</b><span class="" id="parent-fieldname-description"><b>ibrary at
National Botanic Garden
of Wales successfully implements Koha</b>.<br>
</span>
<p class="documentDescription"><span class=""
id="parent-fieldname-description">(report by Kate Jones, one of the
Volunteer Librarians involved in Koha at the NBGW Library).<br>
</span> </p>
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<p>Librarians at the <strong>National Botanic Garden of Wales,</strong>
chose Koha to create a catalogue for this new research/reference
library, which is based within the Garden's Research and Conservation
group. This group is headed by botanist Dr Natasha De Vere.</p>
<p>The process started last year, when our Librarian, Margot Greer,
heard about
Koha at a conference. We then embarked on an evaluation and testing
exercise, with the help of an IT-savvy student - the son of one of the
Library volunteers. We made the decision
to go with Koha, had a day's training this Spring from Jonathan Field
(of PTFS) for three
of our volunteers, then trained a further group of volunteers ourselves
and started to import records from the Library at Kew Gardens, where we
had matching records. We believe that we were the first library in
Wales to choose Koha.
</p>
<p>Why Koha? We were impressed by its versatility and the fact it was
designed by
librarians for librarians. We like the Open Source principle... and
the fact that
it was free was also a factor, as we operate on a very small budget -
indeed our Library
is run entirely by volunteers. <br>
</p>
<p>We are lucky to have been able to download
records for a significant proportion of our holdings from the Library
at Kew (Royal Botanic Garden), and were pleased
that Koha made this process so straightforward. We have succeeded in
implementing Koha with minimal professional IT support,
thanks to the enthusiasm of our volunteers.<br>
</p>
<p>The project has been led throughout by Margot Greer, a professional
Librarian, now retired and a Volunteer at the Garden. <br>
</p>
<p>We are now at the stage of testing our OPAC on the Garden's own
staff, students and volunteers - by 'releasing' it via our own internal
network - prior to going 'live' on the internet in the next few weeks.
Access will be via the Garden's public website. The response of staff
to the 'test' OPAC has been very enthusiastic.<br>
</p>
<p>For more information, please contact the leader of the Library
Project, Margot Greer: <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated"
href="mailto:library@gardenofwales.org.uk">library@gardenofwales.org.uk</a><br>
</p>
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