Monday Minutes: How to Float Items in Koha

by Jessie Zairo on Apr 4, 2022

In this week's Monday Minutes, Kelly and Jessie will discuss how to float items in Koha. In multi-branch systems, you can select if an item (type) floats. When an item type is set to float, the item will not be transferred from the branch it was checked in at, instead, it will remain there until it is placed on hold, transferred manually, or checked in at another branch. Below we will show you how to set this functionality up.

Administration

There are 2 places where you can define is an item floats. The first is the Default checkout, hold, and return policy. The second is the Default holds policy by item type. The default hold policy by item type will override the Default checkout, hold, and return policy.

1. Default checkout, hold, and return policy
   1. You can set a default maximum number of checkouts, a default maximum number of holds, and a hold policy that will be used if none is defined below for a particular item type or category. This is the fallback rule for defaults.
   2. Under the column Return Policy, you will have 3 options to choose from.
      1. Item returns home
      2. Item returns to issuing branch
      3. Item floats (When an item floats it stays where it was checked in and does not ever return ‘home’)
2. Default holds policy by item type.
   1. You can edit hold and return policies for a given item type, regardless of the patron’s category. This is override the default holds policy by itemtype.
   2. Under the column Return Policy, you will have 3 options to choose from.
      1. Item returns home
      2. Item returns to issuing branch
      3. Item floats (When an item floats it stays where it was checked in and does not ever return ‘home’)

Example

For example, you might allow Books or DVDs to float at your library (meaning they can stay at the library they were returned to) but not want New Books or New DVDs to float, instead return to the home library. You would set the item type for BOOK or DVD to item floats and NEWBOOK or NEWDVD to item returns home.

Report

If you want to run a report to see where things have floated (ie where the items home location and holding location differ) you can run the report below.

SELECT *
FROM items
WHERE homebranch != holdingbranch

Additional Resources

Monday Minutes: Circulation Rules

Monday Minutes: Circulation Rules Default Values