Koha Community Newsletter: June 2024
Koha Community Newsletter: June 2024 
Volume 15, Issue 6
ISSN 2153-8328
Edited by Michael Kuhn
Please submit news items to 
Table of contents
Development
Current Koha versions
Read the respective release notes by clicking the revision number.
| Date | Revision | Notes |
| 18 June 2024 | Koha 24.05.01 stable |
6 bugfixes |
| 18 June 2024 | Koha 23.11.06 oldstable |
36 enhancements 166 bugfixes (4 security fixes) |
| 18 June 2024 | Koha 23.05.12 | 12 enhancements 125 bugfixes (12 security fixes) |
| 19 June 2024 | Koha 22.11.18 | 3 bugfixes |
The Debian packages are usually available within days after the release.
Community
New Koha libraries
Austria
- Bücherei Hohenems via LMS Cloud
Germany
- Karl-Preusker-Bücherei Großenhain via LMS Cloud
- Max-Planck-Institut für Astrophysik in Garching, via Admin Kuhn
- Städtische Bibliotheken Singen via LMS Cloud
Great Britain
- North East Surrey College of Technology in Epsom, via PTFS Europe
India
- BLDE Association’s Smt. Bangaramma Sajjan Arts, Commerce and Science College for Women Vijayapura in Vijayapura (Karnataka), via Focuz Infotech
- Christ Nagar College in Trivandrum (Kereala), via Focuz Infotech
- MKES College of Law in Mumbai (Maharashtra), via Focuz Infotech
- National Law School of India University in Bengaluru (Karnataka), via Focuz Infotech
- PKM College of Education in Madampam (Kerala), via Focuz Infotech
- PSM College of Dental Sciences and Research in Akkikavu (Kerala), via Focuz Infotech
Koha tips and tricks
- Basics of system administration (Bywater Solutions)
- Can notice timing be adjusted? (Bywater Solutions)
- Can the cart to shelf cron be configured by library branch? (Bywater Solutions)
- Can the hold ratio default value be set? (Bywater Solutions)
- Cookies information in Koha (PTFS Europe)
- Custom patron slips (Bywater Solutions)
- Holds awaiting pickup (Bywater Solutions)
- How to tntegrate ChatGPT with Koha-ILS – Step-by-step tutorial (RAFLIMTS)
- Installing Koha 24.05 on Ubuntu 24.04 – Step-by-step guide (RAFLIMTS)
- Item bookings (Bywater Solutions)
- Koha 24.05 est sorti (Biblibre)
- Koha 24.05 release notes (Bywater Solutions)
- Koha Community announces 24.05 release (Bywater Solutions)
- Koha Community wiki (koha-US)
- Koha upgrades: Upgrade webinars are coming! (Bywater Solutions)
- MARC reports (koha-US)
- OPAC self checkout (Bywater Solutions)
- Rapid refresh: Circulation (Bywater Solutions)
- Updates to guarantor and guarantees in Koha (Bywater Solutions)
- Why have Email to SMS notices become unreliable? (Bywater Solutions)
Support provider news
- Hackfest Koha du 8/04/24 au 12/04/24 (Biblibre)
- Bywater Solutions contributions to the Koha Community for May 2024 (Bywater Solutions)
- Bywater Solutions’ partners sponsor development in Koha 24.05 release (Bywater Solutions)
- Bywater Solutions partners with koha-US to raise money for the Koha Community for 4th year in a row (Bywater Solutions)
- Equinox Open Source grant renewed for the Center for Khmer Studies (Equinox)
Upcoming events
For all upcoming IRC meetings see Next IRC meetings or the Koha Community calendar.
For any other Koha-related meeting just see the Koha Community calendar.
Invitation to 1st Koha-DACH-Hackfest
By Philipp Orr
We would like to invite you to the first German-speaking Koha-DACH-Hackfest in Karlsruhe.
Location: Library of the Karlsruher Institut für Technologie (KIT), Straße am Forum 2, 76131 Karlsruhe, Germany
Itinerary:
- Monday, 4th November start at 13:00 PM (arrival before noon)
- Tuesday, 5th November all day
- Wednesday, 6th November until 13:00 PM (departure in the afternoon)
Target group: Anyone who has previous experience working with Koha either in a professional or in a private capacity and who wants to get on board for further development of Koha or wants to help out in the Koha Community. Knowledge of how to use Koha is a prerequisite. Workshops and community exchange are the main focus of the event. It is not meant as a training session. Please note that our planned workshops will be held in German only!
Planned Workshops:
- Communication in the Koha Community
- Translating Koha
- Bug testing with sandboxes and koha-testing-docker (ktd)
- Writing for the Koha manual
- Developing plugins
- Writing patches
If you are interested, please send us a quick mail before the 7th October to: koha@bibliothek.kit.edu
We need the following information for our event planning: Surname, Firstname, Organisation, Field (how does your work relate to Koha) and the Mail address that we can use to reach you.
We are looking forward to seeing you there!
Best regards
The Koha-DACH-Hackfest organisation team
Past events
- Hackfest Koha du 8/04/24 au 12/04/24 (Biblibre)
For all past IRC meetings see the following links or the Koha Community calendar.
For any other Koha-related meeting just see the Koha Community calendar.
National workshop on library automation and data migration using Open Source software
By Apurba J. Majumdar, Librarian, Dr. SKB Library, Cotton University
The “National workshop on Library Automation and Data Migration using Open Source Software” was organized by Dr. Suryya Kumar Bhuyan Library and the Department of Library and Information Science, Cotton University, Guwahati during 10 to 14 June, 2024. The workshop aimed to equip participants with the necessary skills and knowledge to implement effective library automation systems and to facilitate seamless data migration using open source solutions.
Sessions and activities: The workshop spanned five days and featured a blend of lectures, practical sessions, and interactive workshops. Each day focused on different aspects of library automation and data migration, structured as follows:
- 10 June 2024: Koha installation and modules introduction
Koha developer Indranil Das Gupta, co-founder L2C2 Technologies, Kolkata introduction to library automation: Basic concepts, benefits, and challenges and speaks about data migration techniques for migrating legacy library data to Koha software. - 11 June 2024: Koha modules
Koha expert Teertha Chatterjee, St. Xavier’s University, Kolkata doing practical how to do library automation using Koha LMS (Open Source Software) for Libraries. - 12 June 2024: Patron management in Koha
Koha expert Dr. Anupam Chanda, Librarian, Bahona College, Jorhat doing practical how to manage patron in Koha in first half of the workshop. - 13 June 2024: Serial management in Koha
In the first half of the workshop hands-on sessions: Practical exercises on serial management in Koha software by Dr. Amit Uraon, assistant librarian, Assam University, Silchar. - 14 June 2024: Case studies and best practices
Presentation from expert and discussions on real-world implementations of Koha by Dr. Gautam Kumar Sarma, deputy librarian, Tezpur University, Tezpur.
Participants: Twelve library professionals from different academic institutions joined the five day program along with ten in-house participants from Cotton University.
Webinar on Koha basics on modules and signing-off patches
By Anna Gefreliz P. Erpelo
The University of Rizal System Library Services in collaboration with the Extension Services Unit spearheaded a two-day webinar as part of the Outreach 3 webinar series entitled, “Library Tools and Protocols/Digital Collection Management.” It was held via Google Meet and Youtube Live last April 5 and 19, 2024. The University invited two Filipino Koha advocates as resource persons for this event. Mr. Jerwyn G. Fernandez and Mr. Eugene Espinoza. Mr. Fernandez talked extensively about Topic 1: Learning The Basics of Koha: Introduction to 23.05, on April 5th, and Mr. Espinoza had a walk-through discussion on Topic 2: Improving the Koha: Integrated Library System by Signing-off Patches, on April 19th. Both sessions received positive feedback from the hundreds of participants who joined the webinar. Most of the participants expressed themselves for another Koha training so that they can be more familiar with the system and fully implement the powerful Koha modules and plugins. It is hoped that the webinar will inspire participants, particularly the college students taking up the library science program to be familiar with open source software such as Koha, and existing Koha users to engage in the Koha community. The involvement of more people in the Koha community would mean sustaining the system through their effort to sign-off patches or report bugs that will further improve the system.