Chris Cormack wrote:
We are using HostRocket as our webhosting server (www.hostrocket.com). They use Linux servers with Apache, MySQL, PHP, and Perl. I have @1 GB of space.
My questions are as follows:
1. Has anyone installed Koha on a webhosted server?
Yes. I did it. On a server, without root access. A little bit tricky with .htaccess, but it works (demo.koha-fr.org) Note it doesn't work at all on an openbrick (www.openbrick.org) => perl compiling is tooo looonngg & Koha is unuseable. (openbrick is a very small server, with a 300MHz proc. Mine has 256MB Ram & 20Gb HD, it's only a proc problem)
2. Can the MARC records from the current system (III) be exported to Koha? (I saw something about one-at-a-time uploads, but is there a way to batch these, or do multiple uploads?)
probably. a script named bulkmarcimport should do the job. Be sure, anyway you will have to tune your marc record & Koha marc parameters table, even if you just need opac access.
3. If MARC records can be exported to Koha, can the upload program be modified to "overlay" duplicate MARC records? (This is a unique project where we are ordering "replacements" and thus the MARC records are in the system, we would just need to import certain fields to update the current MARC record.)
the upload program has a -delete trigger that empty all tables before uploading. but no option to "modify" a record. Even if it was present, it wouldn't fasten access, as a "biblio modif" in Koha means delete, then recreate (at least in the MARC record). It's impossible to build an "intelligent" marc modifier. Or it would be more complicated than delete+create !
4. Can Koha be modified? The key example is that the Faculty want to be able to comment on certain books (e.g., "This book is extremely important to our collection," or "This book is worthless, do not order it!")
It's free software ! It means it can be modified to fit your need, and you're free to redistribute your modifications. If you need more explanations about the licence, please go to www.koha.org... -- Paul POULAIN Consultant indépendant en logiciels libres responsable francophone de koha (SIGB libre http://www.koha-fr.org)