I recently emailed our partner libraries to ask for some help on http://bugs.koha-community.org/bugzilla3/show_bug.cgi?id=8366 which asked for some language suggestions and I got this reply from Steve that I thought I should share with you all - I didn't feel that it fit just with the bug report, because it's a bigger issue that he's talking about and I didn't want his comments to get lost. So, here's what Steve (a librarian using Koha) has to say on the topic of the language on the circulation and fine rules:
---------------------------- Hi, Nicole, Whew! What a can o' worms. The underlying mechanism at the "Home > Administration > Circulation and fines rules" page is very powerful and flexible. The flip side is that it is very complicated. I think you have to look at the whole function: the settings (page) for "all libraries" and the settings (pages) for individual libraries. I hate to say it, but I'm not sure the difficulty described in these tickets can be fully resolved by a change in wording. I think the pages themselves - "all libraries" and individual libraries - may need to be revised. Here is a cut at how it might be done. (I know this is not what you are asking for. I apologize for that. But maybe you can get some language changes from this for now, and later someone can look at revising the pages.) When you change the "Select a library" drop-down menu, you are changing the whole page - a whole set of tables. The set that shows up on the page currently called "All libraries" sets defaults. I would change the phrase in the selection drop-down from "All libraries" to "Defaults." Then I would change the titles of the tables on this "Defaults" page as follows: Defining circulation and file rules for all libraries gets changed to Default circulation and fine rules Default checkout, hold and return policy for all libraries gets changed to Default checkout, hold and return policy I would move this table to the top of the page and somehow require some value in the "allowed" box. Checkout limit by patron category for all libraries gets changed to Default checkout limit by patron category Holds policy by item type for all libraries becomes Default holds policy by item type Then on the pages for when you select a specific library, I would change the tables as follows: Defining circulation and file rules for "Your Library" does not change except to remove the quotation marks, which are not used elsewhere. Default checkout, hold and return policy for Your Library does not change. Checkout limit by patron category for Your Library does not change. Holds policy by item type for Your Library does not change. Along with these changes, I would add plenty of explanatory text. The rule order text at the top of the page is a very good start. But more explanation is better. And don't forget to update the help screen and the manual, too. Steve Campbell Converse Free Library Lyme, New Hampshire _______________________________________________ Koha mailing list http://koha-community.org Koha@lists.katipo.co.nz http://lists.katipo.co.nz/mailman/listinfo/koha
