Coordinators Workshop on Koha and Library Automation - 29 September 2018

You will all agree that the award winning `Train 10,000 Teacher (T10KT)' programme has been very successful. We would like to use this important resource for nationally important projects. As a first demonstration of this concept, we would like to run a large-scale one day workshop on `Training on Koha and Library Automation' through the 550+ Remote Centres (RCs) of T10KT. This important activity will be carried out for the project 'National Virtual Library of India' (NVLI), funded by the Ministry of Culture, Government of India.

A pilot workshop on `Koha' was successfully conducted at IIT Bombay on 4 August 2018, where 60 librarians, and library science students participated. They used the award winning Spoken Tutorial methodology of self-learning, developed at IIT Bombay. Based on this validation, we are now ready to take this methodology to train all librarians throughout the country.

Above said training will be provided to three kinds of participants:

1. Librarians and Library staff: They will be given training on the creation of library, records, MARC 21 standard, conversion of excel data into MARC 21 format, etc. More details of this are given below.

2. System administrators: They will be given training on how to create a Koha installation, and how to use it in Windows and Linux operating systems. They may also be trained on the use of Koha virtual machines to be made available by IGNOU.

3. Library administrators/Senior executives (CEO): These decision makers will be given a training on the automation of their library. They will learn what all are required to automate their libraries, and how it will benefit them. We will also tell them what resources may be made available through the NVLI project, T10KT RCs and other friends and well-wishers.

All the three types of participants will undergo parallel training programmes during the main workshop, scheduled for Friday, 12 October 2018. This will be a blended training programme that uses AVIEW for live interactions and Spoken Tutorials to learn to use Koha. Details of the main workshop will be announced later.

Methodology of the Coordinators' Workshop

The coordinators' workshop will be conducted at IIT Bombay on Saturday, September 29, 2018. If any existing Remote Centre of IIT Bombay is interested in hosting this Koha training workshop, they should first express their willingness to participate. It is mandatory for each participating Remote Centre to send two people from their Remote Centre:

1. A librarian, who will act as the "domain expert" for the main workshop, and

2. A system administrator, who will take care of all software/hardware related work, including installing of 'Koha' software in the local server.

The participating RC should take care of the travel expense of the above mentioned two people who would be coming to IIT Bombay for the Coordinators' workshop. The NVLI project will provide free accommodation and lunch/refreshments for all the participants. The participants of this workshop should go back to their respective centres and help organize the main workshop.

Koha is a state of the art library management software. It is open source software and hence one can use it free of cost. Koha allows total customization and complete control of library data at a fraction of the cost of a proprietary system. Its main strength is its web accessibility and ease of use. Libraries do not have to install the software on staff and user terminals. Koha supports all library housekeeping activities such as Acquisition, Cataloging, Circulation, Serial Control, Patron Management, and OPAC. It also supports Web 2.0 tools. Thus, Koha can be readily configured to the needs of each library and is updated with new features frequently.

Following topics will be covered in this workshop:

• Overview of Koha
• Installation of Koha
• Create a Library
• Create a Super librarian
• Add an Item type
• Create MARC Framework
• Set Currency
• Add Budget & Fund allocation
• How to place an order for a Book
• Cataloging
• Circulation
• Catalogue Serial subscriptions
• Add subscription in Serials
• Receive Serials
• Close a Budget
• Global system preferences
• OPAC
• Access to self-Library account in OPAC