The new Koha profile--sponsored by the Toledo Diocese Media Library-- is designed specifically to meet the unique needs of diocese media centers and libraries. Integrated and web-based, Koha Diocese is based on the mature Koha Version 2.2 code base in use in hundreds of libraries worldwide.

Like much of Koha's development over the past 6 years, Koha Diocese' enhancements were user-driven. When the Toledo Diocese Media Library could not find an off-the-shelf system that their needs, they decided to use Koha and build their own. Gary Landoll, Religion Consultant for Schools and Parishes at the Toledo Diocese, says they chose Koha because "other systems couldn't provide the functionality at a cost we could handle." Landoll thought "by sponsoring development work, the Diocese of Toledo could help provide a solution that other diocesan media centers could use."

The Toledo Diocese sponsored several enhancements to Koha, including a more flexible online reservation system to handle the media library's unique traffic and workflow.

"We wanted to make our collection as accessible as possible, " says Landoll. "Our library is really not set up for walk-ins so the Internet is crucial. Our main goal was to provide patrons with the ability to make online reservations--much like a mail order business. Patrons would need to know they would have their item(s) shipped to them when they reserved them." Koha Diocese supports delayed reserves ("booking" an item for a future date and time) as well as the ability to specify if reserves are for "pick-up" or "mail delivery".

Koha Diocese enables patrons to be assigned to multiple 'institutions' or parishes, increasing the flexibility of both reserves and Koha's 'borrower history' feature. "We also needed patrons to be assigned to one or more institutions so that we can track not only the patron's history, but the Institution's history as well," explains Landoll. "We have people who call in to say that someone in their parish used a video two years ago, but they don't remember the title. With the history information, we can satisfy the patron's need."

The addition of patron-initiated 'reviews' for items in the collection is also a welcome addition to Koha's already impressive self-service options. Reviews can be approved or deleted by staff, based on an organization's unique policies. Once approved, item reviews become a valuable readers' advisory tool for other patrons.

In addition to sponsoring development, the Media Library has implemented a few new features in-house, such as a calendar popup on the OPAC reservation process that blocks out times when the library's offices are closed.

Landoll anticipates that sponsored development will continue to play a role in enhancing Koha Diocese, and suggests that a further simplified cataloging framework for the "non librarian" is a development project other dioceses using Koha might want to consider.

The Diocese of Toledo diocese encompasses 19 counties and serves 300,000 Catholics. They have contracted with LibLime for support and hosting, since like many diocesan offices, they do not have an IT department to support the system on their own. Their catalog can be found online at:

http://www.cyss.org/RelEdProg/reweb/pages/MediaLibrary/da.html

Learn more about Koha Diocese at:
http://liblime.com/products/koha/koha-diocese

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