[Koha] Koha 3.0-RC1 installation experience and issues

[Emrys Minnig]

Hello all!
 
I've just installed Koha 3.0-RC1 for use in the library at the secondary school where I work and wanted to share my experiences as well as highlight some problems.
 
I am using a dedicated server running Debian Etch (eventually to be virtualised onto a bigger server) with the No_Zebra option and using the MARC21 format.
 
I migrated the majority of the records from our old 'Alice' system using Alice's 'Export to UKMARC with item information' option and then converting the records to a MARC21-flavour including Koha's 952 field using MarcEdit.  I then successfully imported the biblios and items using the 'Stage MARC records' tool on Koha's web interface.  I also added a good quantity of additional records from the National Library of Scotland through the Z39.50 client. 
 
My final step will be to configure LDAP authentication and import patron information from the school's staff/student database.
 
I've run across a few problems.  I'm not sure if these issues have been addressed in the newest Koha release as I have not yet gotten around to updating, but I thought I'd report them nonetheless and see if others have had similar experiences.
 
1) The dependency installation order in the INSTALL_DEBIAN file does not seem to be correct.  Many of the packages listed first depend on packages to be installed later.
 
2) Staged MARC imports don't seem to properly fill in Koha's 952y (item type) field.  (I tested this extensively.)  Thus type-limited searches do not return records added in this manner.
 
3) When using Firefox3 and doing large quantities of single MARC imports using the Z39.50 client, browser speed eventually slows to a crawl, especially whenever the 'Save' button on the 'Add MARC record' page is clicked.  Speed returns to normal when Firefox's 'Clear Private Data' tool is used.
 
4) If IE7 is used for the staff interface (not recommended), every time the 'Save' button on the 'Add MARC Record' page is clicked, two biblios are created without throwing the 'Duplicate record suspected' dialogue.
 
5) After deleting biblios, occasionally search is broken, yielding a 'Can't call method "as_usmarc" on an undefined value' error.  rebuild_nozebra.pl must then be run to fix it.
 
6) After getting a long list of search results and sorting them via the 'sort' menu, progressing through the pages of results often throws a 'Can't call method "as_usmarc" on an undefined value' error (even after rebuild_nozebra.pl script is run).
 
7) Subtype limits in 'Advanced search' do not work.  I understand that using the Zebra option will fix this, but is there any other way?
 
For the record though, this is a great Koha release.  Kudos to all those involved!  Koha is far superior to the commercial ILS's that I've used.
 
One thought... having discovered MarcEdit's ability to do batch Z39.50 MARC imports, I fantasised about how nice it would be if Koha had a similar utility...
 
Cheers!
Emrys Minnig
Learning Centre Coordinator
Varndean School