Salvete!
I'm trying to use the isbn number on books as the book barcode. however, when I scan the barcode of the isbn it registers the number but does not find the book. I think I need to set a mapping somewhere. I tried mapping the koha value items.barcode to marc 20a (isbn) but that does not seem to do the trick. We currently do not have barcodes on our books and were planning to just add them through z39.50 as much as we could by scanning the isbn number and using this for cataloging.
* can anyone tell me how to make sure that the "item barcode:" that is asked when checking out is the same as the isbn number? * would you for any reason advise against using the isbn code and, if necessary, have several versions of the same book like this? We are a pretty small library for a research institute and not a public library so our collection is "limited".
I try not to say things like this too often, but don't do that. The ISBN is not a unique identifier: it's quite possible to have two items with an identical ISBN. In fact, it's highly probable for this to happen with popular materials - new books acquired in duplicate. Stuart Yeates gave a wonderful talk on ISBNs and ebooks at KohaCon10, and it's available here: http://anitsirk.blip.tv/file/4381199/ Cheers, Brooke