Koha Community Newsletter: April 2024
Koha Community Newsletter: April 2024 
Volume 15, Issue 4
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 |
| 3 April 2024 | Koha 23.11.04 stable |
5 enhancements 80 bugfixes (5 security fixes) |
| 3 April 2024 | Koha 23.05.10 oldstable |
2 enhancements 57 bugfixes (5 security fixes) |
| 3 April 2024 | Koha 22.11.16 | 3 bugfixes |
| 3 April 2024 | Koha 22.05.20 | 2 enhancements, 20 bugfixes |
| 1 December 2023 | Koha 21.11.26 | 6 enhancements 2 bugfixes |
The Debian packages are usually available within days after the release.
Community
Notes, gossip and announcements
Governance and sustainability of Koha
By Jonathan Field
At the Koha Community Hackfest held in Marseille, France (8-12 April 2024) community members once again raised the topic of governance and sustainability of Koha. Prior to that meeting Brendan Gallagher and Jonathan Field had done some background work to look into the prospect of putting the Koha project into a foundation. Although this is something that members of the community have explored previously, the feeling is now that the landscape has changed and it’s a good time to revisit this topic. As a result of this meeting we hope to publish a proposal and poll to the wider Koha community in the near future, watch this space!
Mattermost – the new place to be for all things Koha
By Andrew Auld
https://chat.koha-community.org
Many of us have been discussing for ages how we would like to improve communication across the Koha Community and these discussions really came to a head at the recent Hackfest in Marseille.
We all decided that we needed a new tool that is as inclusive as possible, open source, modern, easy to use and familiar. The tool selected is Mattermost and you can start to use it straight away to ask questions, discuss bugs, raise issues or find out news about the Koha project.
It will take a few weeks to settle into, and to implement all of the connections, integrations and bots that will make it as near perfect as a tool can be, but if you are happy to just dive in, then go over to chat.koha-community.org and log in.
There is currently a bridge to IRC so that anything posted in IRC appears in a channel in Mattermost and anything posted in that channel (in Mattermost) appears in IRC. There are no plans to leave IRC completely – it will take time for everyone to get used to Mattermost and for the community to make sure it isn’t cutting out any voices if it does decide to stop using IRC.
The current Mailing lists are also unaffected by this change.
PTFS Europe is hosting the Koha Community Mattermost server and there are a number of admin users across the community.
New Koha libraries
Germany
- Gemeindebücherei Vörstetten via LMS Cloud
- Leopold-Sophien-Bibliothek in Überlingen, via LMS Cloud
- Stadtbücherei Überlingen via LMS Cloud
USA
- Anne Arundel County Public Library in Annapolis (MD), via Bywater Solutions
Koha tips and tricks
- Can the holdings table be re-ordered? (Bywater Solutions)
- Circulation (PTFS Europe)
- Clean printing from reports (koha-US)
- Creating customizable notices with reports (Bywater Solutions)
- Do items automatically returned go automatically to the next person waiting on hold? (Bywater Solutions)
- E-mail links with content in SQL reports (koha-US)
- Introduction to the staff interface (Bywater Solutions)
- How do we remove a patron attribute if accounts are using it? (Bywater Solutions)
- How to use Australian indigenous languages in your Koha (Catalyst)
- Koha 23.05 and 23.11: Cataloguing and acquisitions (PTFS Europe)
- Koha 23.05 and 23.11: Circulation (PTFS Europe)
- Koha 23.05 and 23.11: ERM (PTFS Europe)
- Koha 23.05 and 23.11: Interlibrary loans (PTFS Europe)
- Koha 23.05 and 23.11: OPAC and patrons (PTFS Europe)
- Koha 23.05 and 23.11: Staff interface (PTFS Europe)
- Merging patrons (Bywater Solutions)
- Password expiry and reset in Koha (PTFS Europe)
- Patron attributes (RAFLIMTS)
- Patrons (Bywater Solutions)
- Printing patron card number slips (koha-US)
- Reports, templates and Template Toolkit (koha-US)
- Scannable barcodes in reports (Bywater Solutions)
- SQL reports (Bywater Solutions)
- What does “Limit to currently available items” in search facets actually mean? (Bywater Solutions)
- What is the difference between “HoldsQueuePrioritizeBranch” and “LocalHoldsPriority”? (Bywater Solutions)
Support provider news
- Bywater Solutions celebrates fifteenth anniversary (Bywater Solutions)
- Bywater Solutions contributions to Koha Community – March 2024 (Bywater Solutions)
- La lettre d’information est de retour! (Biblibre)
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.
Past events
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.
A report on the Workshop on “Koha ILS: functional approach”
By Snigdha Naskar
Organiser: Department of Library & Information Science, Rabindra Bharati University, Kolkata 700050, West Bengal, India.
Date: 21 March 2024
Event report: The day-long Workshop on “Koha ILS: Functional Approach” held on 21 March 2024 at the Rabindra Bharati University Computer Centre, Kolkata, India, was a resounding success. The event was primarily aimed at delving into the practical aspects of using Koha Integrated Library System (ILS) in libraries, with a view to acquaint students and scholars with its functional aspects and practical applications.
The workshop was convened by Dr Snigdha Naskar, Assistant Professor, Dept. of Library & Information Science, under the stewardship of Dr Ziaur Rahman, who is the current Head of this Department and also the Director of the Workshop and Dr Sudip Ranjan Hatua, who is the former Head of this Department and the advisor of the event. The event featured a series of insightful sessions, followed by some engaging and productive interactions, which helped participants work out a comprehensive understanding of Koha ILS.
The workshop attracted a varied range of audience, starting from librarians to information professionals to students and scholars of Library & Information Science discipline, all of whom were eager to learn more about the various aspects of Koha ILS. The sessions covered a range of topics, including installation and configuration, cataloguing, circulation, and administration of Koha ILS. The highlight of the event was the practical sessions conducted by Mr. Indranil Das Gupta, the renowned expert from L2C2 Technologies, who was invited by the Department to work as the sole Resource Person of the workshop. Mr. Das Gupta’s insightful presentations and hands-on demonstrations helped participants grasp the intricacies of Koha ILS and its practical implementation in library settings. The main topics and areas covered by the workshop are- Introduction to Koha ILS and Its Features; Installation and Configuration of Koha; Collection Management and Cataloguing in Koha; Circulation and Patron Management; & Reporting and Data Analysis. The interactive nature of the sessions allowed participants to ask questions, share their experience, and also learn from one another. The workshop provided a platform for networking and collaboration among professionals in the field of library and information science. Participants had the opportunity to engage with expert in the field, to share their thoughts, and to gain practical insights into implementing Koha ILS in their respective institutions. Since the workshop featured hands-on sessions, it allowed participants to explore the various functionalities of Koha ILS firsthand.
In fine, the workshop on “Koha ILS: Functional Approach” was a valuable learning experience for all the participants. It not only enhanced their understanding of Koha ILS but also equipped them with the skills and knowledge needed to implement and manage a modern library system effectively. Special thanks were given to Mr. Indranil Das Gupta for his efforts in making this workshop a success. The success of the workshop bears testimony to the growing importance of Koha ILS in the field of library and information science.