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3 <h1>Item types management</h1>
5 <p>You can define as many item types as you want.</p>
6 <p>The item types are the "categories" into which your library items fall. For instance, you probably want to have videocassettes in a different category from non-fiction books, and mysteries in a different category from children's picture books. If you already are using a commercial ILS, you almost certainly already have all of your materials divided up into such categories. Now you need to tell Koha what your categories are.</p>
7 <p>The itemtype code is limited to four characters. This code is rarely displayed by Koha; instead the description of the type will be what users see.</p>
8 <p>"Rental charge" is any amount you might charge to users for borrowing items of a certain type (like videos).</p>
9 <p>"Renewals allowed" indicates how many times an items of this type may be renewed.</p>
10 <p>Item types are useful for many things, and <strong>very</strong> important in controlling how Koha works :</p>
12 <li>Patrons can search on item types</li>
13 <li>Issuing rules are set for item types (and for patron types / libraries)</li>
15 <p>Setting up item types is one of the first things you should do after installing the Koha software.</p>
17 <h3>Adding & Editing New Item Types</h3>
19 <li>Your system will come with some predefined item types. From this screen you can edit or delete these items</li>
20 <li>To add a new item type click 'New Item Type'</li>
21 <li>Enter a short code for the 'Item Type'</li>
22 <li>Enter a longer explanation in the 'Description'</li>
23 <li>Feel free to choose an image for each item type (or selected the 'No image' option)</li>
24 <li>The 'Not for loan' option can be used for items that cannot be checked out of the library</li>
25 <li>'Renewals' should include the number of times this item can be renewed</li>
26 <li>If you charge a rental fee for items (such as DVDs) enter that amount in the 'Rental charge' field</li>
27 <li>The summary field is used to edit the way this item displays on the search results page
30 <span style="background-color: #ffe599">
31 TIP: For electronic resources you might want to enter</span>
32 <span style="background-color: #ffe599">
33 <em><a href="[856u]">open site</a></em></span>
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35 to show the item link on the search results page</span></li>
37 <li>When you're finished click 'Save Changes'</li>
39 <p><strong>Can I have a different type for new releases and older titles?</strong>
40 Yes. Just enter an item type for new items and assign different circulation rules for this item type.
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