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 It's almost the end of November, and the holidays are nearly upon us.
 It looks like we're going to be able to ring in the New Year with a
 better, faster, more capable Koha -- and with many more libraries
 using it.  More and more people recognize Koha, and we're getting
 more press than ever before.  It looks like we'll be featured in the
 Linux Journal early in 2003, and may have a few more articles after
 that.  (If you're at all interested in writing an article about Koha,
 please feel free to contact me at katiaki at koha.org -- I'd be happy to
 talk with you.)

Development

 There have been several big events on the development side of
 Koha this week.  Paul has just released Koha 1.3.2, the next alpha
 version of the forthcoming 2.0 series.  This release features:
  * Many improvments in MARC management from 1.3.1.
  * acquisition.simple now works : you can upload marc files in a
    breeding farm. When you search for an ISBN/ISSN in the acquisition
    screen, if you choose the "New biblio" option and the biblio is in
    the breeding farm, it's automatically retrieved and can be modified.
  * installer now install marc21 in english or unimarc in french datas.
  * marc parameters complete documentation : see
    http://www.saas.nsw.edu.au/wiki/index.php?page=UserDoc

 If the 2.0 release sounds exciting to you and you've got some MARC,
 Perl, or HTML background, please consider jumping in and helping with
 2.0 development.  There are opportunities for people of all skill
 levels.

 Just because we're getting ready to roll 2.0 out the door doesn't
 mean we plan on slowing down.  We've already got our eyes on the
 horizon.  Steve Tonnesen has agreed to take on the role of 2.1/2.2
 release manager, this will be a big task as we start to build new
 functionality onto the MARC base which Paul is building with 2.0.

 We've also released two Releases For Comment (RFCs):  the first is
 for a serials module, the second is for a 'foraging OPAC'.  A serials
 module is one of the big features missing from Koha at this point.
 Once we've gotten a good idea of what we need to have in this module,
 we'll be able to start developing it.

 The 'foraging OPAC' is an interesting interface into the catalog,
 imagine browsing through the collection as though you were walking
 through the library.  Another analog would be a Yahoo-like
 hierarchical view of the collection where the patron would be able to
 navigate through categorizations to find a set of books related to
 what she wanted to find.

Community

 A big event in the world of Koha this week has been the dual
 face lifts at HLT.  Not only did they complete the renovation of their
 main library, but they've moved to a new set of templates for their
 Koha OPAC.  You can see their beautiful new interface at
 http://opac.library.org.nz -- congratulations are due to Rosalie and
 all her gang!

 There have been some new additions to the wiki that you might want to
 take a moment to look at (and maybe even update) them.  Wikis are a
 great tool for collecting and distributing information within a
 community.  They're very easy to use, and (especially in this case)
 worth spending some time on.

 The first new page is a listing of libraries using or migrating to
 Koha.  If you fit into this category, please add yourself to
 http://www.saas.nsw.edu.au/wiki/index.php?page=KohaUsers -- having an
 idea of how many users we have will help us recruit developers,
 recommend Koha to other libraries, and seek grants (or other funding)
 to add new features.

 The second new page is a listing of Koha Interest Groups (or KIGs).
 This page (at
 http://http://www.saas.nsw.edu.au/wiki/index.php?page=KohaInterestGroups
 -- and  sub-pages) contains a list of KIGs that are starting to form
 and some hints for starting a KIG.  These kinds of groups will be key
 to getting Koha to the next level of acceptance.  Hopefully, they'll
 also end up being a useful and fun group for the members -- providing
 a chance to get together and talk about Koha, find help for problems,
 and lobby for new development.  Please think about getting
 involved with your local KIG.

French

 Nicolas Morin has taken on a more formal role as the manager of the
 translation of Koha into French.  Please join with me in
 congratulating him on this new position.  Nicolas has been working
 hard on Koha for quite a while.  He's helped to translate the
 fr.koha.org web site, translated these newsletters, worked with the
 French library and library education communities, and generally been
 a great help to the whole community.

Spanish

 Fransisco M. Marzoa Alonso has recently begun the effort of
 translating the Koha templates into Spanish.  His efforts are being
 coordinated with other translators and proof-readers on the new
 Spanish mailing list (see above).  If you're interested in helping
 Fransisco, please join the mailing list and get involved.


e iti noa ana na te aroha
-pate

Pat Eyler
Kaitiaki/manager
the Koha project