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Following last month's piece on an Open Source library project in Sweden, I was alerted to the KOHA system from
New Zealand. It was designed for a small (3 branch) public library in Horowhenua. The system was developed in a bit of a rush towards the end of the millennium. As Y2K approached and the existing,
ageing system needed replacing the library trust decided to develop their own system in the face of capital and more importantly running costs for a commercial system.
The system is based on Internet communications - (which neatly side-steps dedicated telecom costs) - and free ware such as Linux, MySQL database, Perl for programming and Telnet. It will not appeal to everyone - the records are not MARC, and the searching is basic - but it works.
The system features cataloguing, OPAC, circulation and acquisitions and has been running for about nearly a year.
It is supplied under an Open License so is completely free and can be dowloaded from the site http://www.koha.org/.
Free of course doesn't mean zero effort but there is a mailing list for support and paid for help from the developers Katipo Communications Ltd.
and in case you’re wondering - Koha means Gift in Maori !
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