Koha 22.11: Clarify Authority Management

by Catrina Berka on Jun 20, 2023

Provide clarity when managing Authorities system preferences

The system preference BiblioAddsAuthorities has often caused confusion. In Koha 22.11, that system preference is eliminated and replaced by two new system preferences, RequireChoosingExistingAuthority and AutoLinkBiblios (Bug 31162).

RequireChoosingExistingAuthority - indicates whether a cataloger must choose from existing authorities or if they can enter free text into controlled fields.

AutoLinkBiblios - determines whether Koha will attempt to link a new record to existing authorities upon saving; unmatched headings will either be linked to a new authority or remain uncontrolled (works with the existing system preference, AutoCreateAuthorities, to determine whether unmatched headings will either be linked to a new authority or remain uncontrolled).

At upgrade, if you have BiblioAddsAuthorites set to “Don’t Allow” in 22.05, then in 22.11, RequireChoosingExistingAuthority will be set to “Require” and AutoLinkBiblios will be set to “Don’t”. Conversely, if you have BiblioAddsAuthorites set to “Allow” in 22.05, then in 22.11, RequireChoosingExistingAuthority will be set to “don’t require” and AutoLinkBiblios will be set to “Do”.

Additional Resources

Koha 22.11 Upgrade Notes
Koha 22.11: Upgrades Hub