Glossary

Koha Glossary

List of terms used by members of the Koha community

This is a list of words often used by librarians and the Koha community. See the terminology list for a list of the preferred terms to use in the OPAC and staff interface.

A

• AACR2 (Anglo-American Cataloging Rules Second Edition): A standard used by libraries for cataloguing records, used until RDA came out [1]. see RDA
• authority record: Records used to control the contents of MARC fields.
• authorized value: Used to create drop-down menus and limit free-form data entry.

B

• basket: A group of orders for the same vendor in Koha's acquisitions system. In this context, individual ordered items are each called an 'order'.
• bib: Abbreviation of 'bibliographic record'.
• bib frame: Library of Congress' successor to MARC21, based on linked data.
• bibliographic record: Contains data about a work, such as title, author and copyright date.
• biblionumber: Koha specific tracking number for bibliographic records.
• budget: Used by acquisitions to track money used in the acquisitions process for a financial period. Budgets may contain funds, which are used to separate a budget into different spending categories, for example: funds for fiction and young adult purchases.

C

• call number: A short code of letters and digits used to show where an item resides on the shelves. See LC and DCC.
• cart: Temporary holding place to bookmark item information (like a shopping cart). It is only kept until the patron logs out. Similar to lists, which are permanent. Not to be confused with the shelving cart!
• circulation: A general term for lending, returning or renewing items from the library.
• circulation rule: Defines how long an item can be lent, as well as what fines are applied if the item becomes overdue.
• cn\_sort: A representation of a call number formatted/padded for alphanumeric sorting.
• collection code: A controlled list used to define collections of items.
• collectionHQ: A collection analysis tool that helps libraries determine what items to order.
• connexion: A service typically run on Koha servers, which talks to OCLC.
• CORAL: An ERMS: Electronic Resources Management System. See [2] and [3]

D

• Detail view: A page on the OPAC or stand interface that shows bibliographic records in a user-friendly manner.
• discovery service: An program external to Koha which makes bibliographic and holdings (item level) information searchable and viewable. Typically used to bring together searching across multiple sources of information, such as Koha, journals, ebook services, and other full-text repositories (such as Dspace). A bit like an external OPAC. See foss4lib:What is a Discovery Layer?

E

• Ebsco: A discovery service vendor who works closely with the Koha community.
• EDI: Electronic data interchange. Usually used for exchanging business data. For Koha, this is used for ordering items from vendors in the acquisitions process.
• EDS (Ebsco Discovery Service): See discovery service.
• ElasticSearch: A full text search engine used by Koha, as an alternative to Zebra.
• Envisionware: A library computer hardware/software vendor providing Computer access and SIP2 self-check machines
• EZproxy: A single sign-on service for econtent. developed by OCLC. EZproxy uses SIP2 to authenticate with Koha.
• extended attribute: Custom data that can be associated with a borrower record.

F

• facet: A filtering mechanism used for searching that allows results to be narrowed by author, collection, item type, etc.
• framework: A template used to create new bibliographic records. Frameworks also control the display of MARC fields in the staff and OPAC. (Also known as a bibliographic framework or MARC framework.)
• FRBR: Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records [4]
• fund: Used by acquisitions. Funds live inside budgets.

G-H

• git install: A Koha installation that uses 'git' as its install method. More complicated to set up and maintain. Cf. Package install.
• hold: Holds allow patrons the exclusive right to check out a title.
• holding: Synonym for item record.
• hungry alligators: In Koha reports, the << and >> are used to define run time variables. The variable in between is 'being eaten by hungry alligators'.

I

• ICU (ICU Chains): International Components for Unicode. The internationalization component used in Zebra search.
• item record: Contains data about a specific copy of a book in Koha. All item records link to bibliographic records.
• itype: See item type.
• item type: The item type is contained by the item record and is used when defining circulation rules.

JKL

• List: Patron and staff defined list of items.
• Lost: An item may have one of several lost statuses, including 'Long Overdue (Lost)', 'Lost and paid for' and 'Missing'.

MN

• MARC: [5]
• MARC framework: See framework.
• material type: A term used by other ILSs for item type.
• notice: A message sent to a patron information them of an overdue, renewal, item due, etc.

OP

• order: An element in an acquisitions basket. See Basket.
• OverDrive: An Ebook vendor
• package install: A Koha installation that uses the Debian 'dpkg' install format. Recommended approach as it takes care of the correct versions for dependencies.
• patron: A library user or borrower.

R

• RDA: Resource Description and Access [6] [7].
• rebuild: See reindex.
• reindex: Typically refers to rebuilding Zebra search indexes.
• REST: Representational state transfer. A way of getting and setting data using HTTP. The Koha community is in the process of expanding its own REST API.
• Report: Present data from the system (example count of new items added to juvenile fiction last month). Koha has pre-defined (canned) reports, as well as custom reports (written in SQL).
• Restricted: Referring to patrons - debarred or blocked.

S

• serials: Used for keeping track of journals, newspapers and other items that come on a regular schedule.
• subscription: Part of the serials module and used to track how often issues of a serial arrive.
• shelving location: Physical location of an item, for example: Compact shelving, 1st floor.
• SIP2: 3M's Standard Interchange Protocol. Used by self-check machines as well as various systems which use it to verify that borrowers are authorized to use the library's resources.
• slip: Printed note which may show items checked out or overdue.
• smart rule: See circulation rule.
• SPF (Sender Policy Framework). The rules used to determine whether an email will be accepted by an up-stream mail server.
• SQL (Structured Query Language). A programming language used to request data from a database.

TUV

• tools: One of the top-level screens in Koha. Contains various resources and utilities for managing a Koha installation, for example: patron batch modification, HTML customizations, and question of the day.
• Unique Management: A collection agency used by many Koha users in the United States.
• vendor: A bookseller or supplier from which you purchase materials
• Virtual shelf: See List.
• Vufind: A discovery service written in PHP. Vufind gets its name from Villanova University, where it was developed.

WXYZ

• zebra: The full text search engine used by Koha.
• Z39.50: A protocol for sharing bibliographic information. Koha acts as both a Z39.50 server (sharing bibliographic information) and client (searching and loading MARC data from other sites).