Cataloging

Before you start cataloging in Koha you’re going to want to do some basic setup. Refer to the Implementation checklist for a full list of these things. Most importantly you’re going to want to make sure that your MARC bibliographic frameworks are all defined the way you want. Once in the cataloging module you will not be able to add or remove fields and subfields so your frameworks must be ready before you start cataloging.

You can also use OCLC Connexion to send records directly in to Koha. For more information on that please review the OCLC Connexion Gateway setup Appendix.

• Get there: More > Cataloging

Bibliographic records

In Koha the bibliographic record contains the main information related to the material. This includes things like the title, author, ISBN, etc. This information is stored in Koha in Marc (different flavors of Marc are supported in Koha). Once this information is saved, item records can be attached.

Adding records

Records can be added to Koha via original or copy cataloging. You can also choose to use the basic or advanced cataloging interface for all of your work.

If you would like to catalog a record using a blank template in the basic editor

• Click ‘New record’

  

  • Choose the framework you would like to base your record on

    Note

    You can create or modify frameworks in the Administration module.

If you would like to catalog a record using a blank template in the advanced editor

• Enable the EnableAdvancedCatalogingEditor preference

• Click the ‘Advanced editor’ button

  

If you want to catalog a record based on an existing record at another library in the basic or advanced editor

• Click ‘New from Z39.50/SRU’

• Click on the arrow to pre-select a framework for your imported your catalog record (the Default framework is used if you do not make a selection).

  

  • Search for the item you would like to catalog

  Note

  If no results are found, try searching for fewer fields, not all Z39.50 targets can search all of the fields above.

• Search targets can be altered by using the Z39.50 admin area.

• The display of extra MARC fields and subfields can be configured via the AdditionalFieldsInZ3950ResultSearch preference.

• From the results’ ‘Actions’ button you can view the MARC or Card view for the record or choose to import it into Koha.

  

  Note

  • You can customize the columns of this table in the ‘Table settings’ section of the Administration module (table id: resultst).

  • If you don’t find the title you need in your Z39.50 search results you can click the ‘Try Another Search’ button at the bottom left of your results

    

Basic editor cataloging

In the basic editor once you’ve opened a blank framework or imported a record via Z39.50 you will be presented with the form to continue cataloging

• If you would rather not see the MARC tag numbers you can change the value in your hide_marc system preference or each user can check the box next to ‘Show tags’ found under ‘Settings’.

  

• To expand a collapsed tag click on the tag description

• To get help from the Library of Congress on a MARC tag click the question mark (?) to the right of each field number

  • It is possible to change the source of the MARC documentation using the MARCFieldDocURL system preference

  • If you feel that this clutters the screen you can hide the question marks by unchecking the box next to the ‘Show MARC tag documentation links’ note found under ‘Settings’

• Sometimes fields may not be editable due to the value in your BiblioAddsAuthorities system preference. If you have this preference set to not allow catalogers to type in fields controlled by authorities you may see a lock symbol to the left of the field.

  

  • If this icon appears you must click the icon to the right of the field to search for an existing authority.

    

  • From the results list click ‘Choose authority’ to bring that into your catalog record

    

• To duplicate a field click on the ‘repeat this tag’ icon to the right of the tag

  

  • To move subfields in to the right order, click the up arrow to the left of the field

  • To duplicate a subfield click on the clone icon (to remove a copied field, click the delete clone icon) to the right of the field

    

  • To remove a subfield (if there is more than one of the same type), click the - (minus sign) to the right of the field

• To use a plugin click on the icon to the right of the field

  

  • Some fixed fields have editors that will change based on the material type you’re cataloging (for example the 006 and the 008 fields)

    

• Once you’ve finished, click the ‘Save’ button at the top and choose whether you want to save and view the bib record you have created or continue on to add/edit items attached to the record

  

  • Choosing ‘Save and view record’ will bring you right to the record you just cataloged

  • Choosing ‘Save and edit items’ will bring you to the add/edit item form after saving the bib record so that you can attach holdings

  • Choosing ‘Save and continue editing’ will allow you to save your work so far and keep you in the editor to continue working

• If you are about to add a duplicate record to the system you will be warned before saving

  

  Note

  To find possible duplicates, the system searches for the ISBN, and if there is not ISBN, it searches for the same combination of title and author.

Advanced editor cataloging

In order to use the Advanced cataloging editor you need to enable the EnableAdvancedCatalogingEditor preference.

Note

This feature does not currently include any support for UNIMARC or NORMARC fixed fields.

In the advanced editor once you’ve opened a blank framework or imported a record via Z39.50 you will be presented with the form to continue cataloging

Using the search box on the left you can perform Z39.50 searches

And from those Z39.50 results you can view the marc record by clicking the link to the right

Clicking ‘Import’ will bring the record in to the editor where you can perform your edits

Note

When adding a new field in the Advanced Editor, you need to key underscores for a blank indicator, and surround the indicators with spaces.

Note

You need to key a space before the first subfield delimiter, but not before or after other subfield delimiters in the field.

At the bottom of the editor you will see help from the Library of Congress for the field you are on. In cases where your MARC is invalid you will see red highlighting. To edit the record using only keyboard functions the Keyboard shortcuts button will inform you of the necessary commands.

A clipboard is available to copy and paste text between fields. See the image and table below for the shortcuts used with the clipboard.

Advanced cataloging keyboard shortcuts

The following keyboard shortcuts can be used in the advanced cataloging module to save time and clicking.

Shortcut	Behavior
Ctrl-C	Copy current field
Shift-Ctrl-C	Copy current subfield
Ctrl-X	Delete current field and copy to ‘clipboard’
Shift-Ctrl-X	Delete current subfield and copy to ‘clipboard’
Alt-C	Insert copyright symbol (©)
Alt-P	Insert copyright symbol (℗) (sound recordings)
Ctrl-D	Insert delimiter (‡)
Ctrl-I	Copy current field on next line
Shift-Enter	Insert line break
Shift-Ctrl-L	Link field to authorities
Enter	New field on next line
Tab	Move to next position
Ctrl-P	Paste selection from ‘clipboard’
Shift-Tab	Move to previous position
Ctrl-H	Get help on current subfield
Shift-Ctrl-K	Toggle Keyboard
Ctrl-S	Save record (cannot be remapped)

Advanced cataloging virtual keyboard

A virtual keyboard is available for adding diacritics and symbols. Use the shortcut Shift-Ctrl-K to display the keyboard. A ‘Keyboard layouts’ button will display at the top of the advanced editor that allows you to set the virtual keyboard layout for different languages.

Macros in advanced cataloging

To record a new macro:

• Select the “Macros…” button

• A window will pop up. In this window, select “New macro…,” key the new macro’s name in the pop-up box and select OK.

• Now click to the right of the little number 1, and key the first line of your macro. For a multi-line, i.e., multi-field macro, hit the return key so that a little number 2 appears, and key the second line/field, etc.

• Your macros will be automatically saved. When finished you can select the “x” to close the window, or select a macro to run on the record that you’re editing, or select another macro to run.

To edit an existing macro:

• Select the “Macros…” button

• A window will pop up. In this window, select the macro that you wish to edit & make your changes.

• Your work will automatically be saved, and when finished you can select the “x” to close the window, or select a macro to run on the record that you’re editing, or select another macro to run.

The basic syntax of the macro language:

• new 500=‡aEdited with Rancor

  • Creates a new 500 with a ‡a subfield and sets it to “Edited with Rancor”.

• 245c= by J.K. Rowling.

  • Sets the first ‡c subfield of the first 245 tag in the record to ” by J.K. Rowling”, creating it if necessary.

• 082a={084a}

  • Sets the ‡a subfield of the first 082 tag (creating the subfield if necessary) to the contents of the first 084‡a.

• indicators=_1

  • Sets the indicators of the last mentioned tag (in this case, 082) to “_” and “1”.

• new 090a=Z674.75.W67

  • Creates a new ‡a subfield on the first 090 (but only if that field already exists) and sets it to Z674.75.W67.

• new 090a at end=Z674.75.W67

  • Same as above.

• new 245b after a= a tale of might and magic /

  • Creates a new ‡b after the first a subfield and sets it to ” a tale of might and magic /”.

• delete 245b

  • Deletes the first ‡b subfield on the first 245 to ‡b

Adding analytic records

Libraries sometimes make journal articles and articles within monographs and serials accessible to library patrons through analytics cataloging. Analytics cataloging creates separate bibliographic records for these articles, chapters, sections, etc. found within a larger resource such as a book, an article within a journal, newspaper or serial. In analytics cataloging, although a separate bib record is created for the title, it is not physically separated from the host item.  Learn more about Analytics in Chapter 13 of AACR2.

If you would like to catalog analytic records there are two options. One is to use the Easy analytics function; the other is the Analytics enhanced workflow.

Easy analytics

The easy analytics feature makes linking analytic records together easier. The first thing you need to do is set the EasyAnalyticalRecords preference to ‘Display’ and the UseControlNumber preference to ‘Don’t use.’

After cataloging your analytic record (see adding records for more on creating records) click ‘Edit’ from the normal view and choose to ‘Link to host item’

This will prompt you to enter the barcode for the item this record should be linked to.

After entering the item’s barcode and clicking ‘Select’ you will receive a confirmation message.

The record will now have the 773 field filled in properly to complete the link.

To view all of the items tied to the host record, do a search for the record, click the ‘Analytics’ tab on the left and the analytics tied to each barcode will be shown under the ‘Used in’ column.

Note

It is also possible to create analytic records from this screen by clicking on ‘Create analytics’

You can also see the analytics attached to this record by clicking the ‘Show analytic’ link towards the top of the record in the normal view.

When looking at the analytic record you will also see a link to the host item under the ‘Host records’ column in the holdings table when viewing the ‘Analytics’ tab.

Analytics enhanced workflow

To use the enhanced workflow method of adding analytics, the first thing you need to do is set the EasyAnalyticalRecords preference to ‘Don’t display’ and the UseControlNumber preference to ‘Use.’

After cataloging your original record (see adding records for more on creating records) click ‘New’ from the normal view and choose to ‘New child record.’

This will open a new blank record for cataloging. The blank record will have the 773 field filled in properly to complete the link once the record is saved.

The ‘Show analytics’ link from the host record will now use the hosts record control number (001) to search for all records on the system of the type ‘monographic component part’ or ‘serial component part’ (Leader position 7) with a 773 subfield w that contains the hosts record control number.

Editing analytics

If you have linked an analytic record incorrectly you can remove that link by editing the analytic record (not the host record).

To do this, go to the analytic record and click the ‘Edit’ button. For UseControlNumber simply edit or remove the corresponding 773.

If using EasyAnalytics choose to ‘Edit items’; To the left of each item you will see two options.

• Clicking ‘Edit in host’ will allow you to edit the item on the host record.

• Clicking ‘Delink’ will remove the 773 field and the link between the analytic and the host.

Editing records

To edit a record you can click the ‘Actions’ button and choose ‘Edit biblio’ from the search results on the cataloging search page

or by clicking the Edit button on the Bibliographic Record and choosing ‘Edit Record’

The record will open in the MARC editor

The alternative is to search via Z39.50 to overlay your record with a fuller record found at another library. You can do this by choosing ‘Replace record via Z39.50/SRU’ from the ‘Edit’ menu.

Once you choose that, you will be brought to a Z39.50 search window to search other libraries for the record in question.

Once you have made your edits (via either method) you can click ‘Save’ at the top left of the editor.

You can also use the edit menu to add your own custom cover image if you have either OPACLocalCoverImages and/or LocalCoverImages set to ‘Display’ by choosing ‘Upload image’ from the menu.

Choosing ‘Upload image’ will take you to the Upload Local Cover Image Tool.

Duplicating records

Sometimes a copy of the record you need to catalog can’t be found via Z39.50. In these cases you can create a duplicate of similar record and edit the necessary pieces to create a new record. To duplicate an existing record click ‘Edit as new (duplicate)’ from the ‘Edit’ menu on the bibliographic record.

This will open a new MARC record with the fields filled in with the values from the original bibliographic record.

Attaching files to records

If you would like to upload files to Koha you can do so with a few settings.

• You will need to ask your system administrator to set the ‘upload_path’ config variable to point to where the files will be stored

  • You can see if your upload path is set correctly by visiting About Koha > System information. If there is an error you will see it there.

    

• You will want to be sure that your OPACBaseURL system preference is set appropriately

• You will want to add the upload.pl plugin to the 856$u subfield in one (or multiple) of your frameworks

Once you are all set up you can continue with cataloging as regular. You will see a plugin icon next to the 856$u that will open up the upload and/or search window

From this menu you can click browse to find a file and attach it, or you can search files you have uploaded previously using the search box. From the search results you can choose which file to attach.

Once the file is chosen it will appear as a link in the MARC record and on the detail display.

Note

If the file is a PDF, it will be opened directly in the user’s browser whereas if the file is an image or another type of file, the user will be prompted to download it.

Merging records

To merge bibliographic records together you will want to go to the Cataloging module and perform a search.

If you see duplicates on that search results screen you can check the boxes next to the duplicates and click the ‘Merge selected’ button at the top of the results.

Once you have selected the records you want to merge, click the ‘Merge selected’ button at the top of the list. You will be asked which of the records you would like to keep as your primary record and which will be deleted after the merge. If the records were created using different frameworks, Koha will also ask you what Framework you would like the newly merged record to use.

You will be presented with the MARC for all of the records (each accessible by tabs labeled with the bib numbers for those records). By default the entire first record will be selected, uncheck the fields you don’t want in the final (destination) record and then move on to the second tab to choose which fields should be in the final (destination) record.

Should you try to add a field that is not repeatable two times (like choosing the 245 field from both record #1 and #2) you will be presented with an error

Below the records you are merging is an option to enter fields to report on. This will allow you to control what fields you see on the merge confirmation page:

If you enter nothing you will be presented with a confirmation of biblionumbers only

If you enter fields you will see those on the confirmation page (you can set defaults with the MergeReportFields preference)

Once you have completed your selections click the ‘merge’ button. The primary record will now CONTAIN the data you chose for it as well as all of the items/holdings from both bib records, and the second record will be deleted.

Note

If you would like you can also use the Lists tool for merging records together. Learn more here.

Deleting records

To delete a bibliographic record simply choose the ‘Edit’ button and select ‘Delete record’

Bibliographic records can only be deleted once all items have been deleted. If you try to delete a bibliographic record with items still attached you will see that the delete option is grayed out.

Item records

In Koha each bibliographic record can have one or more items attached. These items are sometimes referred to as holdings. Each item includes information to the physical copy the library has.

Adding items

After saving a new bibliographic record, you will be redirected to a blank item record so that you can attach an item to the bibliographic record. You can also click ‘Add/Edit items’ from the cataloging search results

or you can add new item at any time by clicking ‘New’ on the bibliographic record and choosing ‘New item’

The item edit form will appear:

At the very least, if you plan on circulating the item, the following fields should be entered for new items:

• 2 - Source of classification

• a - Permanent location

• b - Current location

• o - Full call number

  • If you’d like you can use the cataloguing plugin ‘call number browser’ (cn_browser.pl) for this field. If it’s enabled you’ll see a … to the right of the field. When clicked that will open a call number browser window if the row is highlighted in Red then the call number is in use, if there is a thin Green line instead then the call number can be used.

    

• p - Barcode

• v - Cost, replacement price

  • This value will be charged to patrons when you mark an item they have checked out as ‘Lost’

• y - Koha item type

To make sure that these values are filled in you can mark them as mandatory in the framework you’re using and then they will appear in red with a ‘required’ label. The item will not save until the required fields are filled in.

Note

To make item subfields required in a framework you’ll want to edit the 952 field in the framework editor.

You can add a new authorized value directly from the add and edit item screen for any fields that are linked to authorized value categories such as Shelving location (subfield$c) or Collection code (subfield$8).

• Start to type the authorized value description, if a match is not found you will see the option ‘(Select to create)’.

• Click on this option to display a pop-up window where you can create you new authorized value.

• The authorized value category will be pre-populated from the field you are using, for example LOC for Shelving location, CCODE for Collection code. Take care when choosing your authorized value code. Refer to the notes on adding new authorized values for the correct format of these codes. Use the Description field for the actual value that will be displayed

• You can add authorized values in the same way from bibliographic and authority records.

Note

You must have the manage_auth_values administration permission to add authorized values from cataloguing.

Below the add form there are 3 buttons for adding the item.

• ‘Add item’ will add just the one item

• ‘Add & duplicate’ will add the item and fill in a new form with the same values for you to alter

• ‘Add multiple items’ will ask how many items and will then add that number of items adding +1 to the barcode so each barcode is unique

Your added items will appear above the add form once submitted

Note

• You can customize the columns of this table in the ‘Table settings’ section of the Administration module (table id: Items Editor).

Your items will also appear below the bibliographic details on the bib record display.

If you have SpineLabelShowPrintOnBibDetails set to ‘Display’ then there will also be a link to print a quick spine label next to each item.

You can also filter the contents of your holdings table by clicking the ‘Activate filters’ links. This will show a row at the top where you can type in any column to filter the results in the table.

Editing items

Items can be edited in several ways.

• Clicking ‘Edit’ and ‘Edit items’ from the bibliographic record

  

  Which will open up a list of items where you can click the ‘Actions’ button to the left of the specific item you would like to edit and choose ‘Edit’.

  

• Clicking ‘Edit items’ beside the item on the ‘Items’ tab

  

  Which will open up the editor on the item you’d like to edit

  

• Clicking ‘Edit’ and then ‘Edit items in batch’

  

  This will open up the batch item modification tool where you can edit all of the items on this record as a batch.

• You can also enable StaffDetailItemSelection to have checkboxes appear to the left of each item on the detail display. You can then check off the items you would like to edit and click ‘Modify selected items’ at the top of the list.

  

• You can click ‘Edit’ to the right of each item in the Holdings tab

  

• There is also a link to Edit items from the search results in the staff client

  

• Finally you can use the batch item modification tool

Quick item status updates

Often circulation staff need to change the status of an item to Lost or Damaged. This doesn’t require you to edit the entire item record. Instead clicking on the item barcode on the checkout summary or checkin history will bring you to an item summary. You can also get to the item summary by clicking on the Items tab to the left of the bib detail page.

From this view you can mark an item lost by choosing a lost status from the pull down and clicking the ‘Set status’ button.

You can also mark an item as damaged by choosing a damaged status from the pull down and clicking the ‘Set status’ button.

Duplicating items

You can easily duplicate each item by clicking the ‘Actions’ button the left of each item on the edit items screen

From here you can choose to ‘Duplicate’ the item and this will populate the form with the values from the item you chose.

Item information

To the left of every bibliographic record there is a tab to view the items.

Clicking that tab will give you basic information about the items. From here you can see basic information about the item such as the home library, item type, collection code, call number and replacement price. You can also see and edit the status information. If an item is marked lost or withdrawn you will also see the date that status was applied.

In the ‘History’ section you will see information about the check out history of the item and if you ordered the item via the acquisitions module then this section will include information about the order.

If the Order or Accession date is linked, clicking it will bring you to the acquisitions information for that item.

Adding cover images for items

If you have either OPACLocalCoverImages and/or LocalCoverImages set to ‘Display’ you can upload cover images for individual item records from the ‘Upload image’ option from the Edit button on the right of the Holdings table.

Click Choose file to find the image file on your computer and then Upload file.

On the next screen you are given the option to replace existing images. You can then click on Process images.

The image will display in a Cover image column in the holdings display.

To delete an image, click on the image in the holdings display. You will see a greyed out copy of the image with the option to delete.

Moving items

Items can be moved from one bibliographic record to another using the ‘Attach item’ option

Visit the bibliographic record you want to attach the item to and choose ‘Attach item’ from the ‘Edit’ menu.

Simply enter the barcode for the item you want to move and click ‘Submit’

If this is the last remaining item attached to a bibliographic record you will be presented with a button to delete the original host record.

If you want to move all items to a new record creating only one bibliographic record you can use the merge Records tool instead.

Deleting items

There are many ways to delete item records. If you only need to delete one item you can do this by opening up the detail page for the bib record and clicking the ‘Edit’ button at the top. From there you can choose to ‘Edit items’.

You will be presented with a list of items and next to each one will be a link labeled ‘Delete’. Click that link and if the item is not checked out it will delete that item.

If you know that all of the items attached to your record are not currently checked out you can use the ‘Delete all items’ option under the ‘Edit menu’ and it will remove all items from the record.

You can also enable StaffDetailItemSelection to have checkboxes appear to the left of each item on the detail display. You can then check off the items you would like to delete and click ‘Delete selected items’ at the top of the list.

Finally you can use the batch delete tool to delete a batch of items.

Item specific circulation history

Each bibliographic record keeps a circulation history (with or without the patron information depending on your settings), but each item also has its own circulation history page. To see this, click on the ‘Items’ tab to the left of the record you are viewing.

Below the ‘History’ heading is a link to ‘View item’s checkout history,’ clicking that will open up the item’s history which will look slightly different from the bibliographic record’s history page.

Authorities

Authority records are a way of controlling fields in your MARC records. Using authority records will provide you with control over subject headings, personal names and places.

Adding authorities

To add a new authority record you can either choose the authority type from the ‘New authority’ button or search another library by clicking the ‘New from Z39.50’ button.

If you choose to enter a new authority from scratch, the form that appears will allow you to enter all of the necessary details regarding your authority record.

To expand collapsed values simply click on the title and the subfields will appear. To duplicate a field or subfield just click the plus sign (+) to the right of the label. To use field helper plugins simply click the ellipsis (…) to the right of the field.

When linking authorities to other headings, you can use the authority finder plugin by clicking the ellipsis (…) to the right of the field.

From there you can search your authority file for the authority to link. If you can’t find the authority to link, you can click the ‘Create new’ button and add the necessary authority for the link. This plugin also allows for you to choose the link relationship between the authorities.

If you choose to search another library for the authority record you will be presented with a search box

From the results you can choose the ‘Import’ link to the right of the record you would like to add to Koha

You will then be presented with the form to edit the authority before saving it to your system

Searching authorities

From the authorities page you can search for existing terms and the bibliographic records they are attached to.

From the results you will see the authority record, how many bibliographic records it is attached to, an ‘Actions’ menu that includes the ability to edit, merge and delete (if there are no bibliographic records attached).

Clicking on the ‘Details’ link to the right of the authority record summary will open the full record and the option to edit the record.

If the authority has ‘See also’s in it you will see those broken out on the search results, clicking the linked headings will run a search for that heading instead.

Editing authorities

Authorities can be edited by clicking on the authority summary from the search results and then clicking the ‘Edit’ button above the record. Or by clicking on the ‘Edit’ link to the left of the authority on the search results.

Once you’ve made the necessary edits, simply click ‘Save’.

Depending on the number of bibliographic records this authority record is linked to, the bibliographic records may be updated right away. This depends on the value in the AuthorityMergeLimit system preference (the default is 50). If the number of bibliographic records is under the value of AuthorityMergeLimit, the bibliographic records will be changed right away. If the number of bibliographic records exceeds the value of AuthorityMergeLimit, they will only be updated when the merge_authorities.pl script is run.

To delete an authority record you first must make sure it’s not linked to any bibliographic records. If it is not used by any bibliographic records a ‘Delete’ link will appear to the right of the record on the search results and as a button that appears after clicking on the summary of the authority record.

Merging authorities

If you have duplicate authority records you can merge them together by clicking the ‘Merge’ link, found in the Actions menu, next to two results on an authority search.

After clicking ‘Merge’ on the first result you will see that authority listed at the top of the results.

Next you need to click ‘Merge’ next to the second result you’d like to merge.

You will be asked which of the two records you would like to keep as your primary record and which will be deleted after the merge.

You will be presented with the MARC for both of the records (each accessible by tabs labeled with the authority numbers for those records). By default the entire first record will be selected, uncheck the fields you don’t want in the final (destination) record and then move on to the second tab to choose which fields should be in the final (destination) record.

Once you have completed your selections click the ‘Merge’ button. The primary record will now contain the data you chose for it and the second record will be deleted.

If you have two authority records for the same heading in different frameworks, you can merge them together by clicking the ‘Merge’ link, found in the actions menu, next to two results on an authority search. For example, these authority records using different frameworks can be merged.

If you select the ‘Merge’ link, found in the action menu of the top record.

You will see that authority record listed at the top of the results.

Next you need to select ‘Merge’ next to the second result you’d like to merge.

You will be asked which of the two records you would like to keep as your primary record and which will be deleted after the merge. You will also use the dropdown menu to pick which framework to use.

You will be presented with the MARC for both of the records (each accessible by tabs labeled with the authority numbers for those records). By default the entire first record will be selected, uncheck the fields you don’t want in the final (destination) record and then move on to the second tab to choose which fields should be in the final (destination) record.

The “ref” record (the primary record) will be in the framework that you chose:

Once you have completed your selections click the ‘Merge’ button. The primary record will now contain the data you chose for it and the second record will be deleted.

The MARC tag of the linked headings will have been updated accordingly.

Cataloging guides

Bibliographic record cataloging cheat sheet

Tag	Label	Description	Instructions
000	LEADER	Describes the record(i.e. surrogate) – is it a record for a monograph? A serial?	Click in this field to fill it in. Then set “Bibliographic level” to ‘a’ for articles or ‘s’ for serials. Otherwise, leave everything as is.
001	CONTROL NUMBER	Accession number.	Enter the accession number written inside the item here. For articles and items which do not have accession numbers, leave blank.
003	CONTROL NUMBER IDENTIFIER	Your MARC organizational code	Click in this field to fill it in (will auto fill if you have your MARCOrgCode preference set).
005	D & T LATEST TRANSACTION	Current date and time.	Click in this field to fill it in.
008	FIXED-LENGTH DATA ELEMENTS	Field containing computer-readable representations of a number of things.	Generally you will only use ‘s’ (single) or ‘m’ (multiple) options for position 06- use the former when the item was published in a single year, the latter when it was published over the course of several. If there is a single date, only enter a date in the first date field (positions 07-10). Enter the three-digit country code in positions 15-17, being sure to add spaces if the country code is fewer than three characters long. If there is an index, note that fact in position 31. Enter the three-letter language code in positions 35-37.
010	LCCN	A number assigned by the Library of Congress to uniquely identify the work.	Check on the copyright page of the book (if it was published in the US) or the LC catalog for this number. If you can’t find it, don’t worry about it.
020	ISBN	Unique number used by publishers to identify books.	If this number isn’t listed on the book, there probably isn’t one.
022	ISSN	Unique number used by publishers to identify serials.	If this number isn’t listed on the book, there probably isn’t one.
033	DATE/TIME OF EVENT	Used for auction dates. Required for auction catalogs.	For auctions that took place on only one day, enter the date of the auction in the format YYYYMMDD in the subfield ‘a’ and a ‘0’ in the first indicator. For auctions that took place over two consecutive days or any number of non-consecutive days, create a subfield ‘a’ for each day with the date in the format YYYYMMDD, and put a ‘1’ in the first indicator. For auctions that took place over more than two consecutive days, create a subfield ‘a’ (in format YYYYMMDD) for the first day and a subfield ‘a’ (also in format YYYYMMDD) for the last day, and put a ‘2’ in the first indicator.
040	CATALOGING SOURCE	Identifies which libraries created and modified the record.	For imported records, add a subfield ‘d’ with your OCLC code as the value. For new records, make sure that the subfield ‘c’ with your OCLC code as the value.
041	LANGUAGE CODE	Identifies all the languages used in an item, when two or more languages are present.	For significant portions of a text in a given language, there should be a subfield ‘a’ with that language code. If there are only summaries or abstracts in a specific language, create a subfield ‘b’ with that language code.
100	MAIN ENTRY–PERSONAL	Authorized form of the main author’s name	See Authorized headings sheet and AACR2. The first indicator should generally be a ‘1’, to indicate that the entry is surname first. If the name consists only of a forename, however, the first indicator should be ‘0’.
110	MAIN ENTRY–CORPORATE	Authorized form of the name of the main corporate author. Required for auction catalogs.	Auction catalogs should use a 110 field rather than a 100 field. See Authorized headings sheet and AACR2. Set the first indicator to ‘2’.
111	MAIN ENTRY–MEETING	Authorized form of the name of a meeting which acted as a main offer (e.g. conference proceedings)	See Authorized headings sheet and AACR2. Set the first indicator to ‘2’.
245	TITLE STATEMENT	Transcription of the title statement from the title page (or chief source of information)	Enter the title in subfield ‘a’, the subtitle in subfield ‘b’, and the statement of responsibility in subfield ‘c’. If you are creating a record for a single volume or part of a multi-part item, you should put the part number in subfield ‘n’ and the part title in subfield ‘p.’ For auction catalogs, the date (in ‘MM/DD/YYYY’ format) should be listed in square brackets in subfield ‘f’. See ISBD punctuation sheet. Set the first indicator to ‘0’ if there is no author, otherwise set it to ‘1’. Set the second indicator to the number of non-filing characters (i.e. characters in an initial articles plus the space… for “The ” set the second indicator to ‘4’).
246	VARYING FORM OF TITLE	Alternate form of title for searching and filing purposes	If the patron might look for the work under a different title, enter it here. Do not include initial articles. The first indicator should be ‘3’, unless the title is merely a variant spelling, in which case the first indicator should be ‘1’.
250	EDITION STATEMENT	Transcription of the edition statement from the title page (or chief source of information)	Transcribe the edition statement exactly as it appears on the title-page. You may abbreviate if the edition statement is very long.
260	PUBLICATION (IMPRINT)	Publication information.	Put the location of publication in subfield ‘a’, the publisher in subfield ‘b’, and the year (or probable year) in subfield ‘c’. See ISBD punctuation sheet.
264	PRODUCTION, PUBLICATION ETC.	Production, Publication, Distribution, Manufacture, and Copyright Notice.	Put the location of publication in subfield ‘a’, the publisher in subfield ‘b’, and the year (or probable year) in subfield ‘c’. See ISBD punctuation sheet. The label is set dynamically from the second indicator so generally this would be set to ‘1’ for Publisher: .
300	PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION	Physical description	Enter the pagination statement in subfield ‘a’, a brief description of “special” contents such as illustrations or maps in subfield ‘b’ (see AACR2), and the size of the item in subfield ‘c’. See ISBD punctuation sheet.
490	SERIES STATEMENT	Shows the series statement exactly as it appears on the item.	Transcribe the series statement into subfield ‘a’ with the volume number in subfield ‘v’. See ISBD punctuation sheet. Set the first indicator to ‘1’ if you are using an 830. As a general rule, you should do so.
500	GENERAL NOTE	Notes that don’t fit anywhere else.	Enter notes as full sentences, with a separate 500 field for each distinct topic.
501	WITH NOTE	Notes whether the work is bound with the works described by other records.	Put description of relationship in subfield ‘a’.
504	BIBLIOGRAPHY, ETC. NOTE	Indicates whether the work includes a bibliography.	If the work includes a bibliography and index, put the text “Includes bibliographical references (p. XXX-XXX) and index.” in subfield ‘a’. If the work does not include an index, remove that part of the sentence. If the references are scattered throughout the work and not gathered into a distinct sentence, remove the parenthetical statement.
505	FORMATTED CONTENTS	List of contents in a standard format. Unformatted contents can be listed in a 500 (General Note) field.	See ISBD punctuation sheet. Set the first indicator to ‘0’. If you are separately coding authors and titles, set the second indicator to ‘0’. Otherwise, leave the second indicator blank.
518	DATE/TIME OF EVENT NOTE	Used for auction dates.	For auction catalogs, enter the date of the auction in the format ‘January 2, 1984’ in the subfield ‘a’
520	SUMMARY, ETC.	A brief summary or abstract of the book or article.	In general you do not need to write a summary. A summary might be called for, however, with items that cannot be easily reviewed by a patron, such as books with highly acidic paper or CD-ROMs.
546	LANGUAGE NOTE	Note describing the languages used in the work	Only needed for works in multiple languages. See ISBD punctuation sheet.
561	PROVENANCE INFORMATION	Describes the previous ownership of the item.	Used only for rare books.
563	BINDING INFORMATION	Describes the binding of the item.	Used only for rare books.
590	LOCAL NOTE	Local notes. Required for auction catalogs.	Used for auction catalogs to indicate what types of coins are sold in the auction- Roman, Greek, etc.
600	SUBJECT ADDED–PERSONAL	Authorized form of personal names for people discussed in the work	See Authorized headings sheet and AACR2. The first indicator should generally be a ‘1’, to indicate that the entry is surname first. If the name consists only of a forename, however, the first indicator should be ‘0’. If you found the name in the LC authority file, set the second indicator to ‘0’. Otherwise set the second indicator to ‘4’.
610	SUBJECT ADDED–CORPORATE	Authorized form of corporate names for organizations discussed in the work	See Authorized headings sheet and AACR2. Set the first indicator to ‘2’. If you found the name in the LC authority file, set the second indicator to ‘0’. Otherwise set the second indicator to ‘4’.
611	SUBJECT ADDED–MEETING	Authorized form of meeting names for meetings discussed in the work	See Authorized headings sheet and AACR2. Set the first indicator to ‘2’. If you found the name in the LC authority file, set the second indicator to ‘0’. Otherwise set the second indicator to ‘4’.
630	SUBJECT ADDED–UNIFORM TITLE	Authorized form of titles for other works discussed in the work	See Authorized headings sheet and AACR2. Set the first indicator to the number of non-filing characters (i.e. characters in an initial articles plus the space… for “The ” set the first indicator to ‘4’). If you found the name in the LC authority file, set the second indicator to ‘0’. Otherwise set the second indicator to ‘4’.
650	SUBJECT ADDED–TOPICAL	Library of Congress Subject Heading terms describing the subject of the work	See Authorized headings sheet and AACR2. If you found the name in the LC authority file, set the second indicator to ‘0’. Otherwise set the second indicator to ‘4’.
651	SUBJECT ADDED–GEOGRAPHICAL	Library of Congress Subject Heading geographical terms describing the subject of the work	See Authorized headings sheet and AACR2. If you found the name in the LC authority file, set the second indicator to ‘0’. Otherwise set the second indicator to ‘4’.
655	INDEX TERM–GENRE/FORM	Describes what an item is as opposed to what the item is about.	Generally used only for auction catalogs, which should have the genre heading “Auction catalogs.” (make sure to find the authorized heading!) If you found the name in the LC authority file, set the second indicator to ‘0’. If you are using a term from a specific thesaurus, set the second indicator to ‘7’ and put the code for the thesaurus in subfield ‘2’. Otherwise set the second indicator to ‘4’.
690	LOCAL SUBJECT ADDED–TOPICAL	Used for headings from any custom subject authority file.	If there is no appropriate LCSH term, you can use a 690 with subject headings you find on other items in the catalog.
691	LOCAL SUBJECT ADDED–GEOGRAPHICAL	Used for headings from any custom subject authority file.	If there is no appropriate LCSH term, you can use a 691 with subject headings you find on other items in the catalog.
700	ADDED ENTRY–PERSONAL	Used for second authors and other persons related to the production of the work.	See Authorized headings sheet and AACR2. The first indicator should generally be a ‘1’, to indicate that the entry is surname first. If the name consists only of a forename, however, the first indicator should be ‘0’.
710	ADDED ENTRY–CORPORATE	Used for corporate bodies related to the production of the work (e.g. publishers).	See Authorized headings sheet and AACR2. Set the first indicator to ‘2’.
711	ADDED ENTRY–MEETING	Used for meetings related to the production of the work (e.g. symposia that contributed to the work).	See Authorized headings sheet and AACR2. Set the first indicator to ‘2’.
730	ADDED ENTRY–UNIFORM TITLE	Used for uniform titles related to the production of the work (e.g. a work that inspired the present work)	See Authorized headings sheet and AACR2. Set the first indicator to the number of non-filing characters (i.e. characters in an initial articles plus the space… for “The ” set the first indicator to ‘4’).
773	HOST ITEM ENTRY	Describes the larger bibliographic unit that contains the work (e.g. book or journal containing the article being described in the current record)	If the host publication is author main entry, enter the authorized form of the author’s name in subfield ‘a’. Put the title in subfield ‘t’. If the host publication is an independent work, put publication information in subfield ‘d’. When available, ISSN and ISBN should always be used in, in subfields ‘x’ and ‘z’ respectively. Relationship information (e.g. volume number, page number, etc.) goes in subfield ‘g’. Subfield ‘q’ contains an encoded representation of the location of the item: volume, issue, and section numbers are separated by colons, and the first page is entered following a ‘<’ at the end of the subfield. See ISBD punctuation sheet. Set the first indicator to ‘0’. If you want the label “In:” to be generated, leave the second indicator blank. If you want something else displayed before the 773 text, set the second indicator to ‘8’ and add a subfield ‘i’ with the label you want at the beginning of the field (e.g. “$iOffprint from:”).
830	SERIES ENTRY–UNIFORM TITLE	Authorized form of the series name transcribed in the 490 field. Often this will just be the same as the 490.	See Authorized headings sheet and AACR2. Set the second indicator to the number of non-filing characters (i.e. characters in an initial articles plus the space… for “The ” set the second indicator to ‘4’).
852	LOCATION/CALL NUMBER	Provides the section name for pre-barcode books, pamphlets, and some articles and serials.	Do not put anything in this field if you are cataloging a volume which gets only one record and a barcode. If the item does not get a barcode, or you are currently creating a record for an article in a volume, put the section in subfield ‘a’ (see ANS cataloging documentation), and the call number in subfield ‘i’. Set the first indicator to ‘8’.
856	ELECTRONIC ACCESS	Links to material available online.	Put the URL of any electronic copies or summaries, etc. in subfield ‘u’ and a link title in subfield ‘y’. Set the first indicator to ‘4’.
942	ADDED ENTRY ELEMENTS (KOHA)	Used for Koha-specific data.	Set the subfield ‘c’ to the appropriate item type.

Table: Cataloging Guide

Koha-specific fields

Koha uses three fields to store information specific to it.

At the record level, 942 is used to store information such as record-level item type, record-level call number and classification scheme.

The item (holding) information is stored in 952 in MARC21 and 995 in UNIMARC.

System control numbers for Koha are stored in 999 in MARC21 and 090 in UNIMARC.

Added entry elements (942)

942$0 - Koha issues (borrowed), all copies

This field contains the total number of issues/checkouts of all items of this record. It is populated using the update_totalissues.pl cronjob.

Mapped to: biblioitems.totalissues

Indexed in: totalissues

Warning

This field should not be editable nor edited manually.

942$2 - Source of classification or shelving scheme

This field contains the source of classification used by the record’s call number (942$h and 942$i).

There is a choice of classification sources as they are defined in administration. If no classification scheme is entered, the system will use the value entered in the DefaultClassificationSource preference.

The source of classification will be used, along with the call number itself (942$h and 942$i) to create the normalized call number used when sorting by call number.

Mapped to: biblioitems.cn_source

Indexed in: cn-bib-source

942$6 - Koha normalized classification for sorting

This field contains the normalized call number used for sorting, based on the record-level call number (942$h and 942$i) and the classification source (942$2).

Mapped to: biblioitems.cn_sort

Indexed in: cn-bib-sort

Warning

This field should not be editable nor edited manually.

942$c - Koha item type

This field contains the record-level item type.

The record-level item type is used in various places in Koha.

• The value from 942$c is copied to 952$y as the default value when adding a new item to that record

• The record-level item type can be used for the circulation rules if the item-level_itypes system preference allows it (this system preference lets you choose between using the record-level or item-level item type for the circulation rules, among other things)

• The record-level item type is indexed and used in the search (see also the AdvancedSearchTypes system preference) as well as the facets (this is useful to find records that don’t have items, like records for online resources, ebooks, pdf files, etc.)

• The record-level item type is used for record-level/”next available” holds

• The record-level item type is used for record-level article requests

• The record-level item type is displayed in various tables in the staff interface, in the circulation module among other places (it is possible to hide unwanted columns in the ‘Table settings’ section of the Administration module)

Mapped to: biblioitems.itemtype

Indexed in: itemtype (mc-itemtype), itype (mc-itype)

942$e - Edition

This field contains the edition information.

942$h - Classification part

This field contains classification part of the call number. It is used, along with 942$2 and 942$i to create the normalized call number (942$6) used when sorting by call number.

Mapped to: biblioitems.cn_class

Indexed in: cn-class

942$i - Item part

This field contains item part of the call number. It is used, along with 942$2 and 942$h to create the normalized call number (942$6) used when sorting by call number.

Mapped to: biblioitems.cn_item

Indexed in: cn-item

942$k - Call number prefix

This field contains prefix to the call number.

Mapped to: biblioitems.cn_prefix

Indexed in: cn-prefix

942$m - Call number suffix

This field contains suffix to the call number.

Mapped to: biblioitems.cn_suffix

Indexed in: cn-suffix

942$n - Suppress in OPAC

If the OpacSuppression system preference is set to ‘hide’, this field indicates if the record should be hidden from the OPAC.

In this field, ‘1’ means the record will be hidden in the OPAC, and ‘0’ (or empty) means the record will be visible in the OPAC.

You can use the YES_NO authorized value list in this field if you don’t want to remember the numerical values.

Indexed in: suppress

942$s - Serial record flag

This field is used by the serials module to indicate whether or not the record is associated with a serial subscription.

Mapped to: biblio.serial

Warning

This field should not be editable nor edited manually.

Location and item information (952)

Koha uses field 952 to store item (holding) information.

952$0 - Withdrawn status

Uses

• This field is used to set the withdrawn (weeded) status of the item.

• You can use the withdrawn status to weed items without deleting the items.

• In the search results, the withdrawn item will be marked as unavailable.

Effects on circulation

• A withdrawn item will not be able to be checked out.

• A withdrawn item will not be able to be checked in unless the BlockReturnOfWithdrawnItems system preference allows it.

Values

• The withdrawn status is numerical, ‘0’ (or empty) means ‘not withdrawn’ and any other number means ‘withdrawn’.

• By default, the field is associated with the WITHDRAWN authorized value category so you don’t have to remember the numerical values. The default values in the WITHDRAWN authorized value category are:

  • 1: Withdrawn

Display

• Staff interface

  • Search results (withdrawn items will be marked as unavailable)

  • Holdings table in the record’s detail page

  • ‘Items’ tab of the bibliographic record, ‘Withdrawn status’ under ‘Statuses’

• OPAC

  • Search results (withdrawn items will be marked as unavailable)

  • Holdings table in the record’s detail page

  • To hide withdrawn items from the OPAC, use the OpacHiddenItems system preference.

Mapped to: items.withdrawn

Indexed in: withdrawn

952$1 - Lost status

Uses

• This field is used to set the lost status of the item.

• You can use the lost status to mark items as lost or missing

• In the search results, the lost item will be marked as unavailable.

• Marking an item lost while it is checked out can charge the replacement cost (952$v) to the patron (see WhenLostChargeReplacementFee), as well as a processing fee (the processing fee is set at the item type level)

• The lost status can be changed automatically after a number of days overdue with the longoverdue.pl cronjob

Effects on circulation

• The ability to check out a lost item depends on the IssueLostItem system preference.

• The ability to check in a lost item depends on the BlockReturnOfLostItems system preference.

Values

• The lost status is numerical, ‘0’ (or empty) means ‘not lost’ and any other number means ‘lost’.

• By default, the field is associated with the LOST authorized value category so you don’t have to remember the numerical values. The default values in the LOST authorized value category are:

  • 1: Lost

  • 2: Long Overdue (Lost)

  • 3: Lost and Paid For

  • 4: Missing

Display

• Staff interface

  • Search results (lost items will be marked as unavailable)

  • Holdings table in the record’s detail page

  • ‘Items’ tab of the bibliographic record, ‘Lost status’ under ‘Statuses’

• OPAC

  • Search results (lost items will be marked as unavailable)

  • Holdings table in the record’s detail page

  • It’s possible to configure Koha so that lost items don’t display in the OPAC with the hidelostitems system preference.

Mapped to: items.itemlost

Indexed in: lost

952$2 - Source of classification or shelving scheme

Uses

• This field contains the source of classification used by the record’s call number (952$o).

• The source of classification will be used, along with the call number itself (952$o) to create the normalized call number (952$6) used when sorting by call number.

Values

• There is a choice of classification sources as they are defined in administration.

• If no classification scheme is entered, the system will use the value entered in the DefaultClassificationSource preference.

Display

• This is not displayed either in the OPAC or in the staff interface. The information is only available in the item’s editing form.

Mapped to: items.cn_source

Indexed in: classification-source

952$3 - Materials specified

Uses

• This field is used to add information about accompanying materials or to specify how many pieces the item has.

Effects on circulation

• This information will be displayed when circulation the item so that the circulation staff knows to make sure all the accompanying material is there when checkout out and it’s still there when checking the item back in.

  

Values

• This is a free text field, but it is possible to associate it to an authorized value category in the MARC framework to make it into a drop-down menu.

Display

• Staff interface

  • This information will appear when checking out or checking in an item

  • Holdings table in the record’s detail page

    Note

    Use ‘Table settings’ if you want to hide that column - Module: Catalogue - Table id: holdings_table and/or otherholdings_table - Column: holdings_materials or otherholdings_materials

  • ‘Items’ tab of the bibliographic record, ‘Materials specified’ under ‘Item information’

• OPAC

  • Holdings table in the record’s detail page (it is hidden by default)

    Note

    Use ‘Table settings’ if you want to show that column - Module: OPAC - Table id: holdingst - Column: item_materials

Mapped to: items.materials

Indexed in: materials-specified

952$4 - Damaged status

Uses

• This field is used to set the damaged status of the item.

• In the search results, the damaged item will be marked as unavailable.

Effects on circulation

• The damaged status does not affect the ability to check out or check in an item.

• The AllowHoldsOnDamagedItems system preference indicates whether or not damaged items can be put on hold.

Values

• The damaged status is numerical, ‘0’ (or empty) means ‘not damaged’ and any other number means ‘damaged’.

• By default, the field is associated with the DAMAGED authorized value category so you don’t have to remember the numerical values. The default values in the DAMAGED authorized value category are:

  • 1: Damaged

Display

• Staff interface

  • Search results (damaged items will be marked as unavailable)

  • Holdings table in the record’s detail page

  • ‘Items’ tab of the bibliographic record, ‘Damaged status’ under ‘Statuses’

• OPAC

  • Search results (damaged items will be marked as unavailable)

  • Holdings table in the record’s detail page

  • To hide damaged items from the OPAC, use the OpacHiddenItems system preference.

Mapped to: items.damaged

Indexed in: damaged

952$5 - Use restrictions

Uses

• This field is used to set the restricted status of the item.

• In the search results, the restricted item will be marked as available.

Effects on circulation

• A restricted item will not be able to be checked out.

Values

• The restricted status is numerical, ‘1’ means restricted and ‘0’ (or empty) means unrestricted.

Note

Unlike other statuses, the restricted status can only be 0 (not restricted) or 1 (restricted).

• By default, the field is associated with the RESTRICTED authorized value category so you don’t have to remember the numerical values. The default values in the RESTRICTED authorized value category are:

  • 1: Access Restricted

Display

• Staff interface

  • Search results (restricted items will be marked as available)

  • Holdings table in the record’s detail page

• OPAC

  • Search results (restricted items will be marked as available)

  • Holdings table in the record’s detail page

Mapped to: items.restricted

Indexed in: restricted

952$6 - Koha normalized classification for sorting

Warning

This field should not be editable nor edited manually.

Uses

• This field contains the normalized call number used for sorting, based on the item-level call number (952$o) and the classification source (952$2).

Display

• This information is not displayed anywhere in the OPAC or in the staff interface, it is for Koha’s internal use only.

Mapped to: items.cn_sort

Indexed in: cn-sort

952$7 - Not for loan status

Uses

• This field is used to set the not for loan status of the item.

• In the search results, the not for loan item will be marked as unavailable or for reference use only (see Reference_NFL_Statuses)

Effects on circulation

• Items with a not for loan status cannot be checked out (unless AllowNotForLoanOverride allows it)

• Depending on the value, items may or may not be put on hold (see below)

• Depending on TrapHoldsOnOrder and SkipHoldTrapOnNotForLoanValue not for loan items may be used to fill holds

• The UpdateNotForLoanStatusOnCheckin system preference can be used to automatically change not for loan values upon checkin

Values

• The not for loan status is numerical, ‘0’ (or empty) means available.

• Negative values (< 0) mean that the item cannot be checked out, but can be put on hold.

• Positive values (> 0) mean that the item cannot be checked out nor be put on hold.

• By default, the field is associated with the NOT_LOAN authorized value category so you don’t have to remember the numerical values. The default values in the NOT_LOAN authorized value category are:

  • -1: Ordered

  • 1: Not For Loan

  • 2: Staff Collection

Display

• Staff interface

  • Search results (not for loan item will be marked as unavailable or for reference use only (see Reference_NFL_Statuses))

  • Holdings table in the record’s detail page

  • ‘Items’ tab of the bibliographic record, ‘Withdrawn status’ under ‘Statuses’

• OPAC

  • Search results (not for loan item will be marked as unavailable or for reference use only (see Reference_NFL_Statuses))

  • Holdings table in the record’s detail page

  • To hide not for loan items from the OPAC, use the OpacHiddenItems system preference.

Mapped to: items.notforloan

Indexed in: notforloan

952$8 - Collection

Uses

• This field is used to set the collection of the item.

• Collections in Koha are used to group items in ways other than physically (the physical location can be stored in 952$c). An example of a collection could be ‘Local authors’.

• Collections can also be used to limit transfers in multi-branch systems (see the Library transfer limits section of the administration) if BranchTransferLimitsType is set to ‘collection code’

• The collection of an item is used in the search (see the AdvancedSearchTypes system preference) as well as the facets.

Values

• By default, the field is associated with the CCODE authorized value category. The default values in the CCODE authorized value category are:

  • FIC: Fiction

  • NFIC: Non-fiction

  • REF: Reference

Display

• Staff interface

  • Search results

  • The collections will be part of the facets in the search results

  • Holdings table in the record’s detail page

    Note

    Use ‘Table settings’ if you want to hide that column - Module: Catalogue - Table id: holdings_table and/or otherholdings_table - Column: holdings_ccode or otherholdings_ccode

  • Checkouts table in the patron’s file

    Note

    Use ‘Table settings’ if you want to hide that column - Module: Circulation and Patrons - Table id: issues-table - Column: collection

  • Many other places all throughout Koha

• OPAC

  • Search results, if OpacItemLocation allows it

  • The collections will be part of the facets in the search results

  • Holdings table in the record’s detail page

    Note

    Use ‘Table settings’ if you want to hide that column - Module: OPAC - Table id: holdingst - Column: item_ccode

  • Many other places throughout the OPAC

Mapped to: items.ccode

Indexed in: collection-code

952$9 - Itemnumber

Warning

This field should not be editable nor edited manually.

Uses

• The itemnumber is the internal number assigned to each item by Koha. It is unique and cannot be reattributed even when the item is deleted.

Display

• This information is not displayed anywhere in the OPAC or in the staff interface, it is for Koha’s internal use only.

Mapped to: items.itemnumber

Indexed in: itemnumber

952$a - Home library

Required

Uses

• This field indicates the home library of the item.

• The home library is important for many things in Koha, including, but not limited to

  • circulation rules,

  • transfer limits

• The home library of an item is used in the search as well as the facets (see the DisplayLibraryFacets system preference)

Effects on circulation

• As previously stated, the circulation rules are based on the item’s library (see the HomeOrHoldingBranch system preference)

Values

• Libraries are defined in the libraries section of the administration page.

Display

• Staff interface

  • Search results

  • Depending on the DisplayLibraryFacets system preference, the home library may be part of the facets in the search results

  • Holdings table in the record’s detail page

    Note

    Use ‘Table settings’ if you want to hide that column - Module: Catalogue - Table id: holdings_table and/or otherholdings_table - Column: holdings_homebranch or otherholdings_homebranch

  • This information is displayed in the staff interface, in the ‘Items’ tab of the bibliographic record, ‘Home library’ under ‘Item information’

  • Checkouts table in the patron’s file

    Note

    Use ‘Table settings’ if you want to hide that column - Module: Circulation and Patrons - Table id: issues-table - Column: homebranch

  • Many other places all throughout Koha

• OPAC

  • Search results (if OpacItemLocation allows it)

  • Depending on the DisplayLibraryFacets system preference, the home library may be part of the facets in the search results

  • Holdings table in the record’s detail page, if OpacLocationBranchToDisplay allows it

    Note

    Use ‘Table settings’ if you want to hide that column - Module: OPAC - Table id: holdingst - Column: item_home_location

  • Many other places throughout the OPAC

Mapped to: items.homebranch

Indexed in: homelibrary

952$b - Current library

Required

Uses

• This field indicates the current library (holding library) of the item.

• The current library is important for many things in Koha, including

  • circulation rules,

  • transfer limits

• The current library of an item is used in the search as well as the facets (see the DisplayLibraryFacets system preference)

Effects on circulation

• As previously stated, the circulation rules are based on the item’s library (see the HomeOrHoldingBranch system preference)

Values

• Libraries are defined in the libraries section of the administration page.

Display

• Staff interface

  • Search results

  • Depending on the DisplayLibraryFacets system preference, the holding library may be part of the facets in the search results

  • Holdings table in the record’s detail page

    Note

    Use ‘Table settings’ if you want to hide that column - Module: Catalogue - Table id: holdings_table and/or otherholdings_table - Column: holdings_holdingbranch or otherholdings_holdingbranch

  • This information is displayed in the staff interface, in the ‘Items’ tab of the bibliographic record, ‘Current library’ under ‘Item information’

  • Many other places all throughout Koha

• OPAC

  • Search results (if OpacItemLocation allows it)

  • Depending on the DisplayLibraryFacets system preference, the holding library may be part of the facets in the search results

  • Holdings table in the record’s detail page, if OpacLocationBranchToDisplay allows it

    Note

    Use ‘Table settings’ if you want to hide that column - Module: OPAC - Table id: holdingst - Column: item_current_location

  • Many other places throughout the OPAC

Mapped to: items.holdingbranch

Indexed in: holdinglibrary

952$c - Shelving location

Uses

• This field indicates the location of the item (physical place in the library).

• Shelving locations in Koha are used to group items physically. An example of a shelving location could be ‘Children’s section’.

• The location of an item is used in the search (see the AdvancedSearchTypes system preference) as well as the facets.

• The UpdateItemLocationOnCheckin system preference can be used to automatically change location values upon checkin

Values

• By default, the field is associated with the LOC authorized value category. The default values in the LOC authorized value category are:

  • FIC: Fiction

  • CHLID: Children’s Area

  • DISPLAY: On Display

  • NEW: New Materials Shelf

  • STAFF: Staff Office

  • GEN: General Stacks

  • AV: Audio Visual

  • REF: Reference

  • CART: Book Cart

  • PROC: Processing Center

• The default value for new items can be set using the NewItemsDefaultLocation system preference

Display

• Staff interface

  • Search results

  • The locations will be part of the facets in the search results

  • Holdings table in the record’s detail page (under the home library)

  • This information is displayed in the staff interface, in the ‘Items’ tab of the bibliographic record, ‘Home library’ under ‘Item information’

  • Checkouts table in the patron’s file

    Note

    Use ‘Table settings’ if you want to hide that column - Module: Circulation and Patrons - Table id: issues-table - Column: location

  • Many other places all throughout Koha

• OPAC

  • Search results (if OpacItemLocation allows it)

  • The locations will be part of the facets in the search results

  • Holdings table in the record’s detail page, the OpacLocationOnDetail system preference indicates in which column this information is located

    Note

    Use ‘Table settings’ if you want to hide that column - Module: OPAC

    • Table id: holdingst

    • Column: item_shelving_location (if OpacLocationOnDetail is set to ‘separate column’)

  • Many other places throughout the OPAC

Mapped to: items.location

Indexed in: location

952$d - Date acquired

Uses

• This field is used to enter the date of acquisition of the item.

• The acquisition date can be used in the search and the sort function in the search results

• When using the Acquisitions module, this should be filled automatically with the acquisition date

Values

• This should be a date in the YYYY-MM-DD format (there is a handy date picker to ensure the date is in the correct format)

Display

• Staff interface

  • Holdings table in the record’s detail page

    Note

    Use ‘Table settings’ if you want to hide that column - Module: Catalogue - Table id: holdings_table and/or otherholdings_table - Column: holdings_dateaccessioned or otherholdings_dateaccessioned

  • ‘Items’ tab of the bibliographic record, ‘Accession date’ under ‘History’

Mapped to: items.dateaccessioned

Indexed in: date-of-acquisition

952$e - Source of acquisition

Uses

• This field is used to enter the vendor where the item was acquired

• When using the Acquisitions module, this should be filled automatically with the vendor upon receiving

Values

• This is a free text field

• If using the Acquisitions field, the value in this field will be the vendor id rather than the vendor’s name

Display

• This is not displayed either in the OPAC or in the staff interface. The information is only available in the item’s editing form.

Mapped to: items.booksellerid

Indexed in: acqsource

952$f - Coded location qualifier

Uses

• This field is used to enter a three-character code that identifies the specific issues of the item that are located apart from the main holdings of the same item (same as MARC21 852$f).

Values

• This is a free text field

• The field in the database is limited to 10 characters

Display

• This is not displayed either in the OPAC or in the staff interface. The information is only available in the item’s editing form.

Mapped to: items.coded_location_qualifier

Indexed in: coded-location-qualifier

952$g - Cost, normal purchase price

Uses

• This field is used to enter the purchase price of the item

• When using the Acquisitions module, this should be filled automatically with the purchase price upon receiving

Values

• This is a free text field

• The price must be digits, with a period as the decimal, with no currency symbols (e.g. 24.95)

• The field in the database limits to two decimal points (e.g. 24.95 is OK but 24.94875 is not)

Display

• This is not displayed either in the OPAC or in the staff interface. The information is only available in the item’s editing form.

Mapped to: items.price

Indexed in: price

952$h - Serial enumeration / chronology

Uses

• This field is used to enter the issue number of serials or the volume number of series

• When using the Serials module, this should be filled automatically with the issue number

Values

• This is a free text field

Display

• Staff interface

  • Holdings table in the record’s detail page

    Note

    Use ‘Table settings’ if you want to hide that column - Module: Catalogue - Table id: holdings_table and/or otherholdings_table - Column: holdings_enumchron or otherholdings_enumchron

  • ‘Items’ tab of the bibliographic record, ‘Serial enumeration’ under ‘History’

• OPAC

  • Holdings table in the record’s detail page

    Note

    Use ‘Table settings’ if you want to hide that column - Module: OPAC - Table id: holdingst - Column: item_enumchron

Mapped to: items.enumchron

952$i - Inventory number

Uses

• This field is used to enter an inventory number for the item

Note

The inventory number is not Koha’s internal itemnumber (which is stored in 952$9)

Values

• This is a free text field

• The field in the database is limited to 32 characters

Display

• Staff interface

  • Holdings table in the record’s detail page

    Note

    Use ‘Table settings’ if you want to hide that column - Module: Catalogue - Table id: holdings_table and/or otherholdings_table - Column: holdings_stocknumber or otherholdings_stocknumber

Mapped to: items.stocknumber

Indexed in: number-local-acquisition

952$j - Shelving control number

Uses

• This field is used to enter a shelf number where the item is located

Values

• The stack number should be numerical

• By default, the field is associated with the STACK authorized value category so you don’t have to remember the numerical values. There are no default values.

Display

• This is not displayed either in the OPAC or in the staff interface. The information is only available in the item’s editing form.

Mapped to: items.stack

Indexed in: stack

952$l - Total checkouts

Warning

This field should not be editable nor edited manually.

Uses

• This field contains the total number of past and present issues/checkouts of this item

• The number of issues is used to sort search results by popularity

• The number of issues for each item is used to update the total number of issues for the record (942$0)

Display

• Staff interface

  • ‘Items’ tab of the bibliographic record, ‘Total checkouts’ under ‘History’

Mapped to: items.issues

Indexed in: issues

952$m - Total renewals

Warning

This field should not be editable nor edited manually.

Uses

• This field contains the total number of past renewals of this item

Display

• Staff interface

  • ‘Items’ tab of the bibliographic record, ‘Current renewals’ under ‘Statuses’

Mapped to: items.renewals

Indexed in: renewals

952$n - Total holds

Warning

This field should not be editable nor edited manually.

Uses

• This field contains the total number of past and present holds on this item

• The number of holds is used to create a RSS feed for most reserved items

Display

• This is not displayed either in the OPAC or in the staff interface.

Mapped to: items.renewals

Indexed in: renewals

952$o - Full call number

Uses

• This field is used to store the item’s call number

• The call number of an item can used in the search

Values

• The records call number can be copied into the item’s call number, the itemcallnumber system preference indicates which record field to use as the source

Display

• Staff interface

  • Search results

  • Holdings table in the record’s detail page

    Note

    Use ‘Table settings’ if you want to hide that column - Module: Catalogue - Table id: holdings_table and/or otherholdings_table - Column: holdings_itemcallnumber or otherholdings_itemcallnumber

  • ‘Items’ tab of the bibliographic record, ‘Item callnumber’ under ‘Item information’

  • Checkouts table in the patron’s file

    Note

    Use ‘Table settings’ if you want to hide that column - Module: Circulation and Patrons - Table id: issues-table - Column: callno

  • Many other places all throughout Koha

• OPAC

  • Search results, if OpacItemLocation allows it

  • Holdings table in the record’s detail page

    Note

    Use ‘Table settings’ if you want to hide that column - Module: OPAC - Table id: holdingst - Column: item_callnumber

  • Checkouts table in the patron’s online account

  • Many other places throughout the OPAC

Mapped to: items.itemcallnumber

Indexed in: local-classification

952$p - Barcode

Required for circulation

Uses

• This field is used to store the item’s barcode

• The barcode of an item can used in the search

Effects on circulation

• The barcode is essential for circulating items

Values

• This should be a date in the YYYY-MM-DD format (there is a handy date picker to ensure the date is in the correct format)

• This is a free text field

• The field in the database is limited to 20 characters

Display

• Staff interface

  • Holdings table in the record’s detail page

    Note

    Use ‘Table settings’ if you want to hide that column - Module: Catalogue - Table id: holdings_table and/or otherholdings_table - Column: holdings_barcode or otherholdings_barcode

  • ‘Items’ tab of the bibliographic record

  • Checkouts table in the patron’s file (in the title column)

Mapped to: items.barcode

Indexed in: barcode

952$q - Date due

Warning

This field should not be editable nor edited manually.

Uses

• When the item is checked out, the due date is stored in this field (YYYY-MM-DD)

• This field is used in the ‘Limit to currently available items’ in the facets

Display

• The due date appears in a lot of pages in the circulation module, but it is the due date that comes from the issues, not the item

Mapped to: items.onloan

Indexed in: onloan

952$r - Date last seen

Warning

This field should not be editable nor edited manually.

Uses

• When the item is checked out or in, edited, inventoried, or during any other transaction that affects the item, the date is stored in this field (YYYY-MM-DD)

Display

• Staff interface

  • Holdings table in the record’s detail page

    Note

    Use ‘Table settings’ if you want to hide that column - Module: Catalogue - Table id: holdings_table and/or otherholdings_table - Column: holdings_lastseen or otherholdings_lastseen

  • ‘Items’ tab of the bibliographic record, ‘Last seen’ under ‘History’

Mapped to: items.datelastseen

Indexed in: datelastseen

952$s - Date last checked out

Warning

This field should not be editable nor edited manually.

Uses

• When the item is checked out, the date is stored in this field (YYYY-MM-DD)

Display

• Staff interface

  • Holdings table in the record’s detail page

    Note

    Use ‘Table settings’ if you want to hide that column - Module: Catalogue - Table id: holdings_table and/or otherholdings_table - Column: holdings_datelastborrowed or otherholdings_datelastborrowed

  • ‘Items’ tab of the bibliographic record, ‘Last borrowed’ under ‘History’

Mapped to: items.datelastborrowed

Indexed in: datelastborrowed

952$t - Copy number

Uses

• This field is used to enter the copy number of the item

Values

• This is a free text field

• The field in the database is limited to 32 characters

Display

• Staff interface

  • Holdings table in the record’s detail page

    Note

    Use ‘Table settings’ if you want to hide that column - Module: Catalogue - Table id: holdings_table and/or otherholdings_table - Column: holdings_copynumber or otherholdings_copynumber

  • ‘Items’ tab of the bibliographic record, ‘Copy number’ under ‘History’

• OPAC

  • Holdings table in the record’s detail page

    Note

    Use ‘Table settings’ if you want to hide that column - Module: OPAC - Table id: holdingst - Column: item_copy

Mapped to: items.copynumber

Indexed in: copynumber

952$u - URI

Uses

• This field is used to enter a URL or URN specific to the item

• It is not necessary to enter a URL here if there is already a URL in 856$u at the record-level, unless the URL for the specific item differs from the one in 856$u (for example, if you have an online periodical, you can put the URL to the periodical in 856$u and the URL to the specific issue in 952$u)

Values

• It should be a full URL starting with http:// or https://

Display

• Staff interface

  • Holdings table in the record’s detail page

    Note

    Use ‘Table settings’ if you want to hide that column - Module: Catalogue - Table id: holdings_table and/or otherholdings_table - Column: holdings_uri or otherholdings_uri

• OPAC

  • Holdings table in the record’s detail page

    Note

    Use ‘Table settings’ if you want to hide that column - Module: OPAC - Table id: holdingst - Column: item_url

Mapped to: items.uri

Indexed in: uri

952$v - Cost, replacement price

Uses

• This field is used to enter the replacement cost that will be charged to the patron who loses the item

• When using the Acquisitions module, this should be filled automatically with the replacement price upon receiving

Values

• This is a free text field

• The price must be digits, with a period as the decimal, with no currency symbols (e.g. 24.95)

• The field in the database limits to two decimal points (e.g. 24.95 is OK but 24.94875 is not)

Display

• Staff interface

  • Checkouts table in the patron’s file (in the price column)

    Note

    Use ‘Table settings’ if you want to hide that column - Module: Circulation and Patrons - Table id: issues-table - Column: price

  • ‘Items’ tab of the bibliographic record, ‘Replacement price’ under ‘Item information’

Mapped to: items.replacementprice

Indexed in: replacementprice

952$w - Price effective from

Uses

• This field is used to enter the date of the replacement price of the item

• When using the Acquisitions module, this should be filled automatically with the acquisition date upon receiving

• If left empty, it will default to the acquisition date (952$d)

Values

• This should be a date in the YYYY-MM-DD format

Display

• This is not displayed either in the OPAC or in the staff interface. The information is only available in the item’s editing form.

Mapped to: items.replacementpricedate

Indexed in: replacementpricedate

952$x - Non-public note

Uses

• This field is used to enter internal notes about the item

Values

• This is a free text field

Display

• Staff interface

  • Holdings table in the record’s detail page

    Note

    Use ‘Table settings’ if you want to hide that column - Module: Catalogue

    • Table id: holdings_table and/or otherholdings_table

    • Column: holdings_itemnotes_nonpublic or otherholdings_itemnotes_nonpublic

  • ‘Items’ tab of the bibliographic record, ‘Non-public note’ under ‘History’

Mapped to: items.itemnotes_nonpublic

952$y - Koha item type

Required

Uses

• This field contains the item-level item type.

• The item-level item type is used in various places in Koha.

  • The item-level item type is generally used for the circulation rules unless the item-level_itypes system preference is set to use the record-level item type (this system preference lets you choose between using the record-level or item-level item type for the circulation rules, among other things)

  • The item-level item type is indexed and used in the search (see also the AdvancedSearchTypes system preference) as well as the facets

Effects on circulation

• The item type is used as the basis for circulation rules, it will affect the number of items a patron can take out at the same time, number of holds, etc.)

Values

• The values are managed in item types

Display

• Staff interface

  • Search results

  • The itemtypes will be part of the facets in the search results

  • Holdings table in the record’s detail page

    Note

    Use ‘Table settings’ if you want to hide that column - Module: Catalogue - Table id: holdings_table and/or otherholdings_table - Column: holdings_itype or otherholdings_itype

  • ‘Items’ tab of the bibliographic record, ‘Item type’ under ‘Item information’

  • Checkouts table in the patron’s file

    Note

    Use ‘Table settings’ if you want to hide that column - Module: Circulation and Patrons - Table id: issues-table - Column: item_type

  • Many other places all throughout Koha

• OPAC

  • The item types will be part of the facets in the search results

  • Holdings table in the record’s detail page

    Note

    Use ‘Table settings’ if you want to hide that column - Module: OPAC - Table id: holdingst - Column: item_itemtype

  • Many other places throughout the OPAC

Mapped to: items.itype

Indexed in: itemtype (mc-itemtype), itype (mc-itype)

952$z - Public note

Uses

• This field is used to enter notes about the item

Values

• This is a free text field

Display

• Staff interface

  • Holdings table in the record’s detail page

    Note

    Use ‘Table settings’ if you want to hide that column - Module: Catalogue - Table id: holdings_table and/or otherholdings_table - Column: holdings_itemnotes or otherholdings_itemnotes

  • ‘Items’ tab of the bibliographic record, ‘Public note’ under ‘History’

• OPAC

  • Holdings table in the record’s detail page

    Note

    Use ‘Table settings’ if you want to hide that column - Module: OPAC - Table id: holdingst - Column: item_notes

Mapped to: items.itemnotes

Indexed in: note

System control numbers (999)

Koha stores its system control numbers in the 999 field in MARC21 and in the 090 field in UNIMARC.

Note

The itemnumber is stored in 952$9 (see above).

999$c - Biblionumber

The biblionumber is the internal number assigned to each record by Koha. It is unique and cannot be reattributed even when the record is deleted.

Mapped to: biblio.biblionumber

Indexed in: local-number (sn, biblionumber)

Warning

This field should not be editable nor edited manually.

Note

In UNIMARC, the biblionumber is stored in the 090$9 subfield.

999$d - Biblioitemnumber

The biblioitemnumber is the internal number assigned to each record by Koha. It is unique and cannot be reattributed even when the record is deleted.

Mapped to: biblioitems.biblioitemnumber

Indexed in: biblioitemnumber

Warning

This field should not be editable nor edited manually.

Note

In UNIMARC, the biblioitemnumber is stored in the 090$a subfield.

Koha XSLT material type icons

When you have any of the XSLT system preferences (OPACXSLTDetailsDisplay, OPACXSLTResultsDisplay, XSLTDetailsDisplay, and/or XSLTResultsDisplay) along with the DisplayOPACiconsXSLT and DisplayIconsXSLT preferences turned on you will see material type icons on the related screen.

Important

These images are coming from values found in your leader, if your leader is not cataloged properly it might be best to turn off the DisplayOPACiconsXSLT preference (which can be done while leaving the other XSLT preferences turned on).

• Book [BK]

  • leader6 = a (and one of the leader7 values below)

    • leader7 = a

    • leader7 = c

    • leader7 = d

    • leader7 = m

  • leader6 = t

• Computer File [CF]

  • leader6 = m

• Continuing Resource [CR]

  • leader7 = b

  • leader7 = i

  • leader7 = s

• Map [MP]

  • leader6 = e

  • leader6 = f

• Mixed [MX]

  • leader6 = p

• Sound [MU]

  • leader6 = c

  • leader6 = d

  • leader6 = i

  • leader6 = j

• Visual Material [VM]

  • leader6 = g

  • leader6 = k

  • leader6 = r

• Kit

  • leader6 = o

Handling On Order Items and Holds

If you tend to import your MARC records when you have ordered the book (as opposed to when you receive the books), and allow patrons to place holds on those books, you may need to add item records to the *.mrc file before importing.

The easiest way to import your latest order is to first run your records through MARCEdit. Download your MARC records, saving them to your desktop or some other location you use/will remember. If you have MARCEdit already installed you should simply have to double click on your MARC records, and they will automatically open in MARCEdit.

Important

This tutorial was written with MARCEdit version 5.2.3769.41641 on Windows XP, instructions may be different if your version or operating system is different.

• Your original file will automatically be in the input; ensure MarcBreaker is chosen, and then click “Execute”

  

• You will be presented with a summary of the records processed at the bottom of the screen

  

• Click ‘Edit Records’ to continue on to adding item records

• Your screen will be replaced with a larger screen containing the MARC records

  

• Click on Tools > Add/Edit Field

  

• Enter in the Koha specific item info

  

  • In the Field box, type 942

  • In the Field Data box, type \\$c and the item type code (\\$cBOOK in this example)

  • Check the ‘Insert last’ option

  • Click ‘Add Field’

• Enter in the item record data

  

  • In the Field box, type 952

  • In the Field Data box, type $7ORDERED_STATUS$aPERM_LOC$bCURR_LOC$cSHELVING_LOCATION$eSOURCE_OF_ACQ$yITEM_TYPE

    • ex. $7-1$aCPL$bCPL$cNEW$eBrodart$yBOOK

      • In a default install of Koha -1 is the value for the Ordered status

    • You may want to look at other subfields you would like data in – for example, changing the collection code to put all the items in the same collection (8), automatically fill in the acquisition date (d), or put in a public note (z).

    • Be sure you use the $ to separate subfields; adding each subfield on a separate line will cause that many items to be imported with your MARC record (in the example above, four items, each with one of those subfields corrected)

    • Make sure you look at the Administration > Authorized Values in Koha to put the correct code into the field

  • Check the ‘Insert last’ option

  • Click ‘Add Field’

• Close the field editor window

• Click on File > Compile into MARC

  

• Choose where to save your file

Now you want to go into your Koha system and follow the instructions for importing MARC records.

Once the item has come in, you will need to go to the item record and individually change the item to have the correct barcode, and manually change the status from Ordered to the blank line in the Not for Loan field.

Note

If you purchase your cataloged item records, you may want to request your vendor put in the information you need into the MARC records for you; that way, you could import the edited-by-the-vendor file, overwriting the current record, automatically replacing the data with what you need.