On Thu, Oct 9, 2008 at 2:57 PM, Ryan Higgins <ryan.higgins@liblime.com>wrote:

[ this text also available at:

http://wiki.koha.org/doku.php?id=en:development:rfcs3.2:rfc32_item_level_ite...]

RFC: Koha 3.2

Mandate item-level circulation rules.

Currently we use the system preference item-level_itypes to indicate whether Koha should use the itemtype stored at the bibliographic level or the item level to control circulation parameters. This seems to be one of the more significant distinctions in general policy between US and French libraries, and was also one of the major limitations of Koha 2.x in the eyes of US libraries.

Koha 3.0 offers the option to define your itemtypes at either the bib-level or item-level. However, this option adds unnecessary complexity and offers an easy spot for bugs to appear. I propose that this option be removed for the 3.2 release, and that steps be taken to make this feature-removal relatively painless and invisible for those libraries that do maintain circulation policy at the bib level.

I propose the following:

1: the item-level_itypes system preference be removed. 2: biblioitems.itemtype be renamed to biblioitems.default_itemtype 3: items.itype be renamed to items.itemtype 4: all circulation parameters will be determined by items.itemtype. 5: AddItem and ModItem will automatically fill items.itemtype from biblioitems.default_itemtype if items.itemtype is not supplied.

This should allow French (and others using bib-level circ rules) libraries to continue with their current workflows, and should essentially be unnoticeable to them, while allowing us to remove the bug-prone distinction of item/bib level itemtypes.

Comments and suggestions welcome.

-- Ryan Higgins

LibLime * Open-Source Solutions for Libraries Featuring KohaZOOM ILS 888-564-2457 x704

_______________________________________________ Koha-devel mailing list Koha-devel@lists.koha.org http://lists.koha.org/mailman/listinfo/koha-devel

This sounds like an excellent way to reduce complexity, and addresses the complaints the cataloger at my library had with item-level_itypes. +1 -- Jesse Weaver Software Developer, LibLime

On Thu, Oct 9, 2008 at 10:57 PM, Ryan Higgins <ryan.higgins@liblime.com> wrote:

[ this text also available at: http://wiki.koha.org/doku.php?id=en:development:rfcs3.2:rfc32_item_level_ite... ]

RFC: Koha 3.2

Mandate item-level circulation rules.

Currently we use the system preference item-level_itypes to indicate whether Koha should use the itemtype stored at the bibliographic level or the item level to control circulation parameters. This seems to be one of the more significant distinctions in general policy between US and French libraries, and was also one of the major limitations of Koha 2.x in the eyes of US libraries.

Actually, I think there's some nuance, there: it's not a functional requirement for French libraries as such. They would be perfectly happy, I think, to work with item-level itypes (some of them already do). It's rather a historical fact as far as I can tell: when Koha was first implemented in French libraries, biblio-level type was the way Koha handled things and it suited them because these small libraries didn't need the flexibility of an item level type. So far we (BibLibre) have insisted on biblio level because our whole client-base (bar a few clients) work that way: it's a legacy issue for us, not really a functional issue. But now that Koha is being implemented in bigger libraries in France (as in the US and elsewhere), we need the item level types. And we do agree with you that it's much better. So we would be quite willing to entirely let go of the biblio-level option, on condition that the RFC would take into account the scripting of the switch from "3.0 with biblio-level" to "3.2 with item-level". On a related note: while the circulation rules should be applied to the item level itype, the search limits and document icons in the opac should still use something coming out of the biblio : the biblio level type should still be used for that. Regards, Nicolas Regards, Nicolas

Koha 3.0 offers the option to define your itemtypes at either the bib-level or item-level. However, this option adds unnecessary complexity and offers an easy spot for bugs to appear. I propose that this option be removed for the 3.2 release, and that steps be taken to make this feature-removal relatively painless and invisible for those libraries that do maintain circulation policy at the bib level.

I propose the following:

1: the item-level_itypes system preference be removed. 2: biblioitems.itemtype be renamed to biblioitems.default_itemtype 3: items.itype be renamed to items.itemtype 4: all circulation parameters will be determined by items.itemtype. 5: AddItem and ModItem will automatically fill items.itemtype from biblioitems.default_itemtype if items.itemtype is not supplied.

This should allow French (and others using bib-level circ rules) libraries to continue with their current workflows, and should essentially be unnoticeable to them, while allowing us to remove the bug-prone distinction of item/bib level itemtypes.

Comments and suggestions welcome.

-- Ryan Higgins

LibLime * Open-Source Solutions for Libraries Featuring KohaZOOM ILS 888-564-2457 x704

_______________________________________________ Koha-devel mailing list Koha-devel@lists.koha.org http://lists.koha.org/mailman/listinfo/koha-devel