[Koha] Dewey call numbers in MARC/Koha [IMPORTANT FOR ALL]

[Paul POULAIN]

Kevin O'Rourke a écrit :
> With the help of various kind people on this list I'm gradually getting
> my head around MARC.
> 
> Our library staff complained the other day that Dewey call numbers
> weren't showing up in the catalogue, even though they had entered them
> in under MARC tag 082.
> 
> It seems that (by default) Koha is using a different tag (can't remember
> the number but it's one of the 9xx's) for the call number it shows in
> the catalogue.
> 
> Is there a reason for this?

Yes, the reason is that call numbers & dewey are 2 conceptually 
different things :
- the call number is related to the ITEM. It's main concern is the 
physical location of the book on the shelves.
- the dewey is an intellectual classification of the book.

Just to conclude on this explanation : a given book (=intellectual 
document) can have more than 1 dewey code, while a given books (=item) 
can only have 1 call number.
And 2 items can have 2 differents call numbers while having only 1 dewey 
code.

BUT :
most libraries uses dewey as call number. Thus the confusion made by so 
many librarians.
And thus also the trick that you can use in Koha :
Koha >> parameters >> system preferences >> catalogue >> itemcallnumber 
 >> set (for example) 082c.

Now, all your (new) items will have automatically the dewey code as call 
number, that you can manually edit.

Note that for all existing items, you must modify them manually, sorry.

-- 
Paul POULAIN et Henri Damien LAURENT
Consultants indépendants
en logiciels libres et bibliothéconomie (http://www.koha-fr.org)
Tel : 04 91 31 45 19