Koha (software)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- This article is about Koha, the Integrated Library System. For other meanings of Koha, see Koha (disambiguation).
Koha is an integrated library system, unique in being the first that is Open Source. Koha was created in 1999 by Katipo Communications for the Horowhenua Library Trust in New Zealand. The first installation went live in January of 2000.
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[edit] Features
Koha has all expected features of ILS software, including:
- Simple, clear interface for librarians and members (patrons)
- Customizable search
- Circulation and borrower management
- Cataloging module with integrated Z39.50 client
- Full acquisitions system including budgets and pricing information (including supplier and currency conversion)
- Simple acquisitions system for the smaller library
- Ability to cope with any number of branches, patrons, patron categories, item categories, items, currencies and other data
- Serials system for magazines or newspapers
- Reading lists for members
[edit] History
Koha was created in 1999 by Katipo Communications for the Horowhenua Library Trust in New Zealand. The first installation went live in January of 2000.
In 2001, Paul Poulain (of Marseille, France) began adding new features to Koha, most significantly support for multiple languages. Koha has been translated from its original English into French, Chinese, Arabic and several other languages. It supports the international records and cataloguing standards MARC and Z39.50 which was added by Paul Poulain in 2002. Sponsorship for MARC and Z39.50 support was taken up by the Nelsonville Public Library.
Recently, an Ohio-based company, Liblime, was established to support Koha and they have been adding new features, including integrating support for Zebra, a high speed contextual database that has dramatically increased the speed of searches within Koha as well as improved the scalability of the system (can now support tens of millions of bibliographic records). The addition of Zebra integration was sponsored by the Crawford County Federated Library System.
[edit] Development
Koha version 2.2 was released on 5 January 2005, and work on the latest version to be named 2.4 or 3.0 (Koha obeys the Linux Kernel system of version numbering) is continuing rapidly. Its new features will include a new user interface design, more advanced search functions, better multi-branch capabilities, and many generic enhancements.
[edit] Obtaining Koha
Koha version 2.2.7 may be downloaded from the savannah page along with the 2.2.7 release notes. Extensive documentation is available from KohaDocs.org. as well as the Koha Wiki. See Requirements below.
[edit] License
Koha is distributed under the GNU General Public License and is therefore free forever.
[edit] Requirements
[edit] Server
The server-side of Koha is written in Perl and requires:
- Perl
- Apache Web Server (2.0 is preferred)
- MySQL Server 4.1 or later (4.1 to properly handle encoding)
- Perl modules for some functions
[edit] Client
[edit] Web Browser
The OPAC interface side of Koha is written in XHTML with CSS 2.0, uses PNG graphics and will display correctly in any operating system under any browser.
The librarian's interface has similar requirements, but it requires a Javascript-enabled browser to work correctly.
