This week I’m going to show you how to import MARC records in bulk to Koha 3.2.

If you have an idea for a video, please just let me know and I’ll add it to my list of things to record.

Let’s take a break from hearing me talk and watch this tutorial of RSS Feeds. This is a great video for those of you who are unsure of what RSS is and for you to share with your patrons who are unsure of how to use the RSS feeds in Koha.

If you have an idea for a tutorial video I should do or that you have done yourself (or found on the web) that we should include in this series, just drop me a line and I’ll add it.

August 30th, 2010
CONTACT:
Nathan Curulla
(888) 900-8944
sales@bywatersolutions.com

The C.G. Jung Institute of San Fransisco Partners with ByWater Solutions for Koha Support and Implementation

ByWater Solutions, an open source community supporter and official Koha support company, announced today that the C.G. Jung Institute of San Francisco, CA. has partnered with them for the implementation and support of their official Koha integrated library system installation.

ByWater Solutions will provide the Virginia Allan Detloff Library with a full Koha Installation, data migration, customization of their staff and public interface, 24/7 comprehensive support, and hosting services.

Marianne Morgan of the Virginia Allan Detloff Library saw Koha as “an attractive option for having an affordable web enabled catalog for our users.” When asked why she chose ByWater for the library’s support needs, Marianne replied: “Several libraries in our local consortium have moved to Koha with ByWater recently, and all have had an excellent experience with them.”

Brendan Gallagher, CEO of ByWater stated: “We are delighted to have the opportunity to partner with the staff of the C.G. Jung Institute of San Francisco for their Koha migration. By adopting Koha in their library, the C.G. Jung Institute is bringing enhanced functionality and greater support for the staff and patrons.”

The Virginia Allan Detloff Library is targeted to go live by the end of 2010.

About the C.G. Jung Institute of San Francisco:
Analytical psychology is the theoretical foundation for Jungian analysis, a healing practice that serves the basic human need for psychological consciousness and growth.The C.G. Jung Institute of San Francisco was founded to advance a viewpoint vital to the conscious, ethical practice and utilization of analytical psychology and to disseminate knowledge central to that end.

The Institute trains psychotherapists to become Jungian analysts and maintains a collegial society to provide continuing education and ethical review for member analysts. It offers education and information to other professionals and the general public and promotes research about Jungian analysis and psychotherapy. It maintains the Virginia Allan Detloff Library and the Archive for Research in Archetypal Symbolism as educational resources.

The Institute recognizes that the potential of wholeness and individuation depends on psychological development that in turn is supported or hampered by collective attitudes and laws. With this understanding, the C.G. Jung Institute of San Francisco supports in principle efforts that promote universal human rights. For more information please visit: www.sfjung.org

About Koha:
Koha is the first open-source Integrated Library System (ILS). In use worldwide, its development is steered by a growing community of libraries collaborating to achieve their technology goals. Koha’s impressive feature set continues to evolve and expand to meet the needs of its user base. It includes modules for circulation, cataloging, acquisitions, serials, reserves, patron management, branch relationships, and more.
 
Koha’s OPAC, circulation, management and self-checkout interfaces are all based on standards-compliant World Wide Web technologies–XHTML, CSS and Javascript–making Koha a truly platform-independent solution. Koha is distributed under the open-source General Public License (GPL). For more information about Koha, please visit
www.koha-community.org

About ByWater Solutions:
With over 10 years of experience, ByWater Solutions offers customized hosting, data migration, configuration, installation, training, support options and development of enterprise class open-source library systems. Offering a 24/7 technical helpline, ByWater Solutions’ clients have the support system they need to make their software work for them. ByWater Solutions pledges to share 100% of all developed code to the Koha community for the strengthening and advancement of the Koha ILS. For more information about ByWater Solutions, please visit: www.bywatersolutions.com

We have done an OPAC demo before, but it was really really brief. Here is a longer OPAC demo video.

If you have an idea for a video, please just let me know and I’ll add it to my list of things to record.

After you finish cataloging in Koha you need to print out your spine labels. Once you have a layout all set, you just need to create a batch and print your labels.

As always, if you have an idea for a video, please just let me know and I’ll add it to my list of things to record.

The label creator in Koha 3.2 has been completely rewritten and improved. This tutorial will walk you through creating a spine label layout in Koha.

As always, if you have an idea for a video, please just let me know and I’ll add it to my list of things to record.

As a library patron I love the idea of being able to place holds, but some libraries don’t have the resources to handle holds and want to disable holds in Koha. This video tutorial will walk you through disabling holds in Koha 3.2.

As always, if you have an idea for a video, please just let me know and I’ll add it to my list of things to record.

August 4th, 2010
CONTACT:
Nathan Curulla
(888) 900-8944
sales@bywatersolutions.com

Goddard College Partners with ByWater Solutions for Koha Support and Implementation

ByWater Solutions, an open source community supporter and official Koha support company, announced today that Goddard College, of Plainfield, VT. has partnered with them for the implementation and support of their official Koha integrated library system installation.

ByWater Solutions will provide the Eliot D. Pratt Library of Goddard College with a full Koha Installation, data migration of their over 42,000 records, customization of their staff and public interface, 24/7 comprehensive support, and hosting services.

“Any software is only as good as the services that it provides and a database is only as good as its retrieval system.” Stated Clara Bruns, Director of Information Access at the Eliot D. Pratt Library. She continues; “The Open Source model means that we’ll pay for the services that the system provides and programming as needed, rather than paying for the use of a private company’s proprietary system. It’s a different business model that seems more directly in line with what a system really is because a piece of software has no “intrinsic’ value.”

When asked about the open source model and how it fits with her library needs, Clara Bruns stated; “Open Source will give us more independence in the long run. With ILS vendors, the larger libraries and contracts determine what companies are offering and there is the risk that system ownership will change or that they no longer support a product. We are a small institution and are currently paying too much for a system that only marginally meets our needs.”

She then went on to say that ByWater Solutions “met our criteria to find the most cost- effective solution for our library system and they have a great reputation with the libraries who have used their services.”

“We are extremely excited to have the opportunity to work with Clara and the staff of Goddard College” stated Brendan Gallagher, CEO of ByWater Solutions. “Our two institutions share the same excitement and enthusiasm about open source, and we look forward to giving them the personalized levels of support that they deserve.”

The Eliot D. Pratt Library is targeted to go live by the end of 2010.

About Goddard College:
At Goddard you will encounter a unique learning environment where adult learners are encouraged to pursue their passions.  Supported by expert faculty and dedicated staff, students seeking to complete a bachelor’s or a master’s degree individualize study that integrates personal interests, professional commitments and creative aspirations.
Goddard programs engage students in learning that is personally meaningful and socially responsive. Each person who comes to Goddard College enters a collaborative community that is committed to achieving academic excellence, deepening intellectual curiosity and developing the skills needed to promote social justice.
Goddard is nationally and internationally recognized for its leadership in educational innovation, its deep commitment to the ideals of democracy and for its active efforts to live consciously as stewards of the earth. For more information, please visit: www.goddard.edu

About Koha:
Koha is the first open-source Integrated Library System (ILS). In use worldwide, its development is steered by a growing community of libraries collaborating to achieve their technology goals. Koha’s impressive feature set continues to evolve and expand to meet the needs of its user base. It includes modules for circulation, cataloging, acquisitions, serials, reserves, patron management, branch relationships, and more.
 
Koha’s OPAC, circulation, management and self-checkout interfaces are all based on standards-compliant World Wide Web technologies–XHTML, CSS and Javascript–making Koha a truly platform-independent solution. Koha is distributed under the open-source General Public License (GPL). For more information about Koha, please visit: www.koha-community.org

About ByWater Solutions:
With over 10 years of experience, ByWater Solutions offers customized hosting, data migration, configuration, installation, training, support options and development of enterprise class open-source library systems. Offering a 24/7 technical helpline, ByWater Solutions’ clients have the support system they need to make their software work for them. ByWater Solutions pledges to share 100% of all developed code to the Koha community for the strengthening and advancement of the Koha ILS. For more information about ByWater Solutions, please visit: www.bywatersolutions.com

One question I’m often asked is, “Where can I find a batch download of authority records?” Unfortunately I have yet to find a free way to get a bulk download of Library of Congress authorities (which you can download one by one on the official site), but I have found these sites that I want to share with you all:

• Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) from the National Library of Medicine
• National Agricultural Library Thesaurus
• Guidelines on Subject Access to Individual Works of Fiction – Drama authority files
• Getty sample files for their authority records for various Getty datatbases
• Sample Authorities (and other things) for Koha

For the second in our series of training videos, here’s a brief OPAC overview.

As always, if you have an idea for a video, please just let me know and I’ll add it to my list of things to record.