What’s on our Mind: Koha Acquisitions 2.0 – a new dawn…
Last updated on: 9th July 2025| 9th July 2025 | Matt Blenkinsop | Koha
Background
In late 2023, following shared frustrations with the existing acquisitions module in Koha, we at Open Fifth and ByWater Solutions decided that we needed to shake things up a bit and bring acquisitions in Koha up to modern standards. To test out this idea, we decided to write a first attempt at a new fund management module in plugin form. We then displayed this at Hackfest in March 2024 to see how it would be received (yes, that is an acquisitions pun and if it upsets you then I suggest you stop reading now…)
Community feedback
The community was most certainly in voice (I warned you). We quickly realised that whilst what we had created was a marked improvement in terms of structure and process, the existing module was being used very differently by different organisations and noticeably so in some geographical areas. We realised that if we wanted to create a new module that would truly work for the global Koha community, then we needed to gather input from multiple sources, especially if we wanted others to buy (I can’t be stopped) into the idea, and also to help fund (I won’t be stopped) it.
Forming a working group
We at Open Fifth agreed to continue the development of the new module which is where I come in. I will be handling all of the nerdy code stuff behind the scenes but as a lowly developer, I wasn’t best placed to actually design the workflows and processes of the module itself. On that basis a working group was created made up of members of different types of organisations (public libraries, universities, support companies, etc.) and also different geographical locations to try and ensure a varied and representative input into the specifications.
Identifying the problems
A key complaint was the occasionally confusing terminology and interchangeability of terms such as “fund” and “budget” (those aren’t even puns this time). We have therefore introduced much clearer distinctions between the different levels of fund management structures, opting for “Fiscal periods”, “Ledgers” and “Funds”, not that we can claim to have coined (we’re back) those terms. Further examples of issues raised were the inability of the current system to allow splitting of an order line across multiple funds, as well as the desire to split the invoicing and receiving processes. Both of these are being built into the new module to cash in (that’s right) on the good ideas coming out of the core group.
Testing the waters
As preparation for the overhaul of an entire module, we reviewed whether some aspects could be simply adapted rather than completely re-written. We decided that the vendors pages could be amended to use a more efficient DataTable to improve loading times and searchability and this was released in 25.05 as part of the first steps. Look out for further enhancements, such as additional fields, links to ERM providers and the ability to limit visibility of vendors by library group (as well as funds, orders, etc. in the future).
Take a look at the Koha Acquisitions dashboard.
Moving forward
Having started with the fund management side of acquisitions, there seemed a logical ORDER for the next steps to follow. Your eyes aren’t deceiving you, that is a pun that is not only gratuitous but also relevant to the next part. We have recently produced a specification for the ordering part of the module, which I will be making a start on over the next few weeks. This will also include support from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology for a migration script to convert existing acquisitions data to match the format of the new module and allow a smooth transition between the two modules. Whilst I am working on the development, the working group will be spending (bored of these yet?) some time in the background to look at receiving and invoicing and gathering ideas to create a specification that I can work to once ordering is finished.
Interested in seeing the progress?
We appreciate that there will be those in the community that will take a lot of interest in this work and will want to be able to test it and see what is changing. Have no fear, we will be aiming to have the working branch set up onto a sandbox server so that it can be viewed and tested by anyone who is interested. Keep an eye on Mattermost or the mailing lists as I’m sure we’ll put out an announcement once this is set up! There will also be work going on to produce documentation for the new module to help users get up to speed once it is released.
Thanks for sticking with me, even with all those terrible puns. Before I go I’ll leave you with this. You’ll have noticed that we recently changed our name to Open Fifth, but you may not know that the inspiration for that name comes from our two directors, Andrew and Jonathan, who met when they both joined a singing group at a church. That’s right, they met in acquire.
