Last week the LINK Implementation committees received basic training on Koha. Here is what committee members have been saying about Koha.
"I really liked being able to have two tabs open at once so that you could be working on something and then flip over to check out without having to finish the other thing (like updating a patron record) first." (Brinnan Shaffer/SCLS Delivery).
"The sharing of saved reports will be helpful. I also like the ability to create new reports." (Carla Di Iorio/Madison)
"I like the ability to create lists in the Catalog, which might finally give us a chance to create a separate list of new materials for the fans of classical music, who currently have to wade through all the other genres to find the five-ten classical titles we add every month." (Dennis Reynolds/Madison)
"I like how we will be able to see a list of the 50 most recently checked out items for a patron. Right now the only way to look at a previous item is if it was overdue or had a problem." (Katie Brenner/Waunakee)
"If you make a juvenile account and the "guarantor" (guardian in Dynix language) has an account you can click on the parent's name from within the child's account to get to the parent's account. That's handy." (Annie Busta and Jeff Kauffeld / Madison)
"I really liked being able to run my own reports and the saved reports share." (Tracy Herald / Sun Prairie)
"I like the ability to write notes to patrons that they will see when they check their accounts from home." (Emily Harkins / Waunakee)
"I felt like I was shopping the Amazon or Barnes & Noble websites, but I knew I wasn't going to have to get out the credit card. Our patrons are going to love the new look and the user-friendly feel to the PAC. Searching felt much easier and more intuitive than what we currently have. We may have to increase our hold shelves to accommodate all of the "new" people placing holds. I had to leave the training just as they were getting into tagging, but that sure looked like another great feature." (Maureen Palmer / Plain)
"I really liked the way Reports looked. I realize that reports development is not our top priority but I was impressed that it looked pretty flexible." (Susan Lee / Madison)
"As for cataloging: I liked the fact that it seems like creating templates like our BSE templates is very doable. I also like the fact that one can un-import bib records if one realizes they made a mistake quickly. And I like the fact that we can have macros in cataloging." (Jan Anderson / Madison)
"I liked that patrons can set up RSS feeds of their searches so they are automatically notified when new items are added that they're interested in. I see lots of fun possibilities for the public lists that staff can create. "Great Gardening Books at Our Library." "Meadowridge Staff Favorites." "Meadowridge Past Picks of the Week." I will need to restrain myself. FRBRization! It will rock to have all other formats and editions of a work easily accessible through one search." (Kathy Wolkoff / Madison)