Koha Question of the Week: How Do I Move an Item to the Correct Record?

by Hebah Amin-Headley on Aug 30, 2024

Each Friday, we will bring you a new Koha Question of the Week. We will select real questions that we receive and share the answers with you!

Question: How Do I Move an Item to the Correct Record?

Answer: Sometimes, in spite of all best efforts, cataloging errors happen. Here's one scenario that happens occasionally: a patron checks their account and sees a title they don't recognize in their checkouts. It takes a bit of back and forth and maybe the patron digging through their bag of items to prove they don't have the item, when a staff member realizes the issue: the barcoded item in the patron's hand doesn't match the bibliographic record it is attached to.

Luckily, there is a tool to fix this issue. The first step is to copy down that errant barcode. If the record it belongs to is already in the catalog, navigate to that record. The Edit menu has several options, including "Attach item."

This will open a text box asking for the item barcode to transfer to the target record. Problem solved!

If the record is no longer in the system or was never migrated to the system, library staff will need to use the cataloging module to either create a new record or copy catalog it through Z39.50 or their Connexion Client. Once the record is in Koha, the same process as above can be followed using the new record as a target for the item attachment.

At this time, "attach item" only works for one item at a time.

Additional Resources

Self-Paced Learning in Koha: Cataloging Tools