KOHA FAQs
Koha FAQs
Circulation
No, there are no overrides in Koha. If you want to allow the patron to have the item longer, you must check it in and then back out.
Every library will have a “Statistical Patron” card. You will check out your in-house use items to this card. No need to check them back in as it will only record the transaction as a statistical transaction.
Don’t use it as it currently does not work right in Koha.
- The item renewed successfully. Your new due date is ________ (It will renew from the original due date. As it does now in Sirsi.)
- The item did not renew because _________ (either you’ve reached your renewal limit or another patron has it on hold)
NOTE: With auto-renewals, you cannot manually renew items. There is no way to notify patrons who do not have an email on file.
- Look up the patron
- Click on the Checkouts tab
- Click on the barcode of the item they claimed to have returned, this brings up the item information for that item
- Change the Damaged Status to Claims Returned and click Set Status
- Click the patron’s barcode number next to checkout status
- Click on Checkouts tab
- On the far right, you will see a Check in column, check the box next to the item you are marking as claims Returned and click the Renew or check in selected items button
- Copy the barcode of the item, go up to add a message to the patron’s account
- In the predefined notes drop-down, chose Claims Returned – add barcode
- Paste the barcode over “add barcode” and click Save
- Click Circulation
- Click Check In
- Check the box for Book Drop mode (it will automatically set the return day to the last day you were open)
- Put your cursor in the check in box and start scanning items
Holds
- If they are both blank, then you know that you need to call the patron to tell them their hold is available
- If one (or both) are filled in with their email address and/or cell phone number, then you know they will be notified that way
Items
- Gather the items that you wish to bulk edit. E.g. You have 15 books that would like the Shelving Location changed from New Books to Adult Fiction.
- In Koha, click Tools
- Click Batch Item Modification
- In the “Scan items one by one” section, scan all the items that you wish to edit
- Click Continue
- In the Shelving Location drop-down, choose your new Shelving Location
- Click Save
- Gather the items that you wish to discard
- In Koha, click Tools
- Click Batch Item Modification
- In the “Scan Items one by one” section, scan all the items you wish to discard
- Click Continue
- In the Withdrawn status drop-down, choose Discard
- Click Save.
OPAC
- For existing patron’s, their PIN will be the last 4 digits of their current phone number on file.
- For new patron’s, starting 10/29, the PIN field will be automatically set to changeme upon creation. At that point, you can change it to the last 4 digits of their phone number. Please do not keep it as the default.
Patrons
You may use guarantor/guarantee accounts so that you know who to contact if a Juvenile patron never returns an item and a they are automatically billed for the item. Guarantor accounts currently cannot see a Guarantee’s current checkouts in their (the Guarantor’s) account.
It will not be there once we are LIVE.
- Look up the juvenile account
- Click Edit and scroll down until you find the “Guarantor information” section
- Click the “Set to patron” button
- This opens a new window where you can search for the parent/guardian account
- Once you find the correct account, click Select next to their account
- Add the relationship in the relationship drop-down
- Click Save
With this self-registered account, patrons can:
- Checkout and place holds on eMaterials via OverDrive
- Place holds in the OPAC on print materials
When a patron comes in with a self-registered account, staff will need to:
- Look to see if the patron has another library account on file. If so, stop there. Merge the self-registered account with their original account, keeping the original account.
- If no other account is on file, verify the patron’s information (address, phone number, etc.) via your usual method
- Give the patron a library card and enter that barcode number into the account
- IMPORTANT: Change the patron category from Self-Registered to the proper patron category. E.g. Adult Patron, Young adult patron, etc.
- IMPORTANT: Renew the patron’s account
PLEASE NOTE: Self-registered patron accounts will automatically delete after 28 days if staff do not follow step 4.
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Staff
We suggest setting your receipt printer to be the default printer on your checkout computer.