[Koha] Koha integration with other systems

[Coehoorn, Joel]

We configured our Koha installation to use our university AD FS
(SAML-based) SSO service. Note I've setup over a dozen different apps for
this service, and Koha was definitely the most difficult to get working...
but it DOES work.

We also have a "manual integration" to populate users in Koha based on our
Jenzabar J1 SIS, which amounts to a report our librarians can run on demand
and then manually import the generated CSV file via Koha's Patron Import
tool. When done right this is idempotent, which is a fancy way of saying
the librarians can run it as often as they want without duplicating users.
However, we built and configured things so Koha student accounts expire at
the end of each term, meaning someone MUST run it each term to reactivate
our students. This process has been in place since long before Koha had its
own API, so I'm hoping to use that to make this run automatically in the
background in the near future.

We do NOT have an integration with our student billing for things like late
fees or lost item charges. Those are still handled completely by hand.

One feature I would like to see Koha add is the ability to match new users
based on an external immutable ID. The existing patron import tool allows
us to match existing patrons based on card number or username (email).
However, BOTH of those might need to change. We don't want to leave an old
card active if it's lost or stolen and we need to replace it. A random
person shouldn't be able to pick it up and use the old card, and so the new
card will have a newly-generated barcode number. Our student
emails/usernames track with their real names, and these do also change on
occasion (most common reasons are a parent divorce or student marriage).
But we have an immutable student ID for each person, and it would be really
nice for Koha to have a way to ingest that and use it for patron updates,
because we know for certain it really won't change. There may also be some
support around borrowernumber, but our SIS has no knowledge of the
borrowernumber when creating the student exports.

*Joel Coehoorn*
Director of Information Technology
*York University*
Office: 402-363-5603 | jcoehoorn at york.edu | york.edu



On Mon, Nov 27, 2023 at 12:47 PM Katrin Fischer <katrin.fischer.83 at web.de>
wrote:

> Hi Russel,
>
> Koha provides a lot of different APIs and protocols for integrating with
> other systems. This might be a starting point:
> https://wiki.koha-community.org/wiki/APIs_and_protocols_supported_by_Koha
>
> Hope this helps,
>
> Katrin
>
> On 27.11.23 16:05, Russel G. P. Shihepo wrote:
> > Dear Community
> >
> > Does Koha support integrations such as:
> >
> > - Centralized Single-Sign-On Integration.
> > - ERP Integration (Student and HRMs).
> > - Payment gateway integration.
> >
> > I have been tasked by our school to make an attempt to integrate Koha
> with
> > other systems at the institution. Thank you in advance.
> >
> >
> > Regards,
> > Russel
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