- Koha - lists.katipo.co.nz

Re: Re: [Koha] same barcode number
by Steven F. Baljkas 22 Dec '04

22 Dec '04

Wednesday, December 22, 2004 17:15 CST From: Chris Cormack <chris(a)katipo.co.nz> Date: 2004/12/22 Wed PM 02:49:09 CST To: Martin Longo <jmlongo(a)uncu.edu.ar> CC: jjenning(a)fastmail.fm, koha(a)lists.katipo.co.nz Subject: Re: [Koha] same barcode number > On Wed, Dec 22, 2004 at 05:20:09PM +0100, Martin Longo said: > > I have a similar problem, but regarding different items with the same > > barcode number but from different branches > > > > Say I have branches A and B > > > > there's an item with barcode 1234 at branch A > > and a completely different item at branch B with barcode 1234 > > > > both items were "bulmarkimported" into Koha > > > > If I search the catalogue for barcode '1234' I find both items, with > > their correspondig 'holdingbranch' > > > > *BUT* > > > > when I try to issue item 1234 ... Koha always issues item 1234 from > > branch A... and I never get to choose item 1234 from branch B.. > > > Hmm, unfortunately no easy fix. Koha is built on the assumption every item > you will want to circulate (issue/return) will have a unique barcode. > > So its going to always get the first one. This is so you can return an item > at another branch and it will get its holdingrbanch set to there. > IE it allows people to borrow from one branch and return at another. > > Barcode to Koha should be unique .. if you are going to do any issuing. > As Jared said, the restriction on unique was removed earlier to allow for > people who didnt have barcodes. Which was perhaps a mistake. > Think of barcode as being id .. it needs to be unique, its the only way koha > can tell items apart. > > > Chris Hi, Chris. I don't think it was a mistake to give folks the option to NOT use barcodes. However, if people opt to use barcodes, you are absolutely right that the barcodes should be unique. I don't know how that would complicate the coding for you as programmers, but I would think you could just have it On or Off, but if On, then the field would have to be a unique key. Now, I hate to be throwing a Ludite solution at this problem when you've already engaged your programmer brain, but wouldn't it be easier for Jared just to have the B branch assign a new barcode label? That should take like 30 seconds to correct in cataloguing, if that, and the problem will vanish. In the future, Jared, your branches should subscribe to a standardised number sequence. There are at least two easy ways to do this: 1) As in the present state of my home city's public library system, the different branches of the system all forward all items received to central cataloguing. This has several advantages, not the least of which is concentrating human and material resources necessary to cataloguing in one office. Barcodes are assigned centrally and the items are returned to their home branches once processed and catalogued. 2) As had apparently been done in the past here, both in the public, government and university library systems, different branches can be sent sets/ranges of barcodes from a central order. Locally different branches' cataloguers catalogued to their local practices and standards (the cataloguer in me shivers remembering the lovely mess this caused) but duplicates were avoided. That's my 2 cents worth anyway. Cheers, Steven F. Baljkas library tech at large Koha neophyte Winnipeg, MB, Canada

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Re: Re: [Koha] same barcode number
by Steven F. Baljkas 22 Dec '04

22 Dec '04

From: Chris Cormack <chris(a)katipo.co.nz> Date: 2004/12/22 Wed PM 02:49:09 CST To: Martin Longo <jmlongo(a)uncu.edu.ar> CC: jjenning(a)fastmail.fm, koha(a)lists.katipo.co.nz Subject: Re: [Koha] same barcode number > On Wed, Dec 22, 2004 at 05:20:09PM +0100, Martin Longo said: > > I have a similar problem, but regarding different items with the same > > barcode number but from different branches > > > > Say I have branches A and B > > > > there's an item with barcode 1234 at branch A > > and a completely different item at branch B with barcode 1234 > > > > both items were "bulmarkimported" into Koha > > > > If I search the catalogue for barcode '1234' I find both items, with > > their correspondig 'holdingbranch' > > > > *BUT* > > > > when I try to issue item 1234 ... Koha always issues item 1234 from > > branch A... and I never get to choose item 1234 from branch B.. > > > Hmm, unfortunately no easy fix. Koha is built on the assumption every item > you will want to circulate (issue/return) will have a unique barcode. > > So its going to always get the first one. This is so you can return an item > at another branch and it will get its holdingrbanch set to there. > IE it allows people to borrow from one branch and return at another. > > Barcode to Koha should be unique .. if you are going to do any issuing. > As Jared said, the restriction on unique was removed earlier to allow for > people who didnt have barcodes. Which was perhaps a mistake. > Think of barcode as being id .. it needs to be unique, its the only way koha > can tell items apart. > > > Chris Hi, Chris. I don't think it was a mistake to give folks the option to NOT use barcodes. However, if people opt to use barcodes, you are absolutely right that the barcodes should be unique. I don't know how that would complicate the coding for you as programmers, but I would think you could just have it On or Off, but if On, then the field would have to be a unique key. Now, I hate to be throwing a Ludite solution at this problem when you've already engaged your programmer brain, but wouldn't it be easier for Jared just to have the B branch assign a new barcode label? That should take like 30 seconds to correct in cataloguing, if that, and the problem will vanish. In the future, Jared, your branches should subscribe to a standardised number sequence. There are at least two easy ways to do this: 1) As in the present state of my home city's public library system, the different branches of the system all forward all items received to central cataloguing. This has several advantages, not the least of which is concentrating human and material resources necessary to cataloguing in one office. Barcodes are assigned centrally and the items are returned to their home branches once processed and catalogued. 2) As had apparently been done in the past here, both in the public, government and university library systems, different branches can be sent sets/ranges of barcodes from a central order. Locally different branches' cataloguers catalogued to their local practices and standards (the cataloguer in me shivers remembering the lovely mess this caused) but duplicates were avoided. That's my 2 cents worth anyway. Cheers, Steven F. Baljkas library tech at large Koha neophyte Winnipeg, MB, Canada

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same barcode number
by Yohannes Mulugeta 22 Dec '04

22 Dec '04

Hello, We (Addis Ababa University Libraries) have insatalled Koha 2.2.0RC1 on solaries OS. Now we are trying to add items to the biblio but it accepts the same barcode number for different items. Can any body help us? Cheers, Yohannes Mulugeta Addis Ababa University Libraries __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail - Easier than ever with enhanced search. Learn more. http://info.mail.yahoo.com/mail_250

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Member help?
by BWS Johnson 22 Dec '04

22 Dec '04

Salve! I love the little help clickies, but I'm noticing that many are blank. I also know that you guys have been working on stuff, as evidenced by my shiny new reports module. (Hooray! I won't have to manually count every book in the Library next year!) Thanks so much! I wrote some junk for the Member clickies, seeing as how that's a rather important slice of the ILS to me. Also, it's one of the pieces that I'm fairly comfortable with, so here goes. The URL is what I would theoretically see if I were on the page I would want the help clickie to refer to. _________________________________________________________________ http://65.110.139.7:8080/cgi-bin/koha/members/members-home.pl This is the Members portion of Koha. The Members portion stores the information you add about your patrons. To add a patron, type their name into the search box on the left, and click the OK button. If there is already a borrower matching the name you searched, it will show after you click OK. This can be particularly useful when people have lost their cards or when children forget their cards. That way, you can avoid having multiple numbers for the same patron. Alternatively, you can browse a section of borrowers by selecting the first letter of the Patron's last name from the list on the right. _____________________________________________________________________ http://65.110.139.7:8080/cgi-bin/koha/members/memberentry.pl Add Member This is the form for adding a new single member to the database. There is also a form for organisations, such as other libraries and non profit organisations you might lend to. You should use the Add Organisation tab at the top of the Member page for that. Every field with an asterisk must be filled out, or you will get an error, and the record will not be added to the database. If you accidentally have two members with the same card number, the second duplicate will show up as just commas after you confirm the record. When you are done with the record, click the Save button at the bottom. The clear all Fields button will reset the page to a blank form in case you made a mistake. ______________________________________________________________________ http://65.110.139.7:8080/cgi-bin/koha/members/memberentry.pl?categorycod e=I&actionType=Add Add Member, Institutional This is the form for adding a group of members. Suppose you had a YMCA group, or lend books to other Libraries. This would be the form to use for that purpose. Every field with an asterisk must be filled out, or you will get an error, and the record will not be added to the database. If you accidentally have two members with the same card number, the second duplicate will show up as just commas after you confirm the record. When you are done with the record, click the Save button at the bottom. The clear all Fields button will reset the page to a blank form in case you made a mistake. You can always come back and edit what you enter in the Add Member screen by searching for the borrower by using their last name or card number, selecting a user by clicking on the entry in the search list, and then clicking the Modify button on the member information screen. _________________________________________________________________ http://65.110.139.7:8080/cgi-bin/koha/members/moremember.pl? Member Information Screen This screen shows the information associated with a given patron. On the top left is their address and card number. A patron's annual membership fee payment status also shows on this screen. Any fines a patron has will show up in the top middle of this screen. Any materials a patron has requested will show up on the top right of this screen. You can get information on what a patron has read in the past by clicking on the Reading Record button. Any items a patron currently has out will show up under "Items currently on issue". If you would like to edit a patron's information, click the modify button on the lower left. If you would like to PERMANENTLY delete a user, click the delete button on the lower left. A confirmation box will appear, so don't worry about accidentally deleting a record. Just be absolutely sure before you delete! The change password button allows a user to either set a new password or change their current password. This is useful to patrons that wish to place reserves online from home. You cannot see a password again once you change it, but you can reset a password. Modify user flags allows an administrator to set which clerks, librarians, patrons, technical support people or trustees have access to certain parts of the database. Right now, one can either have permission to access everything on the Intranet side, or just have access to the OPAC. ________________________________________________________________________ ___ Ta da, Brooke @ Hinsdale

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Koha 2.2.0RC5 has been released
by Paul POULAIN 20 Dec '04

20 Dec '04

Complete release notes & download at http://sourceforge.net/project/shownotes.php?release_id=291234 Diff 2.2RC4 => 2.2RC5 ********************* BUGFIXES ***** Critical * limiting the number of search term to 8. There was no limit before, but 8 words seems to be the upper limit mySQL can deal with (in less than a second. tested on a DB with 13 000 items) In 2.4, a new DB structure will highly speed things and this limit will be removed. FindDuplicate is activated again. * bugfixes in french translation (that made cataloguing in french impossible) * set lock_tables_privs = 'Y' during install stage. Note this requires a mysql version not too old. ***** Minor * during update, if the user enter a different directory for backup than the default one, the updater does not obey and stores in default directory anyway ! * minor (spelling) fix for adding an organization * member search (bug 851) : stripping out comma and apostrophe from search terms * various methods to split subjects (depending on OS, a <CR> / <CR><LF> problem) IMPROVEMENTS ***** Major * circulation / issue : adding a button to cancel an issue when a confirmation is required (bug #858) * circulation / issue : adding a checkbox to confirm reserve cancel when a reserved book is issued by someone else (bug #858) * virtual shelves : adding feature to create a virtual shelf on the fly, when adding a biblio, and feature to modify a virtual shelf name/status * catalogue : adding a systempref to define default view in OPAC (either normal, MARC or ISBD). Created automatically during install or update. Check that you have a Koha >> parameters >> systempreferences >> BiblioDefaultView, Variable type : Choice, Variable options : normal|marc|isbd **** Minor * an improvement has been done in DB calls that needs a new index. It's automatically added in fresh installs, but for updates, run the following SQL command : ALTER TABLE `marc_subfield_structure` ADD INDEX ( `kohafield` ) * adding a systempref to define default view in OPAC (either normal, MARC or ISBD). Created automatically during install or update. Check that you have a Koha >> parameters >> systempreferences >> BiblioDefaultView, Variable type : Choice, Variable options : normal|marc|isbd * the list of authorities types is now ordered by authtypetext. Thus you can use the "space trick" : if you add a space before an authtype text, it's shown first. Useful when you have an authority type that you use more often than others. * authoritiy list shown in authtypetext order (so authtypetext with a space appear first, hint used everywhere else for lists) * some minor html changes (like changing "images" numbers in "text" numbers for result list page numbers. -- Paul POULAIN Consultant indépendant en logiciels libres responsable francophone de koha (SIGB libre http://www.koha-fr.org)

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NEW kohadocs.org site
by Stephen Hedges 18 Dec '04

18 Dec '04

I have put up a new website to hold the Koha documents that have been converted to Docbook XML (and HTML) -- http://www.kohadocs.org. This site currently contains the documents that I previously posted to Sourceforge, plus new documents from Joshua Ferraro and Paul Poulain. Several more documents are currently close to being ready and will be posted on kohadocs.org soon. I think this website will be much more accessible than Sourceforge, since you will be able to quickly see what is available. As new documents are added, I'll post announcements on this list. -- Stephen Hedges Skemotah Solutions, USA www.skemotah.com -- shedges(a)skemotah.com

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Regarding KOHA's Password
by harpreet kaur 17 Dec '04

17 Dec '04

Hi Everybody, It's me Harpreet from India. Would u please tell me that how can we change the password of KOHA? Harpreet Yahoo! India Matrimony: Find your life partneronline.

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premature end ...
by Yohannes Mulugeta 17 Dec '04

17 Dec '04

Hello, In Koha 2.2.0RC1 an error message is diplayed - Premature end of script headers: opac-search.pl, whene searching from the OPAC interface. What does it mean? Yohannes

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premature end ...
by Yohannes Mulugeta 17 Dec '04

17 Dec '04

Hello, In Koha 2.2.0RC1 an error message is diplayed - Premature end of script headers: opac-search.pl, whene searching from the OPAC interface. What does it mean? This type of error is als common when I begin to edit member data. Yohannes Mulugeta Addis Ababa University __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? All your favorites on one personal page � Try My Yahoo! http://my.yahoo.com

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printing circulation slips
by Martin Longo 16 Dec '04

16 Dec '04

Hi there all! I need some guidance about printing circulation slips with Koha... Id need Koha to print a slip every time an item is issued... and, more important for our borrowers, every time an item is returned... Is there anybody printing such slips? How must I configure my Koha server so the clients could choose a printer locally connected to them? I've already created one default Printer (lpr) and turned on printing on system preferences.... and now... what? Thaks in advance! :) -- J. Martin Longo Informatica SID - UNCuyo http://sid.uncu.edu.ar

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