Elaine, Wherever you see in Koha the term "branch", substitute "member library" in your thinking and planning; I believe it's actually labeled "library" rather than "branch" in some places, but these refer to the same fields in the database, which are designed to accommodate your needs. In the sysadmin/sysprefs area, there are two different types of groupings to set up, before you start creating the branch/library objects in your database. I did a bit of research on their meaning/purpose, and posted a question to the list, which I've just now followed up on after not having received an answer. If we still don't get one, I believe the information I posted is "close enough" to true, at least from a practical POV. Here's the history in the archives: http://koha.1045719.n5.nabble.com/library-quot-categories-quot-groups-td3404... Hope this helps a bit to get you started, Hans On Tue, Mar 15, 2011 at 6:03 PM, Elaine Bradtke <eb@efdss.org> wrote:
Now that we've got our system up and running, we want to reach out to other small libraries with similar collections. Our idea is to build up a little online consortium based in Koha, with us providing filespace and managing the system.
We would like the OPAC user to be able to search all libraries at once, or choose a specific library (or perhaps more than one, but not all). What is the best way to set these up? The libraries themselves would also have to be independent as far as patrons, loans, and other policies.
I'd love to hear from other library consortia out there who could offer some pointers.