Changes
Koha
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[[Category:OSSDirectory]]
* http://www.koha-community.org/
* License: GPL
Koha, a seventen-year old project, was the first open-source [[ILS]] and is licensed under the [[GPL]]. It's developed on the L.A.M.P. (Linux, Apache, MySQL, Perl) platform though it also runs on Windows. Basic features include circulation, borrower management, cataloging, and a powerful OPAC. Advanced features include budget-based acquisitions, serials management and MARC authorities control ([[MARC21]] and [[UNIMARC]]). It also supports spell checking, enriched bibliographic content (jacket covers, "read inside", reviews, ratings and descriptions from Amazon.com), RSS feeds of searches and borrower account data, E-book integration, patron-initiated reservations and renewals as well virtual shelves (lists) for organizing collections of records. Notably, recent versions of Koha's OPAC include a powerful standards-based search engine built around [http://indexdata.dk/zebra Zebra], the high-performance indexing and retrieval database. [[Zebra]] supports large databases (more than ten gigabytes of data, tens of millions of records) as well as incremental, safe database updates on live systems. Zebra also brings native support for important library standards such as [[Z39.50]] and SRW/SRU. Koha supports multiple formats for bibliographic records including several flavors of MARC (UNIMARC, MARC21, [[KORMARC]], ESMARC, etc.), MARCXML, MODS and [[Dublin Core]].
Koha was initially developed in New Zealand by [http://katipo.co.nz Katipo Communications Ltd.] and first deployed in January of 2000 for [http://library.org.nz Horowhenua Library Trust]. It is currently maintained by a team of software providers and library technology staff from around the globe and is in use in over 350 libraries. While initial versions were developed for small and medium-sized libraries, Koha is now in use at large libraries including the [http://library.neu.edu.tr/cgi-bin/koha/opac-main.pl Near East University] in Cyprus with over two million titles. A [http://contribs.koha.org community exchange site] was recently opened to allow libraries to easily share contributions to the project. Koha supports a rich translation framework and has been translated into nearly a dozen languages. A [http://translate.koha.org translation site] exists to facilitate additional translations. Commercial support is available from several vendors worldwide.
[http://liblime.com/news-items/press-releases/stow-munroe-falls-for-koha-zoom Darrell Ulm, systems administrator for Stow-Munroe Falls]:
"For instance, if we need to add a feature--no matter how specific--we can either develop it in-house, or contract with a support company like !LibLime. As more libraries switch to Koha and sponsor new functionality, other libraries will benefit benefiti when the next upgrade cycle occurs. Koha has a steady stream of updates, and the momentum for this open-source product is excellent."