[Koha-devel] RFC: Koha 3.2 : Mandate item-level circulation rules

[Jesse Weaver]

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

>
> [ this text also available at:
>
> http://wiki.koha.org/doku.php?id=en:development:rfcs3.2:rfc32_item_level_itemtypes]
>
> 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
>
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>
>
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
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