[Koha] Consortia, what's the best way to set them up?

[hansbkk at gmail.com]

Elaine,

Wherever you see in Koha the term "branch", substitute "member
library" in your thinking and planning; I believe it's actually
labeled "library" rather than "branch" in some places, but these refer
to the same fields in the database, which are designed to accommodate
your needs.

In the sysadmin/sysprefs area, there are two different types of
groupings to set up, before you start creating the branch/library
objects in your database. I did a bit of research on their
meaning/purpose, and posted a question to the list, which I've just
now followed up on after not having received an answer. If we still
don't get one, I believe the information I posted is "close enough" to
true, at least from a practical POV. Here's the history in the
archives:

http://koha.1045719.n5.nabble.com/library-quot-categories-quot-groups-td3404765.html

Hope this helps a bit to get you started,

Hans

On Tue, Mar 15, 2011 at 6:03 PM, Elaine Bradtke <eb at efdss.org> wrote:
> Now that we've got our system up and running, we want to reach out to
> other small libraries with similar collections. Our idea is to build
> up a little online consortium based in Koha, with us providing
> filespace and managing the system.
>
> We would like the OPAC user to be able to search all libraries at
> once, or choose a specific library (or perhaps more than one, but not
> all).  What is the best way to set these up?  The libraries themselves
> would also have to be independent as far as patrons, loans, and other
> policies.
>
> I'd love to hear from other library consortia out there who could
> offer some pointers.