[Koha] Restricting access to files attached to bibliographic records

Myka Kennedy Stephens mkstephens at lancasterseminary.edu
Wed Oct 23 03:00:17 NZDT 2019


Hello,

Is it possible to restrict access to files attached to bibliographic
records based on patron category?

We have a professor who wants to put a print journal on course reserve. It
is a loose issue that is coming unbound, and I'm not comfortable in
allowing it to circulate as a course reserve. It is covered under copyright
and we do not have access to it through one of our full-text databases.

One option is to simply scan the article the professor wants to use and
make it available to students within the course management system. However,
I was thinking that it would be helpful for the library to keep the scan in
its collection for long-term preservation purposes. I was looking at a way
to do this within Koha using an analytic (child) record and attaching the
scan file to that record. Since it is under copyright, however, I would
need to restrict access to the file to only faculty and students who are
logged in to Koha.

A compromise might be to restrict access to the file in Koha to only
library staff (i.e., viewable in staff client only, if that's possible).
Then the file could be shared with students through the course management
system.

Is it possible to use the upload files plugin in this way? How are other
libraries managing preservation copies of texts that are protected by
copyright? Any suggestions or other ideas are appreciated.

Thanks,
Myka

-- 
Deaconess Myka Kennedy Stephens, MDiv, MSLIS
Seminary Librarian and Assistant Professor of Theological Bibliography
Lancaster Theological Seminary
555 West James Street
Lancaster, PA 17603
717-290-8704
mkstephens at lancasterseminary.edu
https://library.lancasterseminary.edu


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