Technical Services Updates for Fall 2021

by Kelly McElligott on May 7, 2021

Below you will find a breakdown of the features and enhancements coming in Koha 20.11 and Koha 21.05.

New Features

Tools

[23019] Ability to create ‘matching profiles’ when importing records
Now users can create and save profiles during the import process. Here is a detailed blog post with more information:

Create Matching Profiles When Importing Records

Acquisitions

[23420] Add “SuggestionsUnwantedFields” to hide fields from the suggestions form
This enhancement allows a library to configure the visibility of the input fields on the OPAC suggestion form. There is a new system preference: OPACSuggestionUnwantedFields. Koha is also removing a system preference: AllowPurchaseSuggestionBranchChoice. Here is a detailed blog post about this new feature:

Unwanted Fields in the Purchase Suggestion Form

[20212] Improve performance of acquisitions receive page
The acquisitions receive page will now load and refresh faster!

[22773] Bulk close invoices and filter invoice view (open/closed)
This feature splits the view of the invoice search results into opened and closed tables and adds the ability to bulk close or reopen invoices.

Cataloging

[11299] Add a button to automatically link authority records in cataloguing
This adds a new button to the basic MARC editor. When clicked, this button will run through all controlled fields in the MARC record and search the existing authority file to link them to authorities. Depending on system preferences, unmatched headings will create new authorities or remain unlinked. Results will be highlighted so that the cataloguer can see what was done. This Monday Minutes entry demonstrates this new feature:

Monday Minutes: Automatically link authority records

[8976] Default sequence of subfields in cataloging and item editor
This enhancement allows users to create a customized default sequence for subfields in MARC frameworks for bibs, authorities, and item records. This blog post has more information:

Subfield sequence: Create a default order for subfields

Enhancements

Acquisitions

[15329] Show budget in addition to fund for late orders in the acquisition
This new features adds a new column with the budget name to the late orders table in acquisitions. This will be helpful in combination with the already displayed fund. From the Late Orders view (in the Acquisitions module) the budget is now visible in this table. Under Table Settings, this table is also called Late Orders, if there are columns that a library would like to hide.

[21882] Add price column to acquisition details tab in the staff interface
In this new column, the price showing will depend on what stage the order is in. When the order is open, the price column will display the budgeted cost. When the order is received, the price column will display the actual cost.

This table is configurable in the Table Settings under Admin. This table is called: acquisitiondetails-table under Catalog

[24157] Additional acquisitions permissions
This will add more granularity in the acquisition permissions. The following permissions will not be available in the Acquisitions section in Staff permissions:

• reopen_closed_invoices to reopen and close invoices

• edit_invoices to edit invoices

• delete_invoices to delete invoices

• merge_invoices to merge invoices

• delete_baskets to delete baskets

[25033] Counts of suggestions are confusing
This patch adds to the simple count of all suggestions in the system with a count filtered by the user's branch. This means that on the homepage and other areas a user will see a count of local suggestions and total suggestions in the system. Previously clicking the link to suggestions would take the user to a page showing fewer suggestions that counted in the link. Now, these numbers should be more consistent.

[26014] Add publication year and edition to Z39.50 results in acquisition
When adding an record to the basket through the acquisitions process using from an external source (z39.50), the publication year and edition will now show in the results. Previous to this Koha version, the publication date and edition would only show when using the z39.50 search in Cataloging.

[26089] Add acquisitions-related reports to acquisitions sidebar menu
There are now report options available on the Acquisitions sidebar. The header, Report, will appear on the sidebar once a user is in the Acquisitions module. The reports available are: Acquisitions Statistic Wizard and Orders by Fund.

[26503] Allow to limit on standing orders in acquisition advanced search
In Koha, standing orders are usually considered new or partially received. Now within the Acquisitions Advanced search, a user can search for Standing Orders more easily. There is a new option for including standing orders in a search. A good note listed in the bug is:

new + standing order = standing order, but nothing received yet

partially received + standing order = active standing order

all status + standing order = all standing orders

[26680] Update (rcvd) to (received) with its own class in basket view
This is a simple word change in the Acquisitions module. In previous versions of Koha, in the Acquisitions basket view, a title that has been received, will be marked with (rcvd). Now Koha will show (received) which should be more clear to users.

[26712] Set focus for cursor to basket name input box on basketheader.pl
Another helpful feature in Acquisitions. When creating a new basket, previously the cursor did not appear in the Basket Name box, a user would have to click in this field before filling it out. Now, with the creation of a basket, the cursor will automatically be in the basket name field.

[26729] When adding a new vendor set focus for cursor to name input box
When a vendor is modified or created, in Koha 20.11, the cursor will be in the first field of the contact, which is the vendor name field.

[27023] Add class names in the suggestions column in suggestions management
This enhancement adds class names to the suggestion column in Suggestion Management. This does not make the information display any differently on the staff interface or the OPAC, however, this will allow for changes to be made to the look of each of these fields more easily.

[27606] Breadcrumbs on parcel.pl should include a link to the vendor
This adds another level of breadcrumbs when receiving items in acquisitions. Now when a user is receiving from a basket, the breadcrumbs will identify and be clickable the vendor from which the item is being received.

[27646] Allow export of acquisitions home and funds table
Koha now has the ability of exporting the data in the Acquisition home table and also the fund table for libraries to get this data into a excel or csv format.

[27794] Add link to biblio from late orders page
Now when a user in the lateorder page, the title will be clickable - so handy!

[23971] Add logging for basket related actions
When enabled, this adds logging for adding new baskets, re-opening closed baskets, modifying baskets, modifying basket headers, modifying basket users, closing baskets, and approving baskets. This Monday Minutes has details:

Monday Minutes: New logs are added

[26630] Allow custom text for each library on the purchase suggestion page
Using the News tool, libraries can create custom text at the top of their purchase suggestion screen.

[27793] Store contents of FTX segment of EDI quotes for inclusion in orders
This enhancement adds support for the EDI FTX (FreeText) segment in EDIFACT ordering. The segment is stored and sent during the EDI process.

Cataloging

[5428] Back to results after deleting a record
When a search is created and from that search a deletion happens, the user was previously brought to the blank search form. Now this enhancement will allow the user to choose whether a blank search form is what they want, or the other option of going back to the previous search results. 1. Do a search 2. Choose a Record. 3 Delete Items 4. Delete Record. 5. The search screen will now look like this- choose the option of "Go Back to the Results" will bring the user back to their original search. See screenshot below.

[12533] Improve authority search result display
This patch changes authority record search results, linking each heading to the corresponding detail page, and adding column in the results table showing the heading type.

[15851] Only display “Analytics: Show analytics” when records have linked analytics
This development changes how the Show analytics link is displayed in both OPAC and staff interface.
The main changes are:

• It is only displayed if it would actually have results

• It is no longer constrained to serials: collections, subunits, integrating resources, monographs and serials, all will display the link.

Note: For libraries that wish to only display those links for serials (for example), can hide them for other resources:

.analytic_collection .analytic_subunit .analytic_ires .analytic_monograph { display: none };

This CSS classes can be used in both OPAC and admin interface.

[20154] Stay in the open tab when editing authority record
This enhancement will keep the same tab open when clicking edit while working in the Authority records.

[22399] Improve responsive behavior of the basic MARC editor
This enhancement will include markup and style changes to the basic MARC editor to improve the size of the browser page- specifically to smaller browser widths.

[24176] Show the date of the last circulation in the items table in the staff interface
The date of when an item was last borrowed can now be seen on the results of a holding. This is configurable, so if a library would like to hide this- this can be done under Admin- Table Settings- Cataloging- holdings_table.

[15933] Add cataloguing plugin to search for existing publishers in other records
A library can now use a plugin during cataloging to pull existing publishers from their data. This involves adding the plugin, marc21_field260b.pl to a framework in the 260$b field. One this has been installed, a new record will have the ability to populate the publisher field when text is entered.

[16314] Show upload link for upload plugin in basic MARC editor
Now when cataloging, the 856$u field has a convenient "Upload" button.

[26943] Show not for loan descriptions in cataloging search (addbooks.pl)
In Koha, when an item is set to either a positive or negative 'not for loan' status, the description displays. Prior to this, if an item was set to a negative 'not for loan' status, Koha would display it as 'On Order'.

[27422] HTML5Media is http by default but Youtube is https only
This is a fix to the functionality of adding YouTube videos to your records. Koha has resolved the issue with hardcoding HTTPS when generating YouTube content embedding. For more information about this feature, see this blog post:

Youtube Streaming for Cataloging in Koha

[12966] Edition statement missing from card view in Z39.50 result list (acq+cataloguing)
The Edition statement can now be seen on the "Card View" when using the z39.50 search.

[27022] Add publisher number (MARC21 028) to OPAC and staff detail pages
The publisher number found in the 028 can not be viewed in the record details on both the staff and OPAC.

[26007] Warning/reminder for changes to Koha to MARC mapping
Users can alter the Koha to MARC Mappings in Koha, and there will now be a warning when on this page or when changes are about to made, as a change in this part of Koha does require a re-build to happen.

[26145] Add the ability to attach a cover image at item level
If LocalCoverImages is turned on, it will now be possible to attach a local cover images for an item. It can be especially useful for subscriptions. One cover image could be attach per serial number. The cover images will be displayed on the item list table on the bibliographic record detail page.

[27545] NewItemsDefaultLocation is only used from additem.pl
The NewItemsDefaultLocation system preference now adds a shelving location when adding items in the serials or acquisition module and when importing items through the staged MARC import tools. It does not override item records that are imported with a shelving location.

Templates

[24012] Display ‘Locked’ budget with a lock icon
When a budget is locked, a lock will appear indicating that it is a locked budget.

[24156] Basket – Make sort order and number of items to display configurable
This patch adds new options in the Table settings section to make the sort order and number of results per page in the basket table configurable.

[25427] Make authority subfield management interface consistent with bibliographic subfield management view

[25471] Add DataTables to MARC subfield structure admin page for bibliographic frameworks

[25593] Terminology: Fix “There is no order for this biblio.” on catalog detail page

Tools

[15563] Add option to regularly delete patron card and label batches to cleanup_database.pl cronjob
Instead of being kept indefinitely, now label and card batches can be automatically deleted if they have not been updated in a given number of days.

[4037] Inventory tool missing item type filter
This adds the ability to filter inventory by item type. Multiple item types can be selected at once.

[28014] Add table settings to batch patron modification
This adds DataTable table configurations and export options to the table of patrons submitted for batch modification, both before and after modifications are made. This is configurable via 'Table settings' in Administration.

[4985] Copy a change on the calendar to all libraries
This now gives the ability to make a change to the calendar (such as adding a new holiday) and apply it to other branches.

[5087] Option to not show CSV profiles in OPAC
When creating or editing CSV profiles, an option to show in the OPAC will appear, allowing the library to show or don't show this specific CSV profile.

[21066] Replace opac_news.timestamp by published_on and add updated_on as timestamp

[22660] Allow use of CodeMirror for editing HTML in the news editor
A new system preference, NewsToolEditor, will allow users to switch between using the WYSIWYG and CodeMirror in the News Feature.

[23114] Inventory: allow to scan barcodes into input field
Now within the Inventory module, a library will have the option of either uploading a barcode file or directly scanning the barcodes into the Inventory tool.

[25101] Add ability to skip previewing results when batch extending due dates
When this feature was released, the preview of the action getting performed would time out- thus causing libraries to not know if the tool did the update. Now a library when doing a large set of extending of due dates, can skip the option of previewing prior to submitting.

[25694] Add ability to delete a MARC modification template when viewing
This enhancement adds a ‘Delete template’ button on the page for viewing the actions of a MARC modification template.

[25845] Cannot limit system logs to ‘api’ interface
This enhancement adds the option to limit viewing logged actions done by API only

[26013] Date on ‘manage staged MARC records’ is not formatted correctly

[26086] Add a ‘cron’ interface limit to the log viewer
This enhancement adds the option to limit viewing logged actions done by cron only

[26207] Compare values of system preference log entries
This patch adds a feature to the log viewer in the staff interface for use when viewing system preference log entries. The feature allows the user to select two system preference values in the log for comparison. The two versions are shown in a modal window with the differences highlighted.

[26431] Use split button to offer choice of WYSIWYG or code editor for news

[26572] Add autocomplete to librarian field in log viewer
Now when searching the logs, an autocomplete will included while entering the librarian number.

[26736] Compare values of reports log entries
Within the Logs, a user can choose two different entries and compare them to see the changes that were made.

[26804] News: Move the news preview out of the table and into a modal
Given the size of some images that can be loaded into the News feature, there is now a way to hide them and when a user would like to see the images, there is a new button called "Preview". This will help with this page getting very large.

[26844] Log viewer does not indicate which logs are enabled
Now if a log has not been turned on in the Global System Preferences, within the log viewer, a user can see which ones are enabled or not enabled. There is a little black triangle alerting the user as well as text as the user hovers over this.

More Resources For Upcoming Upgrade

Koha Upgrade for Fall 2021