This parameter tells Koha about your library's public service outlets. Even if you have only one outlet, you need to give Koha some information about it. You may find that some information about your primary outlet already exists, since the installation script gives the installing technician the option of setting some basic information as part of the installation process. That information can now be changed or refined, if necessary.

Begin by defining your branch categories. If, for example, you have one main library and several branch libraries, you might set up an "MAIN" (Main) category and a "BR" (Branch) category, with descriptions "Main library" and "Branch library."

Figure 1.10. Adding branch categories

Now add the names and addresses, phone numbers, etc of your libraries in the "Branches" section. (All of your libraries should be described here, not just the branch libraries.) Give each library a unique and easily-remembered code (maximum of four characters). This code will be used in Koha's database to identify each library. When libraries are listed in Koha, they will be listed in alphabetical order by code.

Figure 1.11. Adding branch descriptions

Some libraries have also set up "virtual" branches with names like "At bindery" or "In storage" to make it easier to pinpoint the location of items that are temporarily not available. If you are going to do this, remember that these virtual branches will appear in the OPAC just as if they were real branches, and you will need to set your issuing rules for these branches accordingly.

As you add branch categories and branches, the list on your "Branches" screen will grow. Make sure that each branch is assigned to a defined branch category, and you should be ready to go on to the next step.

Figure 1.12. Branches

If you are going to be using a printer (or several printers) that is attached to your Koha server for producing statistical and operations reports, then you need to give each printer a name and tell Koha how to access it. You do this by telling Koha which print queue to use.

Figure 1.13. Printers screen

See the related comment in the User Comments section.

Item types are the "categories" into which your library items are divided. Defining item types must be done before Koha can function, and it should be done carefully and with a great deal of thought, because issuing rules, statistics, OPAC searches, and many other Koha functions will be based on these categories.

You can define as many item types as you want. For instance, you probably want to have videocassettes in a different category from non-fiction books, and mysteries in a different category from children's picture books. If you already are using a commercial Integrated Library System, you almost certainly already have all of your materials divided up into such categories. Now you need to tell Koha what your categories are.

Figure 1.14. Adding Item Types

The itemtype code is limited to four characters. This "Item type" code is rarely displayed by Koha; instead the "Description" of the type will be what users see. "Rental charge" is any amount you might charge to users for borrowing items of a certain type (like videos). "Number of renewals" specifies how many times a borrower of items of this type may renew the loan. "Not for loan" would be checked for item types such as reference materials which do not leave the library.

Item types are useful for many things, and very important in controlling how Koha works. To cite just two examples:

Setting up item types is one of the first things you should do after installing the Koha software.

Figure 1.15. Sample item types

While some of your parameter settings may be delayed until after you have tested Koha for a while, item types are critical to the way Koha behaves and should be set early and carefully.

Here is where you define the types of users of your library and how they will be handled.

Figure 1.16. Borrower category administration

Figure 1.17. Adding borrower categories

Start by assigning a "Category Code" and a "Description" to each borrower type. The code is limited to no more than two characters and may be anything you choose. "Enrollment period" is a number indicating how many years a user's enrollment is valid. If your enrollments expire after four years, for example (as in a school?), then set this number to 4. If enrollments never expire, set this to an impossibly high number (99). "Upper Age Limit" and "Age Required" set the age parameters for this type of user. If you issue children's cards to users between the ages of 2 and 18, for example, then "Age Required" would be "2" and "Upper Age Limit" would be "18." If there is no upper age limit, set this value to 999 (the highest allowed). "Enrollment Fee" and "Reserve Fee" (if any) should be entered either as whole numbers or with six decimal places, with no currency notation (e.g. "1.250000" instead of "$1.25"). "Overdue Notice Required" lets you bypass generating overdue notices for this user type.

Here is yet another important parameter to set before using Koha, since it controls many aspects related to the circulation of library materials. Item Types and Borrower Categories, however, must be defined before you can define your Issuing Rules. (Your branches should be defined, too, if your issuing rules will vary from branch to branch.) If you try to define issuing rules before item types and borrower categories are set, the grid at the bottom of the screen will be empty and you cannot proceed.

Figure 1.18. Issuing rules screen

The on-screen help is pretty extensive for this parameter. The grid at the bottom of the screen contains the descriptions of all your item types (in the rows) and all of your borrower categories (in the columns), with each borrower column subdivided into boxes for issues and fines. In addition, the last row and the last column are both labeled with an asterisk. If a box in the grid is left blank, its value will be calculated based on the value in the "*" boxes, as explained in the "Default values" area of the on-screen instructions.

The "issue" boxes are filled with two whole numbers, separated by a comma. The first number tells Koha how many days a borrower from the corresponding category can borrow an item of the corresponding type. The second number tells Koha how many items of the corresponding type can be borrowed by a borrower from the corresponding category. In the screenshot above, an institutional borrower can borrow most items for 28 days, with an upper limit of 5 items of most types. Every other category of borrower can borrow most items for 21 days, with varying limits on the number of items of each type which may be borrowed.

Each of the "fine" boxes in the grid contains three numbers separated by commas. Each number defines the fine, how many days overdue the item must be before the fine is assessed (and a first notice prepared), and how many days after that the fine is assessed again (and a second notice sent). For example, if you charge adults 1 dollar (or Euro, or whatever currency) for overdue videos after three days and add another dollar charge after another five days, put "1,3,5" in the box in the grid that aligns with "Adult" and "Video recording." If you charge adults 25 cents for overdue fiction books after a grace period of seven days and repeat the charge seven days later, then the entry in the corresponding box in the grid would be "0.25,7,7". After the first and second notice are given, Koha prepares a "final notice" after the number of days set by the final number in the grid and sets the charge to the maximum that you set in the "noissuescharge" system preference.

Here you should list all of the words you wish Koha to ignore when performing catalogue searches or building the keyword index. Normally, you will not want Koha to save keyword references to articles like "The" and "A" and other very common words. Saving keyword references to these words does not help to limit a search and will make the keyword index very large and "cluttered" with words that are not really useful. The "stopwords" list defines these unnecessary words for your installation.

Figure 1.19. Simple Stop Words List for English

(Note that the box beside the "OK" button is a search box for longer lists that span several screens.)

Koha comes with Z39.50 client software for searching other libraries' MARC records; this parameter defines the Z39.50 servers you want Koha to search.

Z39.50 is an international standard for searching and retrieving information from remote databases. In practice, it provides a way for libraries to search and retrieve records from other libraries. Z39.50 client software is often provided as a component of an integrated library system; the server software is much less common. Index Data of Denmark (http://www.indexdata.dk) provides many of the software tools used for Z39.50, and also maintains a list of Z39.50 servers around the world.

In this area, you can define servers for searching. Be sure the servers you choose support the MARC format you have chosen in your system preferences. To add servers, you will need to know the domain name or IP address of the server, the port number to use, and the name of the database to access. Be sure to choose servers which deliver records in the proper MARC format for your Koha installation. If you have a login name and password for Z39.50 servers that do not accept anonymous connections, Koha will save your user ID and password in addition to the other information it needs to make a connection. (For anonymous servers, leave the userid and password fields blank.)

Figure 1.20. Z39.50 Servers Setup

The other fields on the form control whether or not the server is automatically searched when you request a Z39.50 search (put a "1" in the "Checked" field) and the order in which it is checked. It is a good idea to be selective in choosing servers. Defining more than five or six checked servers may slow down your Z39.50 search results.

If you have set your "acquisitions" system preference to "normal," you now need to give Koha some information about your materials acquisition budget. (If you chose "simple" acquisitions, ignore this parameter.)

"Book Funds" are accounts that you establish to keep track of your expenditures for library materials. They may be used for any kind of materials (not just books) and should match the line items in your materials budget. For instance, if your library establishes a budget line for books, another for audiovisual materials, a third line for magazines, and a fourth budget line for electronic databases, then you would have four Book Funds. The process of setting up the funds involves two steps: naming the funds, and setting the budget.

Figure 1.21. Defining Book Fund Names

Each Book Fund has a unique fund code, limited to no more than five characters, that identifies it. You should decide on your fund codes (e.g. something like BOOKS, AV, MAGS, DATA for the four book funds described above) and enter the code in the "Book fund" box, then a full name in the "Name" box. If a fund is restricted to use by one branch, you may also choose that branch from a pull-down menu containing the names of all the branches you have defined.

Once you have set up a fund, you will see a link to a page for setting up the fund budget. Here you will enter the beginning and ending dates of your budget period and the amount of money in that particular budget line.

Figure 1.22. Setting Book Fund Budgets

Do not use any kind of currency notation (like "$") or commas when entering the budget number. (Commas will be converted to decimal points.) You may set up several budgets for each fund, if you like, each budget covering a different time period.

Define the currencies you deal with here. You should at least define your local currency here, giving it a name (like US DOLLAR or EURO) and setting the "rate" at 1. If you do business with vendors who charge in a different currency, enter a name for that currency (e.g. PESO) and set the approximate exchange rate compared to your currency.

Figure 1.23. Currencies Setup

Note that currency names are limited to 10 characters or less. The exchange rate is used to calculate the remaining balances in your materials budgets when you purchase materials using "normal" acquisitions.

(Send comments and remarks to <st.hedges AT gmail DOT com>. They will be added to this section.)