19.11 Technical Services Updates

by Donna Bachowski on May 7, 2020

19.11 Technical Services Updates

We are excited to share these selected enhancements to 19.11 in Cataloging, Acquisitions, Serials, and Tools. To see the full list of bug fixes and enhancements, please visit the release notes.

Cataloging

[15497] Limit Item Types by Library

Item Types can now be limited by branch! This much-awaited feature is available. In your Item Types table you can now use the Library Limitations function to restrict an item type to specific libraries. This limitation will show on the Item Types table in a column. This feature was sponsored by the Central Kansas Library System, the Northeast Kansas Library System, and the Southeast Kansas Library System.

Tutorial video here

[17179] Advanced editor: Add keyboard shortcuts to repeat (duplicate) a field, and cut text

This enhancement adds an internal clipboard to the advanced editor provides some new functionality to make use of it. (The default shortcuts can be edited.) For all of these shortcuts, the cursor can be right before the subfield or after it. This feature was sponsored by the Round Rock Public Library.

Shortcuts changed:

• Ctrl-X: Now cuts a line into the clipboard area
  
• Shift-Ctrl-X: Now cuts current subfield into clipboard area

Shortcuts added:

• Ctrl-C: Copies a line into the clipboard area
• Shift-Ctrl-C: Copies current subfield into clipboard area
• Ctrl-P: Pastes the selected item from the clipboard at cursor
• Ctrl-I: Copies the current line and inserts onto a new line below

Blog Post and Tutorial video: view here

[17178] Add a popup/keyboard shortcuts for diacritics and symbols in the advanced cataloging editor

A new “virtual keyboard” has been added to the advanced editor which allows easy insertion of diacritics and symbols. This feature was sponsored by the Round Rock Public Library.

In the Keyboard Shortcuts there is a new listing, Ctrl-k, to toggle the virtual keyboard. When pressing Ctrl-k, users will see a virtual keyboard on the bottom of the screen, and a new toolbar button lableled “Keyboard layout” from where users can select the version of the virtual keyboard they need.

Blog Post and Tutorial video: view here

[7882] Add ability to move and reorder fields in MARC editor

There are times where you may want to reorder your 6xx fields - perhaps you want a certain subject heading to show first. This feature is for you! In the basic editor, you now have the ability to drag to reorder fields and subfields. A new icon shows to the left of the field - simply click on that and drag it to where you want it to be. When you are done editing the record, click on save, and you are all set!

[20364] Show languages from MARC21 field 041 in intranet

This patch adds language data from the 041 field of bibliographic records to both the search results and details pages. This applies to both the staff client and the OPAC.

In the search results notice the language designation:

And in the item details page:

[23731] Display LC call number in OPAC and staff detail pages

Until this release, only the DDC number displayed in the item detail record in both the staff client and the OPAC. Now the LC call number will display too.

If your library does not want both of those to display, you can use CSS to hide it.

To hide the LC number:

.loc {

display: none;

}

To hide the DDC number:

.ddc {

display: none;

}

Or to hide both the DDC and LC numbers:

.ddc, .loc {

display: none;

}

[22445] Ability to define a URL for custom cover images

This development adds the ability to use alternative cover art providers who provide covers openly via consistent URLs.

Three new system preferences are introduced: CustomCoverImagesURL, CustomCoverImages and OPACCustomCoverImages.

Acquisitions

[14669] Search orders by managing library

For libraries that use Managing Library in baskets, this patch adds Managing Library to the Orders Search form:

and to the Orders search results table:

[20254] Forbid the download of duplicate EDI messages

If a vendor sends the same EDI file twice, libraries cannot rename the second occurrence which results in downloading and processing the file over and over again. This enhancement checks that downloaded files are unique against those on file, and rejects processing it if the file name is a duplicate.

[23522] Show “actual price” in basket when available

This enhancement applies to both Standing Order baskets and non-standing order baskets. If an Actual Cost is entered during the order process, that information will be displayed when viewing the basket. This feature was sponsored by Virginia Tech.

[23464] Update the process of quick spine label printing

A nice improvement to the Quick Spine Label printing - users will now see a small popup window instead of the full screen window.

Serials

[24887] Add link from vendor to linked subscriptions

When you have a vendor attached to a subscription record, you will now be able to see how many subscriptions you have from that vendor, and what they are. To see this, go to Acquisitions and view the Vendor record. You will see Subscription Details with a linked number.

Clicking on that link will show you a list of open and closed subscriptions for that vendor.

Users will need serials permissions to view those records.

[21588] Add “Collapse/Expand” options on subscription-detail page

This supports the 18.11 enhancement that allows receipt of a partial order, such as when a library gets five copies of a serial, but only three are received. There is now Expand All and Collapse All links on the Acquisitions details page of a subscription so that users can view either the multiple entries for each order.

[23435] Add multiple copies of an item when receiving in serials

This is very exciting! This feature is available for subscriptions where item records are being created when receiving. Users can now add multiple item records when receiving a serial.

[23416] When a note to a specific issue upon receiving a serial, this note will appear in next issue received

This bug fix has already been patched on our partner sites. There is a new system preference, PreserveSerialNotes. This setting (Do nor Do Not) determines if the note added to the last Arrived serial is generated into the next issue note field.

Tools

[13552] Add debar option to batch patron modification

Have a whole group of patrons you need to debar/restrict? Now you can do that in the Batch Patron Modification! Add a date in the Restriction expiration section to debar a patron, or use the checkbox to clear their restriction. Likewise, add a restriction comment or use the checkbox to clear it. Remember that the Restriction comment is viewable by the patron when they login to the OPAC.

[22888] Use DataTables for Koha news table filtering

With more functionality being moved to the News tool, there is the potential for a lot of information to be stored there. This enhancement moves the filtering options to the left of the screen, and makes it much easier to see what news items are posted in each area.

[23279] In news management interface, sort news by publication date descending

This enhancement does more than what the title suggests! This patch makes a few changes to the configuration of the DataTable showing news items in the staff client. It adds a default sort on "Publication date," descending, updates the way non-sortable columns are configured, and modifies sorting on the title and content columns so that articles are ignored.

[22996] Move barcode separators to a preference

This feature adds the system preference BarcodeSeparators. Currently, Koha uses the carriage return, linefeed, or whitespace to determine barcode separation. If a library has an inventory tool, etc, that uses a different character such as a comma, semicolon, pipe, or whatnot, that can be added to this system preference so Koha will look for those characters as separators.

[23184] Export/bibs/holdings settings unclear for exporting bibs without any holdings

This enhancement fixes a common mistake when exporting data. Previously, Koha would not export bibs without items if the “With Items Owned By” checkboxes were checked. These boxes were selected by default, so the process was not intuitive. The checkboxes have been cleared for “With items owned by the following libraries” so that bibs without items will be included in the exports.

Questions?

If you have any questions about how these features function, please email us at 19.11upgrades@bywatersolutions.com