Changing a "new" item status automatically

If your library would like to have new items circulate for a different amount of time than other items there are tools available to you in Koha to make this pretty easy to do.

You need to set up an itemstatus in your system for the new materials with the circulation rules you want applied (a one week loan period for example, or no renewals) and when you add a new item to your collection that you want to have handled this way you will use this itemstatus.

Then you will want to set up those items to be automatically modified a specific number of days after they are added to the system (say 180 days which is about 6 months). The Monday Minutes video below shows you how to set this up.  

Note that you will need to have a chron-job set up to make this magic happen after everything is configured.  nhaisLOCAL libraries should contact the NHAIS Help Desk to have the chronjob started.

You Could Have a Koha System in Your Library by June 2021

The nhaisLOCAL project currently includes 13 libraries and we have a schedule in place to bring more NH libraries on board in time for Summer 2021. 

If you choose to automate your library with nhaisLOCAL you will get a Koha system specific to your library with all the functionality offered by this open source system. The pricing is set for the group (currently through 2024) and is an excellent deal for such a robust system. Training and implementation is done in group (which helps keep the cost down) and support calls are handled through the NHAIS Help Desk. Many calls are referred immediately to ByWater Solutions (our support and hosting partner for this project), but routine things we have seen many times before are handled by the NHAIS staff.

If your library would like to have a Koha system in place by the end of June 2020 you will need to sign up with NHAIS Services no later than December 17, 2020. The terms of the project are outlined in the MOU so you can see exactly what you would be getting into.

Here is the anticipated timeline for the June go-live date:

December 2020 - Sign the Memorandum of Agreement with NHSL

January 2021 -- Participate in a virtual kick-off meeting where the process will be mapped out for you

March 2021 -- The records from your current local system (or from NHU-PAC if this is your first system) will need to be extracted and uploaded to ByWater

April 2021 -- You will be working with NHAIS and ByWater to set up data mapping, OPAC design options, circulation rules, and other policy stuff (this sounds scarier than it is) and a test system will be set up for you

May 2021 -- Real-time virtual training with a ByWater educator will be held over the course of a week for your library staff to learn all the components of using Koha (searching, circulation, cataloging, administration of the system)

During April and May 2021 you will be testing your set up and making sure your data is displaying and functioning the way it should. ByWater will make adjustments as you report any issues you find.

June 18, 2021 -- A final extraction of your existing data will be done which will replace the data in your test system. (If you are using NHU-PAC data NHAIS staff will do this for you).

ByWater will complete your final migration over the weekend of June 18-20, 2021

June 21, 2021 --  Your library will have a shiny new Koha system ready to use!

Early July 2021 -- Your local system will be configured as a Z-target in the NHAIS ILL system so that you won't need to maintain holdings in the Union Catalog in order to comply with your NHAIS ILL Agreement. 

If you are ready to get started, or if you have questions, please contact the NHAIS Help Desk at 271-2141 or nhu-pac@dncr.nh.gov

 

Pricing for 2021 and Beyond

We just released the new pricing document for nhaisLOCAL and the increase is much lower than the 10% that had been anticipated.

We had expected that annual support and hosting fees might increase by 10% beginning in January 2021, but they are only going up 3% (to $2575 per year). There will be an additional 3% increase beginning in January 2023 (to $2,650). Invoices will be sent out in January reflecting the new annual cost. This pricing will be valid until the end of 2024.

Implementation and data migration costs for new nhaisLOCAL libraries have not increased. The training fees for a group of at least 3 libraries also remain the same as they have been since the project began. The cost for fewer than 3 libraries is higher because the costs of the real-time virtual training are divided among fewer libraries.