Dewey call numbers in MARC/Koha
With the help of various kind people on this list I'm gradually getting my head around MARC. Our library staff complained the other day that Dewey call numbers weren't showing up in the catalogue, even though they had entered them in under MARC tag 082. It seems that (by default) Koha is using a different tag (can't remember the number but it's one of the 9xx's) for the call number it shows in the catalogue. Is there a reason for this? What's the best way to get around the problem? Should I modify the MARC<->Koha link to use 082 instead or should I just copy the contents of 082 into Koha's own tag? -- Kevin O'Rourke ICT Coordinator, National Teachers' Institute, Kaduna, Nigeria 062 316972
Kevin O'Rourke a écrit :
With the help of various kind people on this list I'm gradually getting my head around MARC.
Our library staff complained the other day that Dewey call numbers weren't showing up in the catalogue, even though they had entered them in under MARC tag 082.
It seems that (by default) Koha is using a different tag (can't remember the number but it's one of the 9xx's) for the call number it shows in the catalogue.
Is there a reason for this?
Yes, the reason is that call numbers & dewey are 2 conceptually different things : - the call number is related to the ITEM. It's main concern is the physical location of the book on the shelves. - the dewey is an intellectual classification of the book. Just to conclude on this explanation : a given book (=intellectual document) can have more than 1 dewey code, while a given books (=item) can only have 1 call number. And 2 items can have 2 differents call numbers while having only 1 dewey code. BUT : most libraries uses dewey as call number. Thus the confusion made by so many librarians. And thus also the trick that you can use in Koha : Koha >> parameters >> system preferences >> catalogue >> itemcallnumber
set (for example) 082c.
Now, all your (new) items will have automatically the dewey code as call number, that you can manually edit. Note that for all existing items, you must modify them manually, sorry. -- Paul POULAIN et Henri Damien LAURENT Consultants indépendants en logiciels libres et bibliothéconomie (http://www.koha-fr.org) Tel : 04 91 31 45 19
Thanks for clearing that up Paul.
BUT : most libraries uses dewey as call number. Thus the confusion made by so many librarians. And thus also the trick that you can use in Koha : Koha >> parameters >> system preferences >> catalogue >> itemcallnumber >> set (for example) 082c.
Now, all your (new) items will have automatically the dewey code as call number, that you can manually edit.
Note that for all existing items, you must modify them manually, sorry.
We're currently just experimenting, so modifying things manually isn't a big issue. We use Dewey for locating items on the shelf, so I'll use that Koha trick. Thanks again, Kevin -- Kevin O'Rourke ICT Coordinator, National Teachers' Institute, Kaduna, Nigeria 062 316972
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Kevin O'Rourke -
Paul POULAIN