Is this issue of barcodes a concern for Koha users?
This is a correspondance from our state library about participating in EZProxy with the Montana Libraries. Do we need to conform to their barcode requirements? Lee in Butte Good morning, A primary reason to move to standardized patron and item barcodes is the possibility that the library will become a member of a shared system, of whatever kind, in time. Once in a shared system, where the patron database in that system is not "segmented", non-standard IDs, particularly those built incrementally (1000, 1001, etc.), run the risk of coming up against an identical ID. This is the case for either patron or item IDs and it stops the transaction in the system. A segmented patron database in a shared ILS, while it could protect against this, doesn't lend itself easily to opening up user walls when the libraries are ready to share user privileges (placing holds, checkout, checkin) between multiple libraries within the same system. Barcodes standardization is, I believe, another area we get mired in, during statewide discussions. This detail, while essential to the larger picture, seems to often detract us from that larger picture.
Hi Lee Not sure if I am following you, It doesnt sound like a Koha issue, Koha doesnt force you to use any particular barcode regime, you can use whatever you want. Chris 2009/11/5 Lee Phillips <lphillips@buttepubliclibrary.info>:
This is a correspondance from our state library about participating in EZProxy with the Montana Libraries.
Do we need to conform to their barcode requirements?
Lee in Butte
Good morning,
A primary reason to move to standardized patron and item barcodes is the possibility that the library will become a member of a shared system, of whatever kind, in time. Once in a shared system, where the patron database in that system is not “segmented”, non-standard IDs, particularly those built incrementally (1000, 1001, etc.), run the risk of coming up against an identical ID. This is the case for either patron or item IDs and it stops the transaction in the system.
A segmented patron database in a shared ILS, while it could protect against this, doesn’t lend itself easily to opening up user walls when the libraries are ready to share user privileges (placing holds, checkout, checkin) between multiple libraries within the same system.
Barcodes standardization is, I believe, another area we get mired in, during statewide discussions. This detail, while essential to the larger picture, seems to often detract us from that larger picture.
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On 11/04/2009 06:03 PM, Lee Phillips wrote:
This is a correspondance from our state library about participating in EZProxy with the Montana Libraries.
Do we need to conform to their barcode requirements?
It's not really a koha issue it can handle whatever barcode schema you use. Most library barcodes are unique e.g. the long used codabar format incorporates four digits that indicate the agency (library). Check your current barcode schema before being railroaded into a costly relabelling excercise Cheers Colin -- Colin Campbell Chief Software Engineer, PTFS Europe Limited Content Management and Library Solutions +44 (0) 208 366 1295 (phone) +44 (0) 7759 633626 (mobile) colin.campbell@ptfs-europe.com skype: colin_campbell2 http://www.ptfs-europe.com
participants (3)
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Chris Cormack -
Colin Campbell -
Lee Phillips