Hope you don't mind if I cc this back to the list. They may be interested. On Thu, 2008-01-24 at 09:23 -0600, David Schuster wrote:

I saw your posting on the KOHA listserv about server settings. I'm looking at KOHA for a district wide installation in the future, but it needs to become more school friendly with certain aspects. At some point I may even be able to pay for some development for this school functionality, but we shall see.

Have you modified KOHA to handle homerooms etc?

I have appropriated one of the sort fields to handle homerooms. I've copies a template ( I liked npl ) and made such changes that the borrower details, and all the reports I've created, say homeroom instead of sort2. Also in connecting Koha to our Student Information System I have linked this field in particular to the advisor field in SIS.

Do you contract any support out ie (LibLime) or are you running totally GNU?

I am the support for my district :) I am employed full time by WCSD with my primary responsibility being Koha. You could say we are running GNU.

What automation system did you have prior to KOHA?

Prior to Koha we had individual servers in each school running and older version of Follett software. There was a big push before I was promoted to full time and given Koha toward a Union Catalog system, and it was decided that Koha was the best option ( free is usually the best option ;) ). All new schools built, and a few of the others as it was necessary / requested by the librarian have been put on Koha. This is mostly for budget reasons. Also I don't want to force the remaining schools over to Koha. Let them increase my work load at their own pace. ;)

Are you providing home access to your catalog?

I'm sure the OPAC is accessible outside the district, and the staff interface probably is also.

We are currently running Horizon from SirsiDynix and 67 sites. Eventually will have to "Migrate" someplace so I really like the low cost option here and it is totally web based.

Thanks for your feedback!

David Schuster Library Technology Coordinator Plano ISD p - 469-752-8850 f - 469-752-8858 e - dschust@pisd.edu "Information's great, but it's not learning." --Tom March, "Working the Web for Education", *CUE Newsletter*, Nov./Dec. 1997.