Enrollment is open for the next Certificate in Koha Cloud batch, starting 1 September 2026. The course runs online, so a library on any continent can take part, and it is built around doing the work rather than watching someone describe it.
The certificate is issued by Koha Solutions on completion of the assessed work. It is our own programme and our own certificate.
What makes this course different
Most library-software training is a sequence of slides and a recorded demonstration. You finish knowing what the screens look like and still cannot run a catalog. This course is structured the other way round.
1. Assignments are tracked, not emailed
Every module has practical work, and it is submitted and marked inside your own trainee account — not sent to an inbox and lost. You can see at any point which assignments are done, which are marked and what is outstanding, and so can your instructor. That record is what the certificate is issued against, which is also why it means something.
2. You practise on a real librarian dashboard
Trainees work in an actual library dashboard on Koha Cloud, against a real catalog — not screenshots, and not a stripped-down sandbox that behaves differently from the real thing. You catalog a record, lend it, take it back late, watch the fine accrue, and place a hold that has to be transferred between branches. When something behaves unexpectedly, it is behaving the way it will behave in your library.
3. OPAC customization is taught end to end
This is the part libraries are most often left unable to do after somebody else sets their system up. The course covers the public catalog properly: branding and logos, navigation menus, page content and blocks, themes and layout, and the optional pages — news, FAQ, policies, staff. You leave able to change your own catalog without filing a request and waiting.
4. It covers the whole system, not just the circulation desk
The syllabus follows the full functional surface of Koha rather than the handful of screens that are quickest to demonstrate.
What the course covers
- Cataloging and MARC21 — bibliographic records, fields and subfields, editing frameworks, and importing records in bulk.
- Authorities and frameworks — authority records, controlled vocabulary and authorized values, and why a catalog drifts without them.
- Holdings and item management — copies, item types, collection codes, barcodes and call numbers.
- Circulation — checkout, check-in, renewals, overdues and the circulation rules that decide what any of it does.
- Patrons — categories, registration, permissions, and patron records over their whole life cycle.
- Holds, transfers and bookings — the hold queue, priorities, branch transfers and date-range reservations.
- Fines and accounting — how charges accrue, payments, waivers and refunds.
- Acquisitions and serials — orders, vendors and budgets; subscriptions, issue prediction and receiving.
- Copy cataloging over Z39.50 — pulling records from remote catalogs instead of typing them.
- Notices and scheduled jobs — overdue and hold notices, why they silently stop, and how to tell that they have.
- Reports — building reports that answer a question someone actually asked.
- OPAC customization — the full public-catalog module described above.
Who it is for
Written for the person who will actually run the system: a cataloger at a college library, a systems librarian at a university with several branches, or the one staff member at a smaller institution who has been handed the library software along with everything else. No programming background is assumed.
It also suits a library evaluating Koha before committing, because you finish knowing what running it really involves.
Format
Live online sessions across the course, each followed by practical work on your own dashboard, with the assignments marked and returned. Sessions are recorded, so a missed week is recoverable, and the practice environment stays available to you for the duration.
Places are limited, because marked assignments and dashboard time do not scale the way a recorded video does.
How to join
Enrollment for the 1 September 2026 batch is open now. Apply for a place, or read the full course details first — the course page has the current dates, structure and fee.
Not sure it is the right fit? Tell us about your library and we will say honestly whether the course or a managed setup makes more sense for you.