- Koha - lists.katipo.co.nz

IRC meeting and IRC logs
by Tonnesen Steve 22 May '02

22 May '02

Just a reminder of a Koha IRC meeting: When: May 30 10PM GMT Where: irc.katipo.co.nz:6667 #koha Topics: To Be Announced Also, there is a log of IRC traffic available now at: http://www.haz.cmsd.bc.ca/cgi-bin/kohalog.pl You can set your timezone and record important discussions so that others can find them easily. Steve Tonnesen

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Global symbol "%env" requires explicit package name
by Mitch Keller 22 May '02

22 May '02

Hello, I'm unable to add new members because I get this error in my apache log: Global symbol "%env" requires explicit package name at /var/www/koha/cgi-bin/koha/moremember.pl line 231. Execution of /var/www/koha/cgi-bin/koha/moremember.pl aborted due to compilation errors. [Tue May 21 22:48:00 2002] [error] [client 127.0.0.1] Premature end of script headers: /var/www/koha/cgi-bin/koha/moremember.pl I'm using the latest CVS version of Koha. Can anybody explain what's wrong? Thanks, Mitch

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Install Steps for RedHat 7.x
by Olugbenga Adara 18 May '02

18 May '02

Hello all, Please can someone help me out with a step by step guide on how to install koha on RedHAt 7.1. The install file that came with the Koha distibution leaves me confused. For instance i could not get apache to run the perl files as it says the document is not found. I have successfully setup the database in mysql and imported the koha.mysql into it. However I run into problems when setting up apache. Also i discover that there is no where in the install file which states where one should copy the other perl files in the scripts directory. For information, i am trying to evaluate koha before recommending it to a university here in nigeria. thanks. Olugbenga Adara __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? LAUNCH - Your Yahoo! Music Experience http://launch.yahoo.com

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Re: [Koha] schema question
by Alan Millar 15 May '02

15 May '02

> I've got a couple of quick questions about the Koha database schema. > (2) I don't understand the distinction between items and biblioitems As I understand it, biblio, biblioitems, and items are sort of a three-tier hierarchy. Say, just for example, you have 8 copies of "Hamlet". One is hard cover published in, say, 1955; three are identical hard cover copies published in 1995; and four are identical paperbacks published in 2002. You'd have one entry in biblio for "Hamlet". You'd have three entries in biblioitems, one for each distinct edition/publication. You'd have 8 entries in items, one for each distinct physical book. (I think the "items" table should have been named "itemcopies", but that's just my opinion.) > (3) How to I differentiate between children's and adult's books, between fiction and non-fiction? Specifically, how to represent it in the database? (Disclaimer: I'm a computer guy, not a librarian.) As far as I see, the primary fields we have to work with are the Dewey number and the item type. In reviewing the list archives, it seems the item type indicates a collection more than an object description, so children's vs adult's makes sense for it. It seems common to me for libraries to have a "paperback" collection separate from the main stacks, but also to have plenty of books in the main stacks with paperback bindings. I'd like something to store the binding separately from the collection, but it looks like item type is the only thing at the moment. Any suggestions? (There is a "binding" field in the items table, which is a number, and I can't find it used anywhere. Anyone know what it is supposed to be for?) Fiction is an interesting one. Take a cartoon book like "Calvin and Hobbes". At one library near me it is in the fiction section with no Dewey number, at another one it is in the non-fiction section under 741.5. The Library of Congress lists it as 741.5, but I sure would consider it fiction. Is this a common problem? - Alan

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Re: [Koha] Koha and OpenBook
by COURYHOUSE＠aol.com 14 May '02

14 May '02

open book ...... Yes,... I wonder when it will resurface... I have a feeling it will. Ed Sharpe archivist for SMECC > Subj:Re: [Koha] Koha and OpenBook > Date:5/13/2002 11:46:26 PM US Mountain Standard Time > From:<A HREF="mailto:paul.poulain@free.fr">paul.poulain(a)free.fr</A> > To:<A HREF="mailto:Rob@protovision.org">Rob(a)protovision.org</A> > CC:<A HREF="mailto:koha@lists.katipo.co.nz">koha(a)lists.katipo.co.nz</A> > Sent from the Internet > > > > Rob Campbell wrote: > > >I've been helping with a small non-profit library. They've been needing a > new > >library system and Koha came to my attention. I also heard about OpenBook > >recently and wanted to try it out as well, but it seems that the website > for > >it has been down. Does anyone know where to find OpenBook and what is > going > >on with their website? Also, what are the current differences > feature-wise > >between Koha and OpenBook? Those are the two systems I've been looking at > >lately, but I'm open to any other suggestions that someone may have. The > more > >choices we have, the better. Thank you for your help. > > > OpenBook, from trfoundation is down since at least 3 months now. I've > got no answer to my mails. So I've choosen koha, wich is a good tool ;-) > -- > Paul

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Koha and OpenBook
by Rob Campbell 14 May '02

14 May '02

I've been helping with a small non-profit library. They've been needing a new library system and Koha came to my attention. I also heard about OpenBook recently and wanted to try it out as well, but it seems that the website for it has been down. Does anyone know where to find OpenBook and what is going on with their website? Also, what are the current differences feature-wise between Koha and OpenBook? Those are the two systems I've been looking at lately, but I'm open to any other suggestions that someone may have. The more choices we have, the better. Thank you for your help. Rob Campbell

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schema question
by <s.yeates＠cs.waikato.ac.nz> 14 May '02

14 May '02

Hello I've got a couple of quick questions about the Koha database schema. I think I've worked it out, but just want to double check. I'm working from the CVS version and data. I'm interested in implementing a collaborative recommendation feature which allowed users to see which books other people who borrowed the current book had also borrowed. Both Amazon and Barnes and Noble use a similar feature. In English the query I want is "Which books have been lent to the most people who have also borrowed the current book?" With the restriction that the books I recommend must be available for lending from the current library (it's pointless recommending a book that's not there) and must have more than N borrowers in common with the current book (to protect the privacy of borrowers, N is set to 5 or 10). Logically what I want to do is a join across biblio--> items--> issues--> borrowernumber--> issues--> items--> biblio with SELECT, a COUNT and a SORT. This, of course, gives huge intermediate tables, so I'd have to do several SELECTs as I go. I may also need to factor in a component of "how much has book A been borrowed by borrowers of book B compared to all other borrowers" to prevent very popular items (think Harry Potter) being recommended for every possible book. This effect would be similar to tf-idf ranking from classical information retrieval. My questions are: (1) How do I tell whether a book is 'available'? I think I need to check the items table and make sure that stack, notforloan, itemlost and wthdrawn are all zero does this sounds right?. (2) I don't understand the distinction between items and biblioitems (3) How to I differentiate between children's and adult's books, between fiction and non-fiction? (4) Would collaborative recommendation be useful in a small library catalog? (5) Would the small incursion of user privacy be acceptable in a small public library? thanks for your help stuart -- stuart yeates <s.yeates(a)cs.waikato.ac.nz> aka `loam' "To err is human--but it feels divine." -- Mae West X-no-archive:yes

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user comments
by Ville Huhtala 08 May '02

08 May '02

Hello, how up-to-date http://hlt.katipo.co (or opac) is ? Is it 1.1.2-rc1 ? More recent version allows test driving without installation of my own Koha. Some comments about current test drive installation: 1. Opac advanced search there are subject search (Dewey) and class search (CD roms ... young adult). However, on results page these seems to become Item type e.g. Adult Non-fiction (does not match class search ?) Class Dewey number This seems to be an inconstancy in naming. Confusing. search page results page Subject --> Class Class --> Item type (?) 2. relating to previous comment there is "subject" displayed in results page but the "subject" on search page is for dewey! Oops, just tested, you can use "subject search" for both dewey or subject headings (?) Dewey seems to be used for classification and for location, which is confusing. Why not change search results to something like this: [The atlas of Tolkien's Middle-earth (Fonstad, Karen Wynn)] BIBLIO RECORD Subject: | MIDDLE EARTH (IMAGINARY PLACE) Item Type Class Branch Adult Non-fiction 398.234 Foxton ----- BIBLIO RECORD Subject: | MIDDLE EARTH (IMAGINARY PLACE) Dewey: 398.234 Item Type Location Adult Non-fiction Foxton 398.234 3. There is something funny in database: "Watt, Be" appears on mosts subjects in result page. Also results with only biblio record, rest is missing. 4. Intranet search results display Class hyperlinked but opac does not. I think that hyperlinking also opacs search results Class can offer additional convinient access point to opac users. Same goes for Subject. 5. Minor usability thingy: on opac home page there is "Search the catalogue", search box and "advanced search". So I typed in my search word and clicked "Search the catalogue" - and ended up in advanced search page. And there is button to start search... (sorry for my terrible English) Ville

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Where to report bugs?
by Alan Millar 06 May '02

06 May '02

Hi- I'm trying out Koha to manage my personal book collection. I had problems getting 1.1.1 to work, so I downloaded a recent CVS snapshot and followed the instructions on the Wiki site. The revised instructions are good. I've come across a few bugs here and there. Not doc shortcomings, but things that are actual bugs or "features". Should I post to the list, to the Slashdot site, or some other process? Things I've found in CVS snapshot from May 1 2002: - DB upgrade from earlier version (I love that!) updater/updatedatabase has an error in a column name. In table z3950queue, the column "numercords" should be "numrecords". It definitely doesn't work with the wrong column name... :-) - Simple acquisition module: marcimport.pl doesn't handle branches correctly. The pull-down list for home branch is hardcoded, which should come from the branches table. Worse, the holding branch doesn't even have a form field, it is hardcoded to 'STWE' - Keyword search doesn't work in the simple acquisitions module on my database, because the "biblio" table is missing the "abstract" column. The abstract column exists in database.mysql from CVS, but doesn't appear to be added by updater/updatedatabase Let me know the best way to help in reporting things like this. Thanks! - Alan -- ---- Alan Millar --==> am12(a)bolis.com <==--

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Intro and Questions
by Heath Robinson 03 May '02

03 May '02

Hello. I am the sysadmin for a small international school in France, and we are considering using Koha. However, I do have a couple of questions. We have Windows 2K servers, and I have noticed that someone is working on a port. I am open to doing some testing and small fixes if the port is usable. If the port is not stable, what level of machine would be required to support a library of around 10000 volumes? Secondly, the librarian has asked me about doing inventory with Koha. How does one go about doing inventory with the Koha system? Thanks, Heath

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