RCLS Integrated Library System Handbook

Reports

Reports in Koha are a way to gather data. Reports are used to generate statistics, member lists, shelving lists, or any list of data in the database.

Generally, there are two types of reports: count reports and list reports. 

Count reports give a simple numerical count of the number of records; or the number of records that contain a field with a specified value. An example would be the “New Patrons by Category in Date Range” report.

List reports will print out individual records as rows. These records are selected for inclusion on the report by specifying criteria, such as library branch. An example would be the “List of Items Added Between Dates” report.

Reports are run on-demand in the Reports Module. To view the list of available reports, click on the Reports module and then select Use Saved.

Saved reports are divided into category tabs for easy browsing. You can search for a report using the search box at the top of the page. The search box queries all columns in the report table.

To run a report, click the Run button in the far right column.

Some reports require you to enter your desired parameters before running. This typically includes your branch and a date range.

To export report results, click Download above the results table.

Report results can be exported to Semicolon Separated Text (.csv), Tab Separated (.txt), or an Open Document Spreadsheet (.ods). Open Document Spreadsheet files can be opened in Microsoft Excel, Google Sheets, and other common spreadsheet applications. Once the file has been imported to a spreadsheet application, you can rearrange and sort data columns, apply formulas, and create charts.

Reports that produce lists of items, bibliographic records, or patrons will include a hyperlink to the record in a related column. For patrons, this column is labelled borrowernumber. For items, it is itemnumber. For bibliographic records, it is biblionumber.

Clicking the data in these columns provides a direct link to viewing or editing the record.

Note that you will not be able to edit records that do not belong to your library or edit bibliographic records that have been overlayed by RCLS Catalogers.

Report results can be edited in batch by users with Elevated Permissions. If you want to include all reported items in the batch edit, make sure that the Total Number of Results and the number displayed in the Batch Operations button match. If not, adjust the Rows per page value to a number greater than the Total Number of Results:

Select the Batch operations with [X] visible records button. Of the options that appear, select Batch Item Modification or Batch Item Deletion.

Note that items not eligible for modification, i.e. items that are not owned by your library, will appear with a red X on the batch edit screen. These items will not be affected by the changes you make in the batch editor.

Note that selecting Bibliographic editing options will result in an error. Bibliographic records are not editable by member library staff.

The full, current list of saved reports is available within the Koha Reports module.

Koha users who have received SQL report writing education, or those who have demonstrated proficiency with SQL, can create and share custom reports. Users with this permission can select Create from SQL from the Reports module.

The Koha Community maintains a SQL Reports Library. Queries from this resource can be copied and pasted into the Koha reports module, or they can be used as a base for further modification.

Both the SQL Reports Library and the Koha Database Schema are linked in the Koha Reports Module.

When importing custom reports or creating your own, take care to understand exactly which tables are being queried and how the results are compiled. This is especially important if the report is intended to be used for making policy decisions.