[Koha] Barcodes required by Koha

[Steven F.Baljkas]

Monday, September 18, 2006     11:35 CDT
finally sent
Thursday, September 21, 2006    17:19 CDT

Hi, Yan,

Thanks for your answer to Una's question.

The whole thing with barcodes has been puzzling me for quite a while, and it isn't for lack of trying to understand what Koha requires/prefers.

So before anybody tells me to read the manual (#$&%'in or otherwise), let me quote what I was able to find in Koha documentation, and ask for ***** someone among the cognoscenti (programmers/developpers) please to clarify this for those of us who are not programmers, so that we can figure out what the Koha and MARC coding requirements are. *****

This is what it says in the Koha 2.2 Users Guide as of today at 
   URL <http://www.kohadocs.org/usersguide/ch01s04.html#d0e1564>

|  *** Currently, the barcodes generator works best with 11-digit barcodes. ***
|  [emphasis added] The last few digits of longer barcodes will not be printed 
|  under the barcode itself, and shorter barcodes will have the check digit
|  printed after the barcode number. You should have a Perl programmer alter
|  the Koha code for you if you wish to use something other than 11-digit
|  barcodes.


If there is a more relevant passage somewhere else in the guide, my humble apologies for missing it. I have sincerely tried to find the answer on my own.

To a non-programmer like me, the above passage implies that Koha wants/prefers 11-digit barcodes.

The example you cited, Yan, I know too: but it is 14-digit.

***Are 14-digit numbers of the type Yan cited in use in Koha libraries?***
What adjustments need to be made to accommodate such? Could someone share what needs to be done?

Where I am, 14-digit numbers seem much more common and are (commercially) much more readily available.

>From all the info I was able to find online, 11 digits also didn't seem to work with the formulae I could find for constructing valid Code 39 numbers with check digits. Possibly just my bad math skills, but I would really prefer to keep the check digits option open, again in the vein of keeping as many options as possible open for the future.

In any case, it would be enormously helpful if some people/s could share a short list of valid, working barcode numbers/types that are actually in use, as a kind of sampler for those of us trying to figure this out.

Thanks for your response, Yan, and thanks in advance to any who tackle my additional questions.

Cheers,
Steven F. Baljkas
library tech at large
Koha neophyte
Winnipeg, MB, Canada


============================================================
From: "Han, Yan" <hany at u.library.arizona.edu>
Date: 2006/09/15 Fri PM 04:03:51 CDT
To: "una simon" <unasimon at hotmail.com>,  <koha at lists.katipo.co.nz>
CC: elijah at elijahcentre.org
Subject: RE: [Koha] Barcodes required by Koha

I believe that codabar and Code 39 both work with Koha. You can find out
a typical library barcode. e.g. 3 9001 04796 2694, where 3 means "item",
9001 means a library, others are item number.

Most libraries use codabar, and there are a few use Code 39. Code 39
allows you to encode alphabetic letters and I chose Code 39 for a
project. 

You do not need a software, but a reader will pick up these barcode very
quickly. I have purchased Symbol LS2208 scanner
(http://www.barcodesinc.com/symbol/ls2208.htm
<http://www.barcodesinc.com/symbol/ls2208.htm>  ) and it picks up the
code quickly.

________________________________

From: koha-bounces at lists.katipo.co.nz
[mailto:koha-bounces at lists.katipo.co.nz] On Behalf Of una simon
Sent: Thursday, September 14, 2006 8:23 PM
To: koha at lists.katipo.co.nz
Cc: elijah at elijahcentre.org
Subject: [Koha] Barcodes required by Koha


Hello Listserve:

I realise there are several barcodes on the market. 

I should like your guidance in selecting the type of barcodes acceptable
by Koha.  How many digits - 11 or 14?  Which works best for you giving
the least problem?

Do I need a software and reader from this end if very few items from our
collection will leave the physical location?  

Thank you.

Una Simon

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