Koha Community Newsletter: June 2015
Koha Community Newsletter 
June 2015
Volume 6, Issue 6
ISSN 2153-8328
Edited by Chad Roseburg, Koha Community Newsletter Editor
Please submit news items to 
Table of Contents
- Development
- Community
- Upcoming Events
- Past Events
Development
Koha 3.20.1 Released
by Chris Cormack
The Koha release team would like to announce the release of Koha 3.20.1, this is a security and a bugfix release.
As such we strongly recommend people running 3.20.0 should upgrade as soon as possible
Special thanks also goes to Raschin Tavakoli and Dimitris Simos from SBA Research for finding and reporting the security bugs.
It is with great pleasure that I announce the release of Koha 3.20, the latest major release of the Koha open source integrated library system.
Koha 3.20.1 can be downloaded from:
http://download.koha-community.org/koha-3.20.01.tar.gz
Installation instructions can be found at:
http://wiki.koha-community.org/wiki/Installation_Documentation
OR in the INSTALL files that comes in the tarball
Koha 3.20.1 is a Security and bugfix/maintenance release.
Please check out Security Release – Koha 3.20.1 for the complete release notes.
Koha 3.18.8 Released
by Liz Rea
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
Koha 3.18.8 can be downloaded from:
http://download.koha-community.org/koha-3.18.07.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 3.18.8 is a bugfix/maintenance release.This release contains critical security fixes, all users of this version are highly recommended to upgrade as soon as is reasonable.
You can read the full release notes at Security Release – 3.18.8.
Koha 3.16.12 Released
by Mason James
The Koha release team would like to announce the release of Koha 3.16.12, this is a security release.
As such we strongly recommend people running 3.16.x should upgrade as soon as possible
Special thanks also goes to Raschin Tavakoli and Dimitris Simos from SBA Research for finding and reporting the security bugs.
Full release notes are here
Security Release – Koha 3.16.12
Koha 3.14.16 Released
by Fridolin Somers
Koha 3.14.16 can be downloaded from: http://download.koha-community.org/koha-3.14.16.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 3.14.16 is a security release.
Full release notes are here
Koha 3.14.16 released
Bugs and Patches
Melissa Lefebvre writes about some of the developments in the hopper at ByWater Solutions in her Koha Summer Developments Update.
Community
New Koha Libraries
The URBS consortium in Rome goes live with Koha
by Janet L. Mente
The URBS consortium, a network for the humanities comprised of 7 Rome-based libraries with a patrimony of c. 350,000 bibliographic records, 8,000 periodicals and 45,000 authority records, has migrated its Marc21 holdings from Millennium to KOHA with the aid of the Italian company “Cineca”. Besides the standard keyword search features, this installation also uses a browse search function. As the contents of the consortium are multilingual and there was difficulty for KOHA to recognize the articles from the various languages, the second indicator of the 245 field was used to correctly alphabetize the title results. A Z39.50 protocol was also used in this KOHA installation to interrogate other libraries. Furthermore the URBS KOHA installation has a seamless interface with ESSE3, a portal used by Italian universities for data concerning their staff and students and their academic careers ; thus the KOHA libraries can manage lending, fines, etc., by dialoguing with the university’s ESSE3. The URBS KOHA installation, now in the final testing phase, will go live in July.
Community Gossip
Todd Goatley-Seals writes about some of the common misconceptions around Open Source that come up when libraries begin the process of evaluating Koha as their next ILS.
Joy Nelson gave a talk on data migration at CALIcon 2015. Read her write up on CALIcon 2015.
Amy Kearns spoke at the New Jersey Association of Library Assistants (NJALA) conference on the topic of Open Source in Libraries. Find out more about the conference by reading her article, Open Source is Alive and Well in NJ!.
How To
Carmen Hernandez shows you how to run the overdue report in Koha.
Support Provider News
Koha crowdfunding site created by ByWater Solutions receives international support.
ByWater Solutions and EBSCO to present at ALA Annual
Jesse Weaver joins ByWater Solutions as a full time Development Specialist. Read the announcement.
Upcoming Events
Koha Seminar in Rome
Submitted by Romana Franziska Wallner
On July 14th, 2015 the American University of Rome, in collaboration with the American Embassy in Rome, has organized a workshop titled “Free the Librarians: the future of libraries through community engagement.”
The event includes the participation of key note speakers: David Lankes (Syracuse University), Stefano Bargioni (Pontificia Universita’ della Santa Croce), and Alessia Zanin-Yost (Penn State University). The topics that will be discussed during the event refer to innovative technological advancements and new services for foreign communities. Stefano Bargioni, founding member of Koha Gruppo Italiano, will focus his talk on the Koha Galaxy – a hands on workshop about the various Koha modules. We aim to draw the attention of all those who work in the field of library management in Italy. For now, sixty participants have registered to the workshop. Furthermore, the event will be moderated by Sebastian Hierl (American Academy in Rome).
July General IRC meeting
The July general IRC meeting will be held on the 8th at 10:00 UTC.
The agenda and other information is here.
KohaCon 2015
Registration is now open!
They are also accepting presentation proposals – so Submit your talk!
Location:International Institute for Tropical Agriculture (IITA) lbadan, Nigeria
Dates: October 19 – 21
For more information, please see http://kohacon15.projektlinkkonsult.com/ .
Koha North American User Group Conference 2015: Registration Info and Schedule
The schedule has been finalized, see it here: Koha North American User Group Conference 2015 Schedule
Dates: August 5-8, 2015
Location: Bayfront Convention Center in Erie, Pennsylvania
Website: http://www.mercyhurst.edu/academics/library/2015-koha-north-american-users-group-conference
Registration is NOW open!!! Deadline for registration is July 20th. Register here. Credit cards not accepted — mail a check to:
NEKLS4317 W. 6th Street
Lawrence, KS 66049
Make it out to Northeast Kansas Library System
Now accepting presentation proposals. From the announcement:
The Koha North American User Group Conference planning committee is seeking session proposals for the 2015 meeting on August 4-7, in Erie, PA. The committee invites proposals that: attract Koha end users such as librarians, technical services and support staff in libraries; offer work arounds for known system issues and bugs; highlight technological advances impacting Koha development; deliver work-flow best practices and innovative approaches to using Koha; utilize other open-source software within Koha; provide tips and tools for cataloging, serials management, accounts clean-up, patron uploads, record maintenance, and other system functions.
Submit session topics here.
Past Events
First Koha Seminar in Finland
by Päivi Knuutinen
THE VERY FIRST KOHA SEMINAR FINLAND IN JOENSUU 21 and 22 MAY, 2015
The Joensuu Regional Library studied open source library systems for a few years. In June 2014 we started using Koha. Our library is the first public library in Finland that migrated to an open source library system. Koha has stirred national interest both in Finland and other Nordic countries.
“We are constantly being approached by other public and academic libraries throughout the nation. That is why we are organizing this event” says Rebekka Pilppula, the Director of Cultural and Library Services, City of Joensuu.
We thank you all who attended the seminar! Huge thanks to our speakers from abroad: Paul Poulain and Sonia Bouis from France, Inga Nyman Ambrosiani from Sweden and Arve Søreide from Norway and, of course, our Finnish speakers, too!
We received excellent feedback from the participants. Thank you for all that!
If you weren’t able to participate in our seminar, you can read or watch it now:
presentations (video): https://vimeo.com/search?q=koha+seminar
presentations (download): http://vaarakirjastot.fi/web/english/presentations
photos: https://www.flickr.com/photos/133875209@N08/sets/72157654238168185
Koha Symposium in Vitré – France
by Sonia Bouis
The 6th symposium Koha was held in France on 15-16 June 2015. It was organised by the french association Kohala (which aims to promote Koha ILS and the open-source tools diffusion). It was hosted by the Vitré public library (Brittany).
There were 65 attendees that have followed either the discovery circuit – for people who want to know koha- or the user circuit. There were feedback on changing koha’s version, using specific modules (course reserves..), highlighting on the community and how to participate and presenting last enhancements on the 3.20 version.
You can find presentations (in french) on the association website : http://koha-fr.org/content/symposium-2015
Conference at Swiss Institute
by Janet L. Mente
On June 11, 2015 a conference entitled “Methods, choices, instruments : the new catalog of the URBS consortium” was held at the Swiss Institute with the patronage of the Italian KOHA group and Cineca. Stefano Bargioni of the Pontificia Università Santa Croce was among the various speakers, with a presentation entitled: “Koha, RDA, FRBR : alucne riflessioni”.
Stefano’s slides can be fount at:
Zeno Tajoli and Andrea Marchitelli did a presentation about the migration of URBS from Millennium to Koha.
Their presentation:
June General IRC Meeting
The June general IRC meeting was held on the 10th at 20:00 UTC.
The agenda, links to the minutes, and other information is here.
Development IRC Meeting: June 3rd
The first June development IRC meeting was held on the 3rd at 15:00 and 22:00 UTC.
The agenda, links to the minutes, and other information is here.
Development IRC Meeting: June 24th
The second June Development IRC meeting was held on the 24th at 15:00 and 22:00 UTC.
The agenda and other information is here.
Editor, Koha Community Newsletter