Decisions for OPAC Setup

Decisions for OPAC Setup


Your OPAC

The OPAC (Online Public Access Catalogue) is the interface patrons can use to search for titles in the library catalogue. Library staff can choose to allow patrons to log into the OPAC and access other functions including, but not limited to, viewing an account summary, placing holds and renewing items. The aim of this document is to assist library staff in determining how certain aspects of the OPAC will look and function and what abilities will be given to patrons.

A good rule of thumb is to start with minimal functionalities and then roll out further options as time goes on. It tends to be less controversial to extend new features to patrons than it is to remove a component after patrons have gotten used to having it.

The questions below assume that patrons have been given the ability to login on the OPAC. If you are not allowing patrons to login on the OPAC then these queries will not apply to your site.

The following questions have been split into separate sections relating to the different areas of the OPAC. This document is not intended to be an immutable contract of decisions, but a guideline for staff to determine how their organisation is going to use the OPAC. These questions may be asked or revisited at any point. This document may be updated from time to time as new features are made available in new releases of Koha, the questions in the current document are based on the 18.11.09 release. This document does not include information related to third party plugins that may also impact on the OPAC.

Entries in this document may contain links to other articles which outline in more detail how the features work. These are intended to assist library staff in deciding if a particular feature would be useful to them and if so, the best way the feature could be enabled for their site. If you are interested in more details about any feature, please feel free to contact Interleaf Technology directly.

Cart

This feature allows patrons to add titles to a temporary list on the OPAC which can then be downloaded, printed or emailed. Once the browsing session ends, the cart will be emptied.



Should patrons be able to add titles to a temporary list on the OPAC?

Yes/No
More Information

Circulation

These decisions relate to things like check ins, checkouts, renewals and how this behaviour can be supported or viewed via the OPAC.

 
Should patrons be able to view a list of the most checked out items on the OPAC?

Yes/No

Should patrons be able to submit notes to library staff about the items they have checked out?

Yes/No

Should the name of the patron the item is checked out to appear on the item record on the OPAC?

Yes/No

Should patrons be able to renew their items from the OPAC?

If no, skip to the next section.


Yes/No

Should the renewal privilege be suspended for patrons that owe a certain amount or more in fines?

If yes, how much must a patron owe in fines for the renewal privilege to be suspended?


Yes/No

Amount:

Comments

This function allows patrons to write a short paragraph about an item to appear on the OPAC. The paragraph would need to be accepted or rejected by library staff before it would appear on the OPAC, so if this is enabled patrons will expect that submitted comments will be engaged with. Patrons will also be able to see why the comment was accepted or rejected.

Should patrons be able to make comments on items on the OPAC?

If no, skip to the next section. 


Yes/No

Should patrons be able to view a collection of recent comments made by themselves and other patrons?

Yes/No
Should the name of the patron who submitted the comment display on the OPAC?
Yes/No








Should the avatar of the patron who submitted the comment display on the OPAC?
Yes/No








Expired patrons

This relates to OPAC access for patrons without active accounts.


Should expired patrons be able to access the OPAC or complete similar actions that active patrons can?

 Yes/No

Fines

This relates to how patrons can interact with fines on their account from the OPAC. Please note, if you aren’t fining patrons then these questions won’t apply to your site and you can skip to the next section.


Should patrons be able to view their fines on the OPAC?

 Yes/No

Should patrons be able to pay fines on the OPAC using PayPal?

Please note this requires some set up and the library must have an account with Paypal.


Yes/No

GDPR

General Data Protection Regulation refers to rules around what information is kept, for how long and for what purpose. Koha has the ability to require patrons to agree to GDPR standards set by the library before they can use the extended features on the OPAC.


Should a GDPR warning appear on the OPAC when patrons try to login? 

If yes, should patrons be required to consent to it before being allowed to continue (enforced), or should the statement warn, but not require consent (permissive)?


Yes/No


Enforced/Permissive

More Information


Do you have a privacy policy URL that should be included on the OPAC?

If yes, please include it in the space provided.


Yes/No


URL

: 

Guarantors

This section is only valid for libraries that are using the Guarantors function, which link patron accounts together.

 
If patrons have a guarantor attached to their account, should they be able to hide their checkouts from the guarantor?

Yes/No

Holds

The parameters that enable the ability to reserve items are largely controlled by the fines and circulation rules set on the staff side, however, there are system preferences that can configure additional options for this functionality. These questions are intended to guide the library in deciding how these system preferences should be set.


Should patrons be able to place holds from the OPAC?

If no, skip to the next section.

Yes/No

Should the holds privilage be suspended for patrons that owe a certain amount or more in fines?

If yes, how much must a patron owe in fines for the holds privilage to be suspended?

Yes/No

Amount:

Should patrons be able to add a note when placing a hold?

Yes/No

Should patrons be able to place a hold on an item from a branch other than their own?

Yes/No

Should patrons be able to select which branch a hold will be delivered to?

Yes/No

Should patrons be able to set an item level hold?

Yes/No
More Information

Should patrons be able to place holds on items that are available on the shelf or only when all items on a record have been checked out?

On Shelf/Checked out/Mixture

Should patrons be able to suspend their own holds?

Yes/No

Homepage display

These questions are concerned with determining information that should be displayed on the first page of the OPAC that patrons will see. 


What library name should appear on the OPAC?


Library Name: 

Specify any instructions or descriptions that should appear on the OPAC homepage.
Instructions: 

Do you want to display a quote of the day?
Yes/No
Should the author of a news item appear on the OPAC?
Yes/No

ILLs

This feature allows libraries to request items from other participating libraries. Please be aware that this requires some configuration.

Do you want interlibrary loans enabled?

Yes/No

Lists

This feature allows patrons to create, view and share permanent lists of titles on the OPAC. Once created these lists can be downloaded, printed or emailed and will exist on the system until the creator deletes them.

Should patrons be able to create lists on the OPAC?

If no, skip to the next section

Yes/No




Please select the type of lists patrons should be able to create.

  • Public

  •  Private

  •  Both

Notices

Koha can be configured to automatically send out several different circulation notices to patrons informing them about items they have checked out or on hold. The rules for these notices are set at an overall level from the staff client, however, it is also possible to allow patrons to set their own preferences for receiving some of these notices. Please note, if you aren’t currently using notices then these questions won’t apply to your site and you can skip to the next section. 

Should patrons be able to determine which circulation notices they receive?


If yes, please note this requires a cron to be run regularly and Interleaf will need to be contacted directly to have this job set up.

Yes/No

Password

These questions relate to changes that can be made or supports patrons can find for their passwords on the OPAC. Please note, many of these options require emails to be enabled on the site.

Should patrons be able to change their password on the OPAC?

Yes/No

Should patrons be able to recover their password from the OPAC if they forget it?

Yes/No

Should patrons be locked out of the OPAC if they input the wrong password a certain number of times? 

If yes, how many tries should patrons have to input the correct password?

Yes/No

Number: 

Personal information

This relates to what personal information should appear on the OPAC and how much power patrons should have over that information.

Should patrons be able to change their personal information on the OPAC? 

Please be aware that if this is enabled, any changes to personal information will need to be approved by library staff before the change appears on the OPAC.

Yes/No

Should patron images appear with their information on the OPAC?

Yes/No

Purchase Suggestions

This functionality allows patrons to suggest items that the library could acquire in the future. It is important to note that if this is enabled, patrons will expect that when they submit a suggestion it will be engaged with in some way. It is also important to note that patrons will be able to see the reason provided for why a suggestion has been rejected or accepted.

Should patrons be able to make purchase suggestions from the OPAC?

If no, skip to the next section.

Yes/No


Should these purchase suggestions be automatically purged from the site after a set number of days? If yes, please provide the preferred schedule for the suggestions to be removed.

Yes/No

Removal interval:

Should patrons be able to see the name of the staff member who addressed their suggestion?

Yes/No

Should patrons be able to select a branch to send the purchase suggestion to?

Yes/No

What fields, if any, should be mandatory when filling out a purchase suggestion form?

  • Author 

  •  Collection title

  •  Copyright or publication date

  •  ISBN, ISSN or other standard number

  •  Item type

  •  Library or branch

  •  Note

  •  Patron reason

  •  Publication place

  •  Publisher name

  •  Title


Should patrons be able to view suggestions made by other patrons?

Yes/No

Should patrons that are not logged in be able to make purchase suggestions anonymously?

Yes/No

Searching

These are decisions to be made in relation to how searching the catalogue happens on the OPAC.

Should patrons have to login to search?

 

Yes/No

Should patrons be able to search for authorities?

Yes/No

Should a cloud of subject authorities be available to patrons?

Yes/No

Should barcodes display on the OPAC?

Yes/No

Should results from the patrons own branch be highlighted over results from another branch?

Yes/No

Should patrons be able to specify a branch to search?

Yes/No

Should the item record display the home library, the holding library or neither?

  • Home 

  • Holding

  • Neither

Should acquisition details appear on an item record?

Yes/No

Searching and circulation history

This relates to how much information about what the patron has searched for and what they have checked out should be retained on the OPAC.

Should patrons be able to view items they have searched for or checked out previously?

Yes/No

Should patrons determine how long their searching and circulation information is kept?

Yes/No

Self Registration

This functionality allows people to create their own accounts from the OPAC. Please note, these accounts would still need to be verified by library staff to enable self registered patrons to check items in and out. Before being confirmed by library staff these patrons would be able to login and view their account, as well as have limited OPAC functionality.

Should new patrons be able to register themselves for an account on the OPAC?

If no, skip to the next section.

Yes/No


Which fields, if any, should be mandatory on the self registration form.

  • Salutation                                                                                                                              

  • Surname

  • First name

  • Initials

  • Other name

  • Street number

  • Address

  • Address 2

  • City

  • State

  • ZIP/Postal code

  • Country

  • Primary phone

  • Secondary phone

  • Other phone

  • Primary email

  • Secondary email

  • Fax

Alternate Address

  • Street Number

  • Address

  • Address 2

  • City

  • State

  • ZIP/Postal code

  • Country

  • Phone

  • Email

  • Contact note

Alternate Contact 

  • Surname

  • First name

  • Address

  • Address 2

  • City

  • State

  • ZIP/Postal code

  • Country

  • Phone

Should any fields be removed from the self registration form?

If yes, please specify.

  • Salutation                                                                                                                              

  • Surname

  • First name

  • Initials

  • Other name

  • Street number

  • Address

  • Address 2

  • City

  • State

  • ZIP/Postal code

  • Country

  • Primary phone

  • Secondary phone

  • Other phone

  • Primary email

  • Secondary email

  • Fax

Alternate Address

  • Street Number

  • Address

  • Address 2

  • City

  • State

  • ZIP/Postal code

  • Country

  • Phone

  • Email

  • Contact note

Alternate Contact 

  • Surname

  • First name

  • Address

  • Address 2

  • City

  • State

  • ZIP/Postal code

  • Country

  • Phone

Do you require any custom fields on the self registration form? 

If yes, please specify.

Yes/No

Serials

These are decisions about how items that arrive on a regular basis, like journals or magazines, will appear on the OPAC. Please note, if you are not currently using the Serials module these questions will not apply to your site and you should skip to the next section.


Where should serials appear on the OPAC?

  • Holdings tab

  • Serial Collection tab

  • Subscriptions tab

How many previous issues of a serial should appear on a record?

Number:

Should patrons be able to request articles from the OPAC?

Yes/No

Star Ratings

This provides patrons the ability to rate an item between 1 and 5 stars. The review can then be seen by anyone on the OPAC.

Should patrons be able to apply star ratings to items? 


If no, skip to the next section.

 

 Yes/No



Should star ratings appear on the initial search results page and the item detail page, or just on the initial search results page?

  • Results and details

  • Results

Tags

These are words or phrases which patrons can add to an item to describe it. It is possible to search all items with the same tag. These tags may need to be confirmed by library staff members before they appear on the OPAC and if this is the case patrons will expect that submitted tags will be engaged with in some way.

Should patrons be allowed to add tags to items?

If no, skip to the next section.

Yes/No


Should tags submitted by patrons require approval by library staff before they appear on the OPAC?

Yes/No

Should patrons be able to add tags at all search points on the system or just on the initial search results?

  • All Points 

  •  Initial results

Do you want to use a local Ispell dictionary to define standard tags that patrons can and cannot use? Please be aware that this requires some configuration.

Yes/No

How many tags should show on the initial search results page?

Number: 

How many tags should show on the specific record?

Number: 




Version History

Version

Date

Detail

Author

1.0

25/11/19

Should be reviewed reg. As sys. Prefs are added.

Is currently being put together but when it is completed it should be added to the Scooter and Koha config. Lists on Process st.

Holly Cooper

1.1

27/11/19

Edits were made to the introduction and a definition for OPAC was added.
Questions were added to various sections

Holly Cooper

1.2

28/11/19

Questions were added or expanded upon

Holly Cooper

1.3

02/12/19

Clarifying OPAC definition re-ordering questions

Holly Cooper

1.4

03/12/19

Minor edits

Holly Cooper

1.5

04/12/19

Minor edits

Holly Cooper

1.6

05/12/19

Minor edits

Holly Cooper





1.7

12/12/19

Final checks

Holly Cooper

2.0
18/05/20
Migrated to Zoho
Holly Cooper
              
2.1        08/12/21
Adding details 
Holly Cooper

 Retention Policy

Permanent

X









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