[Koha] is koha right for our project run by volunteers?

[Paul A]

Wholehearted endorsement of the comments below -- the Koha "project", 
software and community are remarkable -- just adding a few hands-on 
comments from seven years of Koha use...

On 2017-03-13 07:08 AM, Librarian Bruce A. Metcalf wrote:
[snip]
> But you do need a server, someone to run it, and someone with a little
> library experience to help you set it up (and explain the technical
> terms). It won't be a zero cost project even if the software is free.

The server is probably not an obstacle; in today's world you can find a 
64-bit machine at your local thriftshop, and minimal investment will get 
you 4Gb RAM and a .5Tb HD. The "someone to run it" is perhaps a tad more 
challenging -- windows experts will feel uncomfortable, but Linux 
expertise is widely available online. And yes "library experience" 
(which I read as MARC) is most helpful, but the learning curve is 
certainly not insurmountable -- again online help (LoC, Koha built-in 
help files) are priceless.
>
> While I use Koha at work, my personal collection is online with
> LibraryThing because all I want to do is to create a public bibliography
> and perhaps a few trades with others in the very narrow field. For this,
> Koha is overkill; perhaps so for your situation.

This is where "scalability" comes in. Up to some 13,000 items, we had 
survived with spreadsheets; in hindsight, always 20/20, we shouldn't 
have gone beyond say 5,000. The plunge into Koha took us about 18 months 
and a few hundred hours of volunteer work, but has never been regretted.
>
> However, if you want to manage circulation or do anything else
> "library-like", it's likely that you'd benefit from Koha. Just ask us
> for help in turning off the parts you don't need. Check out both and see
> which is the better match.

We're not a lending library (probably one of the great Koha strengths, I 
know nothing about it so will decline any comments), but just for 
"plain" cataloguing, total flexibilty, as much detail as you want, 
Z39.50 capability, search options and bullet-proof reliability, Koha is 
unbeatable. We now run two databases -- a limited set on-line and about 
300,000 items internally for our researchers, students, volunteers, 
staff (and accountants...)

My recommendation: go for Koha. If it doesn't "instantly do exactly what 
you want", don't get depressed, ask around, and at the end of the day 
you'll be proud of your catalogue...

Best regards -- Paul
---
Tired old sys-admin (and amateur librarian.)