Bug 35972 - Add a 'Research tables' feature, that builds upon Course reserves
Summary: Add a 'Research tables' feature, that builds upon Course reserves
Status: Needs Signoff
Alias: None
Product: Koha
Classification: Unclassified
Component: Course reserves (show other bugs)
Version: Main
Hardware: All All
: P5 - low enhancement (vote)
Assignee: Martin Renvoize
QA Contact: Testopia
URL:
Keywords:
Depends on:
Blocks:
 
Reported: 2024-02-01 13:31 UTC by Mirjam Vantieghem
Modified: 2024-04-01 16:15 UTC (History)
4 users (show)

See Also:
Change sponsored?: ---
Patch complexity: ---
Documentation contact:
Documentation submission:
Text to go in the release notes:
Version(s) released in:


Attachments
Screenshot of example Research tables on OPAC (107.65 KB, image/png)
2024-02-01 13:31 UTC, Mirjam Vantieghem
Details
Bug 35972: Add thesis tables feature (16.92 KB, patch)
2024-02-07 13:46 UTC, Martin Renvoize
Details | Diff | Splinter Review
Bug 35972: Tidy for QA scripts (4.06 KB, patch)
2024-02-07 13:46 UTC, Martin Renvoize
Details | Diff | Splinter Review

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Description Mirjam Vantieghem 2024-02-01 13:31:12 UTC
Created attachment 161714 [details]
Screenshot of example Research tables on OPAC

Our library has research tables and lets patrons (mainly master students working on their thesis) keep items for a longer period on these tables. In order for both library staff and patrons to be able to quickly track down items, we are using the Course reserves module to set a certain research table as temporary location for a certain item. 

Because tables are not courses, we use a custom patch to have the research tables appear as a separate module on the OPAC. 
We use the authorized value category DEPARTMENT to distinguish courses from tables. The tables have a separate value "Research tables".

Because some of the columns used for the course reserves are not relevant for the tables, we also change the display of these on the OPAC.
The following columns are renamed:
“Course #” => “Table #”
“Instructors” => “Researcher”
“Notes” => “Topic”
And these columns are hidden: “Dept.”, “Section”, “Term”.
Notes: 
1) Because of possible privacy issues, we are no longer displaying the name of the researcher, so this column might also be hidden.
2) The topic is optional. Some like to see what others are doing research on. It also helps to know where to look for a book on a certain topic if it is not on the shelf, because keeping the 'table reserves' up to date is a bit of a challenge sometimes, depending on the cooperation of the patron.

Ideally this should be a separate module on both the Staff client and the OPAC. It might be called 'Table reserves' if 'Research tables' is too specific.
Comment 1 Martin Renvoize 2024-02-07 13:46:09 UTC
Created attachment 161802 [details] [review]
Bug 35972: Add thesis tables feature

This patch adds a new 'Thesis tables' feature to Koha based on the
existing 'Course reserves' system.
Comment 2 Martin Renvoize 2024-02-07 13:46:11 UTC
Created attachment 161803 [details] [review]
Bug 35972: Tidy for QA scripts
Comment 3 Martin Renvoize 2024-02-07 13:47:30 UTC
Attached are the commits as they currently exist. Some additional tidying and modernisation will need to take place before they would pass quality assurance, but I'm interested to get some testing done and guage interest before continuing with that work.
Comment 4 Ray Delahunty 2024-02-07 14:59:13 UTC
Wanted to see this in a sandbox, but it appears the patch failed to apply:

Bug 35972 - Add a 'Research tables' feature, that builds upon Course reserves

161802 - Bug 35972: Add thesis tables feature
161803 - Bug 35972: Tidy for QA scripts

Apply? [(y)es, (n)o, (i)nteractive] Applying: Bug 35972: Add thesis tables feature
Using index info to reconstruct a base tree...
M	C4/CourseReserves.pm
M	koha-tmpl/opac-tmpl/bootstrap/en/includes/masthead.inc
Falling back to patching base and 3-way merge...
CONFLICT (add/add): Merge conflict in opac/opac-thesis-tables.pl
Auto-merging opac/opac-thesis-tables.pl
CONFLICT (add/add): Merge conflict in opac/opac-thesis-table-details.pl
Auto-merging opac/opac-thesis-table-details.pl
Auto-merging koha-tmpl/opac-tmpl/bootstrap/en/includes/masthead.inc
CONFLICT (content): Merge conflict in koha-tmpl/opac-tmpl/bootstrap/en/includes/masthead.inc
Auto-merging C4/CourseReserves.pm
CONFLICT (content): Merge conflict in C4/CourseReserves.pm
error: Failed to merge in the changes.
Patch failed at 0001 Bug 35972: Add thesis tables feature
[33mhint: Use 'git am --show-current-patch=diff' to see the failed patch[m
When you have resolved this problem run "git bz apply --continue".
If you would prefer to skip this patch, instead run "git bz apply --skip".
To restore the original branch and stop patching run "git bz apply --abort".
Patch left in /tmp/Bug-35972-Add-thesis-tables-feature-xerdsj5j.patch
Comment 5 Katrin Fischer 2024-04-01 14:58:37 UTC
I like that this doesn't seem to duplicate a lot of the code, which is nice. 

It looks  like the "course reserves" hits a nerve in multiple ways as there is also:
Bug 12141 - On Display Module

Some things/ideas from having a first look:

* Terminology: Is there maybe a more general term we could use? Libraries might implement this as special shelves, carts, tables, desks, carrels, ... I think right now would be the best moment to give this some thought.
* The code currently has a mix of research table in the GUI and thesis table in the code, showing a first rename I think.
* If you are using course reserves, the new entry will show up in navigation right away. To avoid that, we could only show the navigation entry, if a course of that type exists. 
* Instead of re-using the department, could we imagine adding a "type" column driven by a new AV? We could then use the type to define displays for other use cases, like the "On display". We might even pull the description off the type... I know, translatability, but we could still have some harcoded "codes" like RT = research table in the templates to help adoption.
* Should we adapt/rename the system preference (UseCourseReserves)?
* Should we adapt OPAC detail view for reserve items (display text)?
* Should we add to sample AV in installer?
* Should we adapt permission description?
Comment 6 Andrew Fuerste-Henry 2024-04-01 16:15:04 UTC
(In reply to Katrin Fischer from comment #5)
> * Terminology: Is there maybe a more general term we could use? Libraries
> might implement this as special shelves, carts, tables, desks, carrels, ...
> I think right now would be the best moment to give this some thought.

I agree this could see a lot of varied use if the naming/labeling of it all is sufficiently broad or customizable.