Koha Community Newsletter: October 2021
Koha Community Newsletter: October 2021 
Volume 12, Issue 10
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 |
| 29 October 2021 Kyle Hall |
Koha 21.05.05 stable |
77 bugfixes |
| 29 October 2021 Fridolin Somers |
Koha 20.11.11 oldstable |
46 bugfixes |
| 27 October 2021 Victor Grousset |
Koha 20.05.17 oldoldstable |
4 bugfixes |
| 29 October 2021 Wainui Witika-Park |
Koha 19.11.23 oldoldstable |
3 bugfixes |
The Debian packages are usually available within days after the release.
Koha advent
On 15 October Martin Renvoize wrote:
We’re looking to organise another Koha advent calendar series this year and
I’m trying to be a bit more organised than last year: https://koha-community.gitlab.io/KohaAdvent/
Last years calendar was themed around building a plugin. This year I’d like
to suggest a broader community theme with best practice guides and how to’s
including all the way’s people can contribute to the project and get the
most out of the community.
With that in mind, are there any area’s anyone would like us to focus on in
particular, any how-to guides you would be keen to see? Let us know and
I’ll try and find the appropriate person to write something up.
Many thanks in advance for your idea’s!
Something old, something new: Bugs in discussion (Course reserves)
by Erica Rohlfs, MLIS, PMP, Senior Implementation Project Manager (Equinox Open Library Initiative)
Select a department: empty field if no description set in authorized value has been a bug In Discussion for several years. As Tietgen states, “When you set up an authorized value in the DEPARTMENT category without descriptions, the pull down menu in course creation shows an empty value.” Currently, Department (Home > Administration > Authorized values > select Authorized value category DEPARTMENT) is a required field when setting up your Course Reverses (To enable Course Reserves: Home > Administration > System preferences > set UseCourseReserves to “Use” > Save preferences). Some libraries currently take advantage of the “empty value,” because they do not want to display department information (the same workaround can be used for Term, also configured within the Authorized Values interface). However, there is a potential conversation bridge between this bug and another older bug, Make required fields on course reserves configurable.
In looking at a more recent In Discussion bug, Record URL broken, when there is more than one 856 on the record may be of interest to libraries currently utilizing Course Reserves, where the bibliographic records contain more than one (1) 856 tag.
To review these and other bugs related to the Course Reserves module, go to Bugzilla Main Page > click “Browse” > you will be instructed to “Select a product category to browse,” click “Koha” > you should then see a menu of components to browse, select “Course reserves”.
Please join-in on the discussions!
Community
Notes, gossip and announcements
- How do I get involved in the community? (Bywater Solutions)
- Koha – reflecting on the name (Catalyst)
New Koha libraries
Germany
- Gemeindebücherei Grenzach-Wyhlen via LMS Cloud
- Stadtbibliothek Böblingen via LMS Cloud
- Stadtbücherei Fehmarn via LMS Cloud
USA
- Okaloosa County Public Library in Niceville (FL), via Bywater Solutions
- Marion County Library System in Ocala (FL), via Bywater Solutions
Koha tips and tricks
- Auto email notification with Postfix and Gmail SMTP (RAFLIMTS)
- Auto renewal messaging preferences (Bywater Solutions)
- Can you clone or duplicate an existing bibliographic record? (Bywater Solutions)
- How can I set Koha up in a consortium? (Bywater Solutions)
- How do I add an internal note on the patron’s account? (Bywater Solutions)
- How do we pause overdue fines? (Bywater Solutions)
- How to avoid red flags with library support vendors (Bywater Solutions)
- Inventory filtering (Bywater Solutions)
- Invoice table improvements: Open/closed tabs and bulk status changes (Bywater Solutions)
- Jquery and REST API: Advanced credential reset (koha-US)
- Jquery and REST API: Resetting credentials (koha-US)
- Jquery, VBA and Git: Backing up notices and reports (koha-US)
- Labels and patron cards creators (RAFLIMTS)
- New system preference to confirm item parts on issuing and return (PTFS Europe)
- OPAC customization without HTML or CSS scripts (RAFLIMTS)
- Open the doors to your public library – PTFS Europe conference 2021 (PTFS Europe)
- Rapid ILL integration in Koha (PTFS Europe)
- Resource rewind: September 2021 (Bywater Solutions)
- Sending hold reminder notifications (Bywater Solutions)
- Set a default table view for batch patron modification tool (Bywater Solutions)
- Table settings in Koha (PTFS Europe)
- Viewing holds history in the OPAC (Bywater Solutions)
Support provider news
- Join us for Open Source Live on November 17th (Bywater Solutions)
- Penticton Public Library – Thriving in open source: A case study (Bywater Solutions)
- We are hiring! Seeking a highly motivated, library loving, life long learner for our Systems Team (Bywater Solutions)
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.
koha-US to host a Giving Tuesday Koha Q&A
Giving Tuesday is a global movement encouraging people to give, collaborate, and celebrate generosity.
In support of this initiative, the koha-US Education Committee will be holding a 2-hour YouTube Livestream on 30th November starting at 9:00am PST (Noon EST, 17:00 UTC).
They are planning a Koha Question and Answers session and need your help to make this a success! Please submit Koha-related questions for the committee to address during the Livestream no later than November 15th via this form: https://forms.gle/jhebiNf5j8r6PnKU7
No topic is off-limits. The committee will talk about participating in the Koha community, customization, report-writing, workflows, features, etc. – if they can’t get to all the questions, they will work to provide follow-up beyond the event.
- koha-US to host a Giving Tuesday Koha Q&A (Bywater Solutions)
KohaCon21
The Koha Pakistan Community and the National Library of Pakistan will be hosting KohaCon21!
- Proposed dates: 14-30 November 2021
- Format: A hybrid in-person and online conference.
More details
- https://lists.katipo.co.nz/pipermail/koha/2021-March/055951.html
- https://wiki.koha-community.org/wiki/KohaCon21_Proposals
- https://kohacon2021.org/
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.