Koha Question of the Week: Just What is a Coverflow?

by Hebah Amin-Headley on Sep 22, 2023

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: Just What is a Coverflow?

Answer: Early on during the implementation process, one of the questions we ask new library partners is what they want their Koha OPAC to look like, and if they're interested in a coverflow.

A coverflow is a carousel display of book covers of titles the library has, on the front page of the public catalog, often keyed to what has most recently been added to the collection. It involves installing and configuring a plugin that is fed by report to identify the materials to display. For libraries that want a set-and-forget option, their coverflow report(s) can be keyed to when items were added to Koha, pulling X number of covers added in the last Y number of days, ensuring a rotation of fresh content as the collection grows. Other libraries may choose to swap out their coverflow themes and use them for readers advisory, like building a coverflow based on staff picks or from a staff list curated for various heritage months or holidays.

In short, coverflows are a nice way to visually show off a library's collection on the public-facing catalog, especially for libraries that want to add an element of discoverability to their catalog without employing a discovery layer like Aspen.

Additional Resources

KohaCon 2022: Leveling up with Plugins

Creating a Public List in Koha

Monday Minutes : Editing a SQL report