[Koha] Marc <-> Koha db mappings

[Stephen Hedges]

Ben Hall said:
> Is it possible to map multiple MARC tags to the one koha database
> field?  For example, I'd like to map tag 110 and tag 111 to
> biblio.author.  Or put another way, how have others handled the
> mapping of corporate authors (110)?

Paul's reply indicates that there is no easy way to do this -- the web
interface only allows a one-to-one mapping.

That being said, however, I think that we will soon see the MARC version
of Koha move to doing searches directly on the MARC data, instead of the
data stored in the original Koha tables (like biblio).  Corporate authors
is just one example of how powerful the MARC method of storing
bibliographic data can be.  Searches for such "esoteric" information as
corporate authors, performers, sub-subjects (and sub-sub-subjects) are
easy in MARC and currently impractical using the data in the original Koha
tables.

I predict that we will find that the best way to do catalog searches is to
search directly on the MARC data.  The data that is stored in the original
Koha tables could then be used for tracking transactions (issues, returns,
reserves, charges) and for information about the status of specific
copies.  For transactions, all that is required is enough data to identify
the item to the librarian and the borrower.  For example, a borrower may
want to search for items with the corporate author "Koha Foundation," and
a search directly on the MARC tags is the best way to do that.  But once
the item is found, then the data in the original Koha tables is enough to
identify it for transactions. ("I want to renew 'Proceeding of the Ninth
Annual Conference on Koha'," in which case having the corporate author
stored in the original Koha biblio table is not really necessary.)  Under
this scenario, getting all of the MARC data into the original Koha tables
is not important -- it's just important to get _enough_ data into the Koha
tables.

-- 
Stephen Hedges
Skemotah Solutions, USA
www.skemotah.com  --  shedges at skemotah.com