Koha Newsletter: Volume 2/Issue 4: April 2011

Official Koha Newsletter (ISSN 2153-8328)
Volume 2, Issue 4: April 2011

Special Issue Table of Contents

• Introduction
• Koha 3.4
  • Koha 3.4 Released
  • Koha 3.4 Statistics
  • Koha 3.4 Documentation
  • Koha 3.4 Release Notes

Introduction
by Nicole C. Engard

In honor of the timely release of Koha 3.4 and the amazing community who made it happen this issue of the Koha Newsletter will focus on the release. The following articles will provide you with all of the information you’ll need to learn about Koha 3.4.

Koha 3.4

Koha 3.4 Released
by Chris Cormack

Kia ora tatou

The Koha development team is happy to announce the release of Koha 3.4.0.

Koha 3.4.0 is a major feature release that contains major changes to underlying architecture (adoption of Template::Toolkit for templating) and performance enhancements (removal of item data from biblio records).

These changes, in addition to the inclusion of many new features, mean a lot of new strings for translators to translate.

For these reasons we recommend that people who are already running Koha inproduction delay their upgrade until 3.4.1, due May 22, to give the translators time to finish, and for the removing of item data to be streamlined. If you do wish to upgrade please make sure you read the UPGRADE section of the INSTALL document.

The development team would like to thank all the people who have made this release possible. Please take time to read the release notes.

Koha 3.4 Statistics
by Chris Cormack, edited by Nicole C. Engad

Editor’s Note: In the interest of being brief, the following article only shows the top 10 of results for most of the statistics categories included. Full statistics can be found at: http://blog.bigballofwax.co.nz/2011/04/23/some-statistics-for-koha-3-4-0/.

Koha 3.4 Documentation
by Nicole C. Engard

The manual for Koha 3.4 is (as always) a work in progress. Throughout the six month development cycle, I have been updating the manual so that when Koha 3.4 was released the manual for that release was as up to date as possible. As always, contributions to the documentation are welcome. Community members can access the manual in its own git repository at: http://git.koha-community.org/gitweb/?p=kohadocs.git;a=summary.

At this time the Koha 3.4 manual is only available in English. If you would like to translate the manual in to your native language please contact me and I’ll get you set up with a folder for your own language files.

Koha 3.4 Release Notes
by Chris Cormack and Koha Community

Koha is the first free and open source software library automation package
(ILS). Development is sponsored by libraries of varying types and sizes,
volunteers, and support companies from around the world.
The website for the Koha project is 

http://koha-community.org/

Koha 3.4.0 is released in memoriam of Elizabeth Mae Gallagher-Mitchell
December 20, 2010 - March 10, 2011.
Haere. Mōu tai ata; mōku tai ahiahi 

Koha 3.4.0 can be downloaded from:

    http://download.koha-community.org/koha-3.04.00.tar.gz

Installation instructions can be found at:

http://wiki.koha-community.org/wiki/Installation_Documentation

    OR in the INSTALL files that come in the tarball

Koha 3.4.0 is a major feature release.

New features in 3.4.0
======================

  ACQUISITIONS:
    * Can filter budgets by active status and date on the acquisitions
      homepage
    * Freetext field added to specify one-off delivery addresses/comments
    * Can create multiple orders from a staged MARC file
    * New cronjob to delete old suggestions
    * Warning when ordering from an external source when a catalogue
      record already exists
    * Currency can be set when ordering

  ADMINISTRATION
    * Many additional granular permissions are added
    * Ability to replace the favicon from within the admin interface
    * Ability to import and export MARC frameworks
    * Separate field for library state/province
    * WYSIWYG editor for Koha News
    * Ability to add news items to slips
    * Label batch edit interface allows entry of items by scanning
      barcodes
    * Can choose the MARC framework when importing records

  CATALOGING
    * NORMARC support added
    * Edits to Authority records are now logged
    * 005 field updated when a Biblio or Authority record is edited
    * Added edit record/edit items to the search result if logged in
      user has cataloguing privileges
    * Add support of record linking by record control number in $w
    * 006/008 plugins much improved

  CIRCULATION
    * Callnumbers are displayed when an item is checked in
    * Waiting holds now show the date they were marked waiting
    * Show guarantees checkouts when checking out to a guarantor and vice versa
    * Show holds waiting for a patron on check in
    * New report wizard for Holds
    * Syspref to disable the ability for borrowers to choose their
      pickup library for holds
    * Self Checkout supports login
    * Ability to set 'hard' due dates, which will not allow items to
      be checked out past that
    * Printed receipts can now include the library phone, address and
      other fields
    * Fast Add framework at circulation
    * Ability to define due dates in the past
    * Checkin page now lists fines owed by patron
    * Preferences for defining the fine level when a staff
      override is needed
    * Search to Hold feature

  OPAC
    * New system preference added to allow the librarians to hide
      items from the OPAC.  See docs/opac/OpacHiddenItems.txt for
      more information.
    * Authority display improved in OPAC
    * Allow the patron to choose which library they wish to make a
      purchase suggestion for
    * Added the ability to hide the name of a reviewer/commenter in
      the OPAC
    * CSS/HTML and other UI improvements
    * Lists respect the XSLT bibliograhic display preferences
    * Truncation of facets now controllable by a system preference
    * Can use 856$u to store an image URI which Koha can then display in the OPAC
    * User can renew multiple items at once
    * A new librarian-controlled column added to the 'My Summary' page on the OPAC
    * Recent comments view for the OPAC (allow users to see recently reviewed items)
    * Feature to make the OPAC private (allow only logged in users to search/view items)
    * Ability to edit what displays when no results are found
    * Privacy feature allowing the user to specify when their reading
      (or circulation) records are anonymised
    * opacstylesheet can link to a url anywhere, not just a local file

  PATRONS
    * Separate field for state/province
    * Ability to duplicate a Patron
    * Print overdue and hold notices for patrons without email addresses

  REPORTS
    * Run a report immediately after creation
    * The list of saved reports has pagination and can be sorted
    * SQL formatting improvements when viewing a report
    * Parameters can be set in guided reports

  SEARCHING
    * NoZebra mode is officially deprecated.
    * Added shelf location to the indexes
    * Added a search link for analytics to serial records
    * Subjects can now search complete subfields
    * MARC21 tag 751 (geographical entry) is now searchable
    * UNIMARC EAN/UPC/Music fields added to the indices
    * usecontrolnumber syspref allows you to link the 78X fields to
      other names of the same serial

  SERIALS
    * 50 bugs fixed in serials management 5508

  STAFF INTERFACE
    * Enumchron added to the biblio detail page
    * Improvements to suggestion management
    * Can use 856$u to store an image URI which Koha can then display in
      the staff interface.
    * Cart is emptied when a user logs out
    * IntranetUserCSS preference added to allow styling of staff interface

  INTERFACE
    * New icon set for itemtypes (Nimes)
    * LibLime kids iconset resized to consistent size
    * Seshat itemtype iconset added (Naropa College)
    * CSS classes added to the XSLT results to enable styling

  INTERNATIONALIZTION
    * New initialization SQL files for Norwegian

  INTERNALS, PACKAGING AND PERFORMANCE
    * Koha now uses Template::Toolkit rather than HTML::Template::Pro
    * Improvements to test case coverage
    * .packages file for Ubuntu Maverick
    * Testing using Test::Perl::Critic
    * CGI::Session can now be stored in Memcached
    * mod_deflate added to save bandwidth
    * Move items out of biblioitems

  COMMAND LINE UTILITIES
    * Script to update all items and biblio
    * Script to set and get system preferences from the command line

  BUGFIXES
    * Approximately 633 tracked bugs and enhancement requests
      are addressed in this release

System Preferences
======================

The following system preferences are new in 3.4.0:

    * AllFinesNeedOverride
    * AllowFineOverride
    * AllowPurchaseSuggestionBranchChoice
    * AllowSelfCheckReturns
    * AlternateHoldingsField
    * AlternateHoldingsSeparator
    * AuthoritiesLog
    * COinSinOPACResults
    * Display856uAsImage
    * displayFacetCount
    * FacetLabelTruncationLength
    * FineNotifyAtCheckin
    * HoldNotifyAtCheckin
    * IntranetFavicon
    * IntranetUserCSS
    * itemBarcodeInputFilter
    * maxItemsInSearchResults
    * maxRecordsForFacets
    * OPACAllowUserToChooseBranch
    * OPACDisplay856uAsImage
    * OpacFavicon
    * OpacHiddenItems
    * OPACMySummaryHTML
    * OPACNoResultsFound
    * OpacPrivacy
    * OpacPublic
    * SelfCheckHelpMessage
    * SelfCheckTimeout
    * ShowReviewer
    * StaffAuthorisedValueImages
    * TraceCompleteSubfields
    * TraceSubjectSubdivisions
    * UseAuthoritiesForTracings
    * UseControlNumber
    * UseTablesortForCirc
    * WaitingNotifyAtCheckin

System requirements
======================

    Changes since 3.2:

    * Template::Toolkit

Documentation
======================

As of Koha 3.2, the Koha manual is now maintained in DocBook.  The
home page for Koha documentation is 

http://koha-community.org/documentation/

As of the date of these release notes, only the english version of the
Koha manual is available:

http://koha-community.org/documentation/3-4-manual/

The Git repository for the Koha manual can be found at

http://git.koha-community.org/gitweb/?p=kohadocs.git;a=summary

Translations
======================

Complete or near-complete translations of the OPAC and staff
interface are available in this release for the following languages:

  * Chinese
  * Danish
  * English (New Zealand)
  * English (USA)
  * French (France)
  * French (Canada)
  * German
  * Greek
  * Hindi
  * Italian
  * Norwegian
  * Portuguese
  * Spanish
  * Turkish

Partial translations are available for various other languages.

The Koha team welcomes additional translations; please see

http://wiki.koha-community.org/wiki/Translating_Koha

for information about translating Koha, and join the koha-translate
list to volunteer:

http://lists.koha-community.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/koha-translate

The most up-to-date translations can be found at:

http://translate.koha-community.org/

Release Team
======================

The release team for Koha 3.4 is

Release Manager:        Chris Cormack <chrisc@catalyst.net.nz>
Documentation Manager:  Nicole C Engard <nengard@gmail.com>
Translation Manager:    Frédéric Demians <frederic@tamil.fr>
Release Maintainer (3.2.x):
                        Chris Nighswonger <cnighswonger@foundations.edu>
Release Maintainer (3.4.x):
                        Chris Nighswonger <cnighswonger@foundations.edu>
QA Manager:             Colin Campbell

Credits
======================

We thank the following libraries who are known to have sponsored
new features in Koha 3.4:

  * Aix-Marseille University, France
  * East Brunswick Public Library, USA
  * Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations
  * Goddard College, USA
  * Hauraki District Council, New Zealand
  * Horowhenua Library Trust, New Zealand
  * La Trappe Monastery, France
  * Los Gatos Public Library, USA
  * Lyon3 University, France
  * Marlboro College, USA
  * MassCat, USA
  * Merrill Memorial Library, Maine, USA
  * Middletown Township Public Library, USA
  * Ministry of Culture, Spanish Government, Spain
  * Naropa College, USA
  * Nelsonville Public Library, USA
  * Nimes, France
  * Regionbibliotek Halland, Sweden
  * Rijksmuseum Research Library, Netherlands
  * SAN Ouest Provence, France
  * SAR, USA
  * St Etienne University, France
  * VOKAL, USA

We thank the following individuals who contributed patches to
Koha 3.4.0. 

  * Alex Arnaud
  * Amit Gupta
  * Andrew Elwell
  * Bernardo Gonzalez Kriegel
  * Brian Engard
  * Brice Sanchez
  * Chris Cormack
  * Chris Nighswonger
  * Christophe Croullebois
  * Christopher Hall
  * Cindy Murdock Ames
  * Claudia
  * Colin Campbell
  * D Ruth Bavousett
  * Daniel Grobani
  * David Schuster
  * Dobrica Pavlinusic
  * Doug Dearden
  * Edward Allen
  * Frédéric Demians
  * Frédérick Capovilla
  * Frère Sébastien Marie
  * Galen Charlton
  * Garry Collum
  * Henri-Damien LAURENT
  * Ian Walls
  * Jane Wagner
  * Janusz Kaczmarek
  * Jared Camins-Esakov
  * Jean-André Santoni
  * Jerome Charaoui
  * Jesse Weaver
  * Joe Atzberger
  * Johnboy
  * Jonathan Druart
  * Julian Maurice
  * Katrin Fischer
  * Koustubha Kale
  * Lars Wirzenius
  * Liz Rea
  * Magnus Enger
  * Marcel de Rooy
  * Mark Gavillet
  * Mason James
  * Matthew Hunt
  * Matthias Meusburger
  * MJ Ray
  * Nahuel ANGELINETTI
  * Nate Curulla
  * Nicolas Morin
  * Nicole C. Engard
  * Owen Leonard
  * Paul Poulain
  * Reed Wade
  * Ricardo Dias Marques
  * Robin Sheat
  * Salvador Zaragoza Rubio
  * Savitra Sirohi
  * Serhij Dubyk {Сергій Дубик}
  * Sophie Meynieux
  * Spartaness
  * Srdjan Jankovic
  * Stéphane Delaune
  * Tomas Cohen Arazi
  * Will Stokes
  * Zach Sim
  * Zeno Tajoli

We regret any omissions.  If a contributor has been inadvertantly missed,
please send a patch against these release notes to
koha-patches@lists.koha-community.org.

Revision control notes
======================

The Koha project uses Git for version control.  The current development
version of Koha can be retrieved by checking out the master branch of 

    git://git.koha-community.org/koha.git

The branch for Koha 3.4.x (i.e., this version of Koha and future bugfix
releases) is 3.4.x.

The next major feature release of Koha will be Koha 3.6.0.

Bugs and feature requests
======================

Bug reports and feature requests can be filed at the Koha bug
tracker at

http://bugs.koha-community.org/

Ehara taku toa i te toa takitahi, engari he toa takitini

Newsletter edited by Nicole C. Engard, Koha Documentation Manager.

Please send future story ideas to