Working Together: Koha LMS and Aspen Discovery

Koha library management system (LMS) and the Aspen Discovery platform are both powerful, open source library software solutions with global communities behind them. In this webinar, Fiona demonstrates how they can work seamlessly together, with real-time data flows to support the experiences of library staff and users.

Koha is a fully featured, open source library management system used by over 18,000 libraries worldwide. Koha’s impressive feature set continues to evolve and expand to meet the needs of its user base.

Aspen Discovery is a discovery layer that integrates the library’s catalogue with e-content providers and other third-party data. It gives library users a single “one-stop shop” to search and discover all library materials. Aspen also includes features like reading recommendations, community engagement features, and web-builder functionality for customisation.

Seamless integration

In the webinar, you can see how changes made in one system are instantly reflected in the other, including features such as:

• Catalogue management: Changes to a catalogue record in Koha, such as adding a new subject heading or an additional copy of a book, are immediately visible to users on Aspen Discovery.

• User self-registration: When a user registers for a new library card in Aspen Discovery, their account is instantly created in Koha with the appropriate settings and permissions. Library staff can then update the account as needed.

• Circulation and holds: When a staff member checks out a book to a user in Koha, the item immediately appears on the user’s list of checked-out titles in their Aspen Discovery account. Similarly, when a user places a hold on an item in Aspen Discovery, the request is instantly visible in the user’s record in Koha.

• User communication: Staff can send direct messages to a user’s account from Koha, and the message will appear prominently in their Aspen Discovery account.

• Purchase suggestions: Users can submit material requests through their Aspen Discovery account, and these suggestions appear immediately in the staff’s dashboard in Koha for review and approval. Once the library updates the status of the suggestion in Koha (e.g., “ordered”), the user can see the status change in their Aspen Discovery account.

Want to learn more about how Koha LMS and Aspen Discovery can work together for your library? Reach out to the Open Fifth team ([email protected]) for more information.