[Koha-devel] RE: RE: Hello

[Nicholas Rosasco]

For openers:  What does Library Pro do for you, exactly?  I'm actually not
all that familiar (some of the Koha team are however, if it becomes a bigger
question) with commercial library software... save as a patron!  Koha is a
full service catalog and circulation application.... everyone who uses it
uses it as a complete solution... [I'm a little confused by the "Does this
mean that our Library Pro needs to be Web Based software?" question, and I
or the Koha documentation may've miscommunicated what Koha is.  Forgive me
if you already "get" the above.]

What most people who have shifted to Koha from existing library systems have
done is exported their catalogs (we can help explain the easy ways to
accomplish that) from their existing system(s) into the database that web
and circulation systems use to make the usual library things -- finding a
book, checking in/renewing, etc -- work.

Koha is, from the standpoint of a library patron (I avoid the term user...
confusion between the library's staff and the patrons) a web page that
provides the usual library catalog services.  From a IT person's point of
view, Koha is (typically but not exclusively) a server (usually a somewhat
souped up PC) with a network connection which runs Linux, the Apache web
server software, and the scripts and utilities that are Koha.  For the
librarian, Koha is either a application (running over telnet) or a web
frontend that permits them to check out books.

Your Imacs and G4s should have no problem running a reasonably current web
browser, and I'm guessing you have some sort of network connectivity for
them.  As far as support, some of the current Koha-using sites have in-house
staff who care for the server (usually doing several other things as well...
it isn't a full time function) or have a contract with a local firm to do
routine tasks (these aren't too exotic -- I'd wager there is a local ISP or
somesuch that can help you -- ask around to see if there is Linux experience
nearby.).

The standards question is one that can be a little stickier.... is there a
bullet-list or somesuch?  IE, are there specific standards and protocols
[keywords here are "Is full MARC compliance necessary?", "Is SIP/NCIP
necessary?"]?  It sounds like you guys have MARC at least as a standard --
it is Koha's objective to support MARC as fully as humanly possible :) by
the end of this summer.

Does any of this help?  Sorry for adding more verbiage/work/etc!
Nick Rosasco

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Karen Littlefield [mailto:klittle at mid-del.k12.ok.us]
> Sent: Tuesday, July 02, 2002 2:46 PM
> To: nsr at etome.net
> Subject: Re: RE: Hello
>
>
> ** Reply Requested When Convenient **
>
>
>
> Reply requested when convenient
>
>
> Koha is normally run on a dedicated server (most of us use what is in
> practice a high performance PC) connected to the internet and the catalog
> information is delivered via the web (in other words, whatever
> your schools
> use for book check out will need a network connection, as will whatever is
> used to view the catalog).  Does this mean that our Library Pro
> needs to be Web Based software?
>
> Forgive me for the bullet points...
> What kind of technology do you currently have?  Presently all of
> our libraries are using iMac or G4 computers.  They are served
> from a Novel 5.12 server with the data residing on the server and
> the application on the local HDs.
> [Koha is normally configured and run on a Unix/Linux machine, but the
> catalog and circulation system can be used with anything with a web
> browser.]
>
> What kind of support (staff? contractor?) do you have?  We have a
> WAN coordinator, a tech support coordinator, both of which take
> care of the equipment and repair issues.  I do the software
> training piece.  I am a former librarian and know the Library Pro
> software inside and out.
> [Koha is intended to be pretty easy to handle, but installation at the
> moment is a little complicated at the moment.]  I know the guys
> would help me with the install.
>
> What kind of budget do you have for this project? Not much,
> that's why free sounded good.  I could provide a new server if
> needed but anything else is questionable.
> [Koha is free, I'm free, but Murphy's law :)]
>
> Are there are sort of standards (cataloging, circulation) you
> must abide by
> [you may need to check with your librarians on that]?  We have a
> district policy for cataloging and ciruculation but I know we
> have some who do not follow it to the T.  What are the key fields
> and issues we must clean up to make this work?
>
> What sort of record exporting does your catalog support? [If we're lucky,
> you may be able to feed all the book records directly from one to the
> other...] We can export Marc records as ASCII files or as text
> files.  We import from vendors all the time.
>
> Thanks for your help.
>
>
> Karen Littlefield
> klittle at mid-del.k12.ok.us
> Mid Del Schools
> Midwest City, OK 73110
> 405-737-4461 x294
>