[Koha] Item Types, Collection Codes and Other Mysteries : a guide for newbies.

[Joann Ransom]

Hi Joshua,

Thanks heaps for those comments - really helpful!

Cheers Jo.

On Tue, Mar 17, 2009 at 7:34 AM, Joshua Ferraro <jmf at liblime.com> wrote:

> On Sun, Mar 15, 2009 at 6:08 PM, Joann Ransom <jransom at library.org.nz>
> wrote:
> > This is my understanding of the use of Item Types and CCodes based on the
> > emails and list discussion. If my understanding is wrong - please correct
> > it. If I have it clear then I think this would be useful for the Koha 3.0
> > Manual (certainly would have helped me!) Would love someone to please add
> in
> > the marc fields where you would enter the information which will display
> in
> > these fields(are we heading into mapping territory now?)
> >
> > BIBLIO LEVEL INFORMATION
> >
> > Search results display Biblio level info; which can  include:
> >
> >  * Format (book, DVD, video cassette)
> >
> > * Audience (children, young adult, adult)
> >
> > * Content (bibliography)
> The examples I provided were just examples, Koha can display icons for
> any authorized value you create at the bib-level. Koha 3.0 doesn't
> ship with any of the above authorized values already created, you have
> to create them and link them to bib fields, and link them to icons
> after you install Koha.
>
> > * Material Type (using XLST search will display wee icons.)
> These are available out of the box with Koha 3, if you want to change
> the icons that display, or the criteria, you have to edit the XSLT
> stylesheets.
>
> > ITEM LEVEL INFORMATION
> >
> > The holdings table displays Item level info, which can include:
> >
> >  * Item Types
> >
> > * CCodes
> >
> > * Shelving Location
> >
> > * Call Number
> Again, this is not an exhaustive list. You can have as many item-level
> fields linked to authorized values as you want. The most common ones
> are item type, shelving location, and collection code; to create
> another one, just add the authorized value and link it to an
> item-level MARC tag/subfield.
>
> Images associated with item-level authorized values don't display in
> search results pages, but should display on details pages (though I
> haven't had time to take a look at Owen's claim that they don't). In
> any case, it is trivial to get them to display on the detail page, but
> non-trivial to get them to display on the results page, because the
> results aren't an item view, they are a bib-level view. How do you
> display item-level information on the results page when you've got 500
> items on a given bib?
>
> >  ADVANCED SEARCH
> >
> > The Advanced Search interface displays either Item Types (with their
> > associated icons) OR Collection Codes (with their associated icons). You
> > cannot set both as Advanced Search options, although there is general
> > agreement that this would be a cool enhancement.
> This is not a limitation of the search API, it's a limitation of the
> current templating options for the advanced search page. That is, if
> you created a custom template for the advanced search page, you could
> display both item types, collection codes, or really any field you
> wanted that was linked to a Zebra index. What we need to create is a
> back-end management interface to allow the librarian (rather than a
> template designer) control what search types and values are available
> for the advanced search page. This would be an interesting enhancement
> for someone to sponsor.
>
> >  NOTES ON ITEM TYPES
> >
> > *set circulation policy
> > * you must have item types
> > * you don’t have to have CCodes
> > * can be used to define collections
> > * can be OPAC advanced search points
> Yep, though I'd remove the mention of 'ccodes' and 'collections'.
>
> > NOTES ON CCODESs
> >
> > * have no relationship to circulation policy
> > * any number of CCodes can have the same the Item Type
> > * are optional
> > * are used to define collections
> > * can be OPAC advanced search points
> There is really no formal hierarchical relationship between ccodes
> (collections) and 'item types' other than the fact that they are both
> item-level fields.
>
> >  NOTES ON CALL NUMBER
> > Shows an items shelf position, can include alpha and numeric characters.
> >
> >
> > NOTES ON SHELVING LOCATION
> > Denotes a physical location ie a floor or building. (Not sure if this
> > displays in OPAC or not.)
> Yes, it does display in the OPAC.
>
> > GENERAL RULE OF THUMB
> >
> > If you don’t have to have CCodes to distinguish between Item Types and
> > Collection Codes, then don’t – just use Item Types.
> >
> > An example of when you would need CCodes, is where you have a policy
> which
> > says borrowers may have no more than 10 AV items on loan at a time, but
> they
> > may be taken from arange of different collections. So Item Type is set as
> AV
> > and a bunch of CCodes are created: DVD, JDVD, Video, JVideo, CDROM, Audio
> > Book on Tape, Teen Audio Book on CD, etc. A borrow a total of 10 AV
> > materials from any of the CCodes related to Item Type=AV.
> Perhaps, but there is not a hierarchical relationship between ccodes
> and itypes. Libraries that use ccodes typically use them to denote
> 'Collections' ... ie, groupings of materials, such as 'Science
> Fiction' or 'Mysteries'. But, Science Fiction books and Mystery books,
> probably have the same circulation policy as each other, and that's
> where Item Types come in. Patrons don't typically care about your
> circulation policy, but they do care about where a given item is
> located in the library. So that's really the distinction -- Call
> Numbers, Collection Codes, Shelving Locations, typically refer to
> physical location, Item Type just says what the Circulation Rules are.
>
> Cheers,
>
> Josh
>
> --
> Joshua Ferraro                       SUPPORT FOR OPEN-SOURCE SOFTWARE
> CEO                         migration, training, maintenance, support
> LibLime                                Featuring Koha Open-Source ILS
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