[Koha] Loan periods

[Wagner, Alexander]

Hello Caroline!

> Maybe someone else will have a genius idea, but I don't really see a way
> around creating specific item types, or simplifying your rules.

In a way they are a lot simpler than what Koha can actually do. The vast majority is just "4 weeks" :)

> (A software change is always a good time to review policies imo...)

Of course.

> I mean, you could always do manual loan periods
> (https://koha-community.org/manual/latest/en/html/circulationpreferences.html#specifyreturndate),
> but it's a hassle to do it for every loan...

Right. I envisioned something on those lines as a last resort for the database "loans".

Maybe there is a better way to track this db-stuff. They are similar to a personal journal subscription. I really like them to be visible with the users account and have them in the catalogue, though.

> I wanted to address this however

Thank you :)
 
>> It looks a bit messy in cataloguing but these would also show up in the OPAC
>> (eg. in the advanced search limiters).
> 
> This can be hidden in with the OpacAdvancedSearchTypes system preference.

Aha! This might be helfpul.
 
> If you use ElasticSearch, the facets in the search results can be hidden
> in Administration > Search engine configuration (Elasticsearch) >
> Bibliographic records, uncheck the itype facet at the bottom of the screen.

Not sure about this yet. At the moment I still try to avoid any additional modules beyond the bare minimum (as the schedule is a bit tight...) But thank you. I noted it in my section on ES.

> In the detailed record, you can hide the item type column by unchecking
> the item_itemtype column in Administration > Table settings > OPAC >
> holdingst.

So in a way I can actually treat the "item type" as a (strange) name for "loan period". I'll explore that road.
 
> That way, the item types should not appear in the OPAC (although for
> transparency, patrons might be interested to know how long they can take
> something out).

Indeed they'd be. However, given the circulation matrix it might not be that easy for them in general anyway, right? (Say if role X for item type A implies 4 weeks while role Y for the same item implies 8 weeks.)
 
> For cataloguers, I don't really see the difference for them to enter a
> loan period in an item field vs choosing an item type in an item field.

It seems strange to me to call a book "4 weeks". And I had the idea that the categories (have to) show up in OPAC all the time so I had the feeling that I would need to create something like display name `Book`, ending up in 20 entries that are labeled `Book` and just add a different vocabulary term in the backend. (Display `Book` store `6 weeks`, display `Book` store `4 weeks` and so on. Sort of "I take the 9th entry from the list to get the proper period stored".)
 
> Good luck with all of that!

Thanks :)

-- 
Kind regards,

Alexander Wagner

Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY
Library and Documentation

Building 01d Room OG1.444
Notkestr. 85
22607 Hamburg

phone:  +49-40-8998-1758
e-mail: alexander.wagner at desy.de