Koha ILS upgradation at KMCT Medical College Manassery

KMCT Medical College Manassery library, Mukkam, Calicut, India- 673602 has upgraded their koha to the latest stable version (21.05.11) from 16.05 version. Thanks to Mr. Bhaskar, the librarian of the college for selecting me as the service provider.

About KMCT Medical College

KMCT Medical College was established in the year 2008 with an intake of 100 MBBS seats approved by the Medical Council of India. The College is affiliated with Kerala University of Health Sciences. The Central Government had accorded recognition for the MBBS course in the year 2013. Postgraduate courses were started in the academic year 2015-16 in Orthopaedics & Pharmacology and in the academic year 2020-21 postgraduate courses were started in other specialities (Microbiology, Community Medicine, General Medicine, General Surgery, Obstetrics & Gynaecology, Paediatrics, ENT, Ophthalmology, Dermatology, Anaesthesiology, Psychiatry, Radiology & Pulmonary Medicine). From the academic year 2016-17, the intake of students in MBBS course was increased from 100 to 150 by the approval of Central Government.

Reference: https://www.kmctmedicalcollege.org/about-us/

Koha ILS upgradation at AKG Co-Operative Institute of Health Sciences

AKG Co-operative Institute Of Health Sciences, Kannur (AKGCIHS) library upgraded their koha to the latest stable version (21.05.11) from 18.05 version. Also implimented DSpace digital repository for archiving their contents.

It was my pleassure to be seleted as the support provider fot their Koha ILS & DSpace

About AKGCIHS

AKG CIHS, a new addition to the health education sector in the northern Malabar region of Kerala was initiated in the year 2017 as a memorial of Com. A K Gopalan.

Sri. A K Gopalan was a remarkable politician, a fabulous orator and a great Parliamentarian in the Indian history and a person who always had a heart dedicated for the upliftment of poor and downtrodden. Therefore, this college is aimed to be a noble deed for serving the community and empowering the students of this institution with meticulous knowledge in the field of health education.

The college functions at the native place of Sri. AKG – Mavilayi which is about 10 kms west of Kannur town and away from the buzz of the town. This institution was created to facilitate health education, training and research.

With the motto being “Exploring new horizons in health care” we aim to bring about an overall positive change in the health education system and provide knowledge in respect to people’s Health throughout all stages with the recently developed techniques.

The institution is fully equipped with the modern technologies and brilliant infrastructure so as to motivate the students to learn, develop and create their own ways of approach towards the society. The platform for research is always the utmost priority as the institution commits to refine recent advances in the field of health care.

The mission and vision of the institution is directed to bring the best out of the students and to contribute their part in bringing a new aspect to health care. The younger minds are being well trained with excellent knowledge and tremendous skills.

AKG CIHS comprises 7 diploma courses under the paramedical sector now . It is been approved by the Directorate of Medical Education. The information about other paramedical courses will be updated soon.

Reference: http://www.akgcihs.com/home/about

Archaeological Survey of India, Thrissur Circle starts using Koha

The library of Thrissur Circle of Archaeological Survey of India starts using Koha Integrated Library System for handling their collection. Mr. M. Mani, Assistant Library & Infomation Officer took the initiative and then consulted me to implement Koha in their library.

This is yet another client who begins the journey in the koha. anyway all the very best Mr. M Mani and the team.

About ASI, Thrissur Circle

In pursuance of recommendations of the Expert group on Archaeology (Ram Niwas Committee, 1989), para 67 Chapter XIII Thrissur Circle was formed in 1997. Thrissur Circle of Archaeological Survey of India was established in April 1997, separated from Chennai Circle with the Monuments/Sites in Kerala and adjoining districts of Tamilnadu viz. Kanyakumari, Tirunelveli and Nilgiri.

There are totally of 28 monuments and 9 sites protected under the purview of Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 1958 and Rules 1959 are under the administrative control of the Circle. Most of these monuments and sites were under the protection of the erstwhile states of Cochin and Travancore.

The monuments protected include Temples, Jaina monuments, a church, Forts, and a Palace. Most of the Temples in Kerala are wooden edifies with granite or laterite plinth. The inner walls of the Mattancherry palace and outer walls of temples are generally covered with valuable mural paintings carried out in traditional Kerala style, while the sites are megalithic in nature.

 

Reference: http://107.189.6.64/about-us 

Government College Mokeri moves to Koha ILS

Government college, mokeri, calicut moves to Koha ILS from BookMagic Software, around 25813 catalog records, patron data were successfully migrated to koha. Thanks to Mr. Lineesh sir, the librarian of the college for your cooperation and support.

My every implementation of koha comprises the following

  • Proper data extraction from the source software
  • Proper conversion of data into MARC21 format: merging unique records, adding bulk punctuation, custom fields from the available data + classification number, fast subject heading if ISBN’s are available
  • OPAC Customization
  • Various ready-made Koha reports
  • Daily automatic backup of Koha database to Google Drive
  • E-mail configuration
  • Gate register/inout integration with Koha
  • A full documentation with all codes and values I have used for the Koha

Things to do while you start using a fresh koha

The beginning of many’s journeys to the Koha often start either attending workshops or watching youtube videos. Of course, both will teach how to install koha and set up basic parameters in it. but it is just with a default preference, In the course of time, you will meet with some issues unless you enable the following system preferences in koha. Issues here don’t mean errors.

Let us see,  few of those issues

  • Fines do not calculate/disappears ( even after properly setting up circulation rules and fines)
  • The renewal period starts after the overdue date, not from the date on which the book was renewed
  • Can not check-out/issue books to patrons, if they have more than 5 rupee fine.
  • Doesn’t auto-generate call numbers in item part even after providing class number and item number in the biblio/record

Following are the solution with a few more useful preferences. To enable those, go to koha administration and search each preference and make respective changes

PreferenceOption to be enabled
finesMode

(To calculate fine, if not)		Use "Calculate and charge"
RenewalPeriodBase

(When renewing checkouts, base the new due date on
the current date)		Use "the current date"
noissuescharge

(To prevent the patron checking out items only if he/she has overdue fine more than 100 rupee)		Add the prefered amount eg:100
itemcallnumber

( To auto-create item's callnumber)		Add the tags "082ab"
AdvancedSearchTypes

(To show tabs in the OPAC and staff interface advanced search for limiting searches on the itemtype, collection code and location code)		Add "itemtype|ccode|loc"
AmazonCoverImages

(To display cover images from Amazon on search results and item detail pages on the staff interface)		Enable "show"
OPACAmazonCoverImages

(To display cover images from Amazon on search results and item detail pages on the OPAC)		Enable "show"
OPACShowCheckoutName

(To display the name of the patron that has an item checked out on item detail pages on the OPAC)		Enable "show"
dateformat

(Use your prefered date format)		Use "DD/MM/YYYY"
patronimagesEnable "allow"
OPACpatronimagesEnable "show"
Display Accession number in OPAC
uncheck "item_barcode"		Home -- Administration -- Table settings -- OPAC -- Table id: holdingst -- item_barcode

Welcome St. Pius X College to the Cloud Hosted Koha Service

Happily, welcome St. Pius X College, Rajapuram (P.O), Kasaragod Dt., Kerala – 671 532, India. to the cloud-hosted koha service.

Migrated 16,318 catalog data from BookMagic software to the latest koha

About Library

The library has a well-established library that caters to the need of undergraduate and post-graduate students, research scholars, and faculty. The college library has a collection of about 15833 books and 81 journals and Magazines in various disciplines of science and humanities. Services such as the lending of books and journals, reading room, reprographic facilities, and bibliographic reference and information are rendered by the library. The students and staff also can have access to the National Library and Information Service Infrastructure of Scholarly Content (N-LIST) through INFLIBNET. The library offers Online Public Access Catalogue (OPAC) – a computerized catalog service. Most of the books in the library are bar-coded. This helps the circulation counter in issue and return of books quickly. Members are given bar-coded ID cards and books are issued on producing the ID cards.

Library Blog: http://www.stpiuslibrary.yolasite.com/

Library OPAC: https://library.stpius.ac.in/

Reference: http://stpius.ac.in/on-campus/facilities/library/

Santhigiri College, Thodupuzha chooses Me for Koha Support

I am happy to announce that Santhigiri College, Vazhithala, Thodupuzha has chosen me for the cloud-hosted koha support provider. The entire legacy data from SOUL was migrated over to Koha ILS.

About the Library

Santhigiri library consists of a large number of books on Information Technology, Social Work, Management, Psychology, Religion, Accountancy, and general themes. Our library also has several international and national journals, magazines, newspapers, and CDs. Internet connection in the library enables the students to have online access to global resources. The library is open from 8.30 a.m. to 8.00 p.m.

The OPAC is available at https://library.santhigiricollege.com/

An Open-source Invoicing Application for Freelancers/SMBs

The crater is an open-source self-hosted invoicing application based on the Laravel PHP framework targeting individual users or small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs).

Crater Features
  • Invoice: Create and send invoices to clients
  • Estimate: make an estimate or offer a price
  • Track Payment: tracking transactions and payments
  • Expenses: record and track expenses
  • Reports: make a billing report
  • Taxes: set the type of tax
  • Mobile App: Android and iOS mobile versions available
Environment
  • OS: Debian 11/Ubuntu 20.04
  • Web Server: Apache
  • PHP: 7.4
  • Database: MariaDB 10.3
  • Subdomain: crater.opensio.co.in
  • SSL: Let’s Encrypt
  • Crater: v5.0.6
Install LAMP Stack

sudo apt install -y apache2 mariadb-server libapache2-mod-php php-common php-bcmath php-mbstring php-mysql php-tokenizer php-zip php-curl

Securing MariaDB installation.

sudo mysql_secure_installation

Restart apache.

sudo systemctl restart apache2

Download Crater

Download Crater on craterapp.com/downloads.

sudo wget https://craterapp.com/downloads/file/5.0.6 -O crater.zip

Unzip crater.zip

sudo apt install -y unzip && sudo unzip crater.zip

Move the crater folder.

sudo mv crater /var/www/html/

Change the ownership and permissions of the folder.

sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/html/crater/
sudo chmod 775 /var/www/html/crater/storage/framework
sudo chmod 775 /var/www/html/crater/storage/logs
sudo chmod 775 /var/www/html/crater/bootstrap/cache

Create virtual hosts file.

sudo vim /etc/apache2/sites-available/crater.conf

Enter the virtual host configuration.

<VirtualHost *:80>
ServerName crater.opensio.co.in
DocumentRoot /var/www/html/crater/public
<Directory /var/www/html/crater/public>
Options Indexes FollowSymLinks MultiViews
AllowOverride All
Require all granted
</Directory>
ErrorLog /var/log/apache2/crater_error.log
CustomLog /var/log/apache2/crater_access.log combined
</VirtualHost>

Activate the rewrite module, virtual host, and restart the apache web server.

sudo a2enmod rewrite
sudo a2ensite crater.conf
sudo systemctl reload apache2 && sudo systemctl restart apache2

Create database.

sudo mysql
create database crater;
create user ‘crater’@’localhost’ identified by ‘crater123’;
grant all privileges on crater.* to ‘crater’@’localhost’;
flush privileges;
exit

Install SSL using certbot.

sudo apt install python3-certbot-apache -y

SSL request for subdomain crater.opensio.co.in

sudo certbot –non-interactive -m info@opensio.co.in –agree-tos –no-eff-email –apache -d crater.opensio.co.in –redirect

Installation Wizard

Browse to the subdomain (crater.opensio.co.in)used for the installation wizard.

Click Check Requirements to check if the server meets the requirements to run Crater.

Crater System Requirements

If it meets the requirements click Continue.

PHP extensions

Checking directory permissions. Continue.

Directory Permissions

Configure Site URL and database. Enter the database name, username, and password that was created previously. Save & Continue.

Database Connection

Domain verification. Verify Now.

Domain Verification

Mail configuration, enter the name and email address as the identity of the email sender. Save.

Mail Configuration

Account information, enter your name, email, and password. Save & Continue.

Account Information

Company information, enter company name and country. Save & Continue.

Company Information

Company preferences, select currency (cannot be changed later), date format, and time zone. Save & Continue.

Company Preferences

Install Crater complete.

Reference: https://docs.craterapp.com/

7 Reasons Why Blogs are Important in Library and Information Service

As the world’s information continues to grow at an exponential rate, it’s becoming more and more important to have library and information service providers that understand the changing times. With the advent of blogs, information professionals can reach out to their patrons in new ways while also sharing their own expertise with the world. These are seven reasons why blogs are important in library and information services.

1) Blogging is cheap

A great advantage of blogs is that they’re free to set up and maintain. If you have a bit of technical savvy, you can create a WordPress site for free. (Incidentally, if you don’t have technical savvy, there are plenty of platforms that offer easy blogging tools.) Some other platforms (such as Tumblr) do have sign-up fees, but generally, it’s possible to get started for free on any platform.

2) Blogging is fast

The great thing about blogs is that you can create one pretty much instantly, whereas a regular website takes months to put together. This speediness makes blogging ideal for communicating with readers quickly. In fact, thanks to RSS feeds, bloggers can post information almost immediately—as soon as it’s ready—and their audience receives those updates automatically.

3) Blogging generates discussions

Not only do readers get a chance to interact with you (the author) directly, but also they can also participate in discussion forums that involve other bloggers. For example, if you’re writing about open access or copyright reform, it might be worthwhile to provide a link to relevant discussions happening elsewhere on your weblog. Additionally, you may inspire others to start their own blogs – and your posts will become a jumping-off point for conversations about blogging as well as any subject(s) that interest you.

4) Blogging improves search engine ranking

A library’s presence on search engines can be improved through regular blogging. This is because, even if you do not add new content to your site, search engines crawl it regularly to see if anything has changed. If they find fresh content on your website—in a word, a new post—they will move you up in their rankings.

5) Blogging promotes content marketing

A library’s main goal is to share knowledge. But marketing is an important part of any business, including libraries. Library blogs help a library engage with customers, spread its mission, and encourage interaction. While there are many online platforms for content marketing, blogging has become one of the most popular ways for businesses to get their name out there. Every post you publish can be another step toward building your brand presence on social media—and leading more visitors to your website!

6) Blogging keeps records of your activities

There’s no better way to keep a record of what you’ve done, what you’ve achieved, how you did it—and, more importantly, how people feel about it. By creating a library- or information-oriented blog that publishes frequently (at least once per week), library workers can organize their thoughts on any subject or activity in one place for easy access. You may even attract local patrons who stop by just to read your updates—which isn’t bad for marketing!

7) Blogging creates awareness about your services

Some libraries use their blogs to make people aware of library-service changes. People who read your library’s blog might learn about a new service, or how to access an existing one, that they didn’t know existed. This may prompt them to visit your library. Some blogs feature posts that directly inform readers of upcoming events or services.

Conclusion

In today’s connected, digital world, it’s more important than ever for libraries to stay at the forefront of trends. The power of a library is inherent in its ability to bring people together—both inside and outside of its walls. And blogs can be powerful tools for facilitating these connections. Read on to learn more about how you can incorporate blogging into your library or information service department with ease.

What the Heck is Agile Librarianship?

Agile librarianship, in short, can be defined as the ability to quickly and effectively adapt to changes in your environment and the digital world has made the change a constant component of all of our lives. This guide will help you learn how to apply agile principles to your everyday life and become an agile librarian to stay on top of the ever-changing technologies that affect libraries the most.

Agile Librarianship Overview

Web 2.0 is quickly giving way to Web 3.0, which will alter how we use technology, what we expect from our online experiences, and how libraries as institutions must react and adapt to serve their constituencies. As a librarian, you may be ready for the change in your current position but maybe aren’t sure how to start looking for that new position that takes advantage of these shifts in technology and culture. Perhaps you are just thinking about starting a career in library science or have just graduated with an MLISc degree and want to get your feet wet before plunging into professional services? No matter what stage of life or career you are at, there are certain skills every agile librarian needs: communication, collaboration, project management; analysis, execution; research methods; organization and time management; ability to learn new technologies quickly; web design skills; IT expertise.

Challenges and Opportunities

The library profession is changing, like many other professions and industries. In fact, some even call it a revolution, pointing to a new era of library 2.0 which has taken us from card catalogs to digital catalogs and now pushes us toward e-books and e-learning modules. What’s next? I asked myself that question, when I became familiar with a movement called Web 3.0 – the web as an application platform that can support everything from apps running on smartphones or embedded systems all the way up to rich client desktop apps and beyond. Like Web 2.0, Web 3.0 holds great promise for libraries if we play our cards right; thus we need an agile librarian who is not afraid of change but knows how to handle it wisely.

Practical Tips for Implementing Agile Librarianship

A real-world implementation of agile practices can be done on a small scale, with an individual project, or with an entire library system; however, it’s important to figure out how to make your local library work for you before going through with any kind of transition. Here are some practical tips for implementing agile librarianship within your workplace –

Establish buy-in: Involve stakeholders (e.g., departmental leads, staff, directors) early and often so that they understand why change is needed and feel empowered by proposed changes rather than threatened by them.

Create a charter for transitioning to agile: Determine where you want to go and how you want to get there—then formalize these milestones into a roadmap that everyone understands and agrees with!

Getting started is the hardest part of any project, but having a clear direction from start to finish can really help create momentum once things begin rolling.

Get training: Depending on what you’re trying to accomplish, different books or online courses may give you a good grasp of basic processes for becoming more agile – many readers have suggested The Scrum Field Guide as a starting point, but there are certainly other resources out there depending on what type of functionality you need at your disposal.

Conclusion

When it comes to staffing your library, there’s a lot to think about, and you probably don’t have time for agile librarianship, information architecture, or user experience design. However, if you want to catch your library up with other libraries that are successfully making use of these techniques on their websites, then now is the time to hire someone with those skills who can do some of those tasks while they work under your direction and supervision; again, that person might be you!